Article: Telko’s first Responsibility Report 2018

Taking actions for the good of the environment is an essential part of Telko’s strategy. One of our aims is to reduce the environmental impact of our operations, in addition to which our businesses offer solutions that help our customers reduce their environmental load.

In Russia, for example, some elements of warehousing operations were reorganised. Transferring drumming from one warehouse to another led to a significant reduction in transport requirements - about 126,000 km less driven - and thus also to CO₂ emissions reductions.

GREEN PRODUCTS Products in Telko’s green product range are products that are recycled, bio-based, biodegradable or have a significantly lower environmental impact than the traditional choices for the same purpose. In 2018, green products accounted for 1.2% of our net sales, with the sale of absorption and clean-up products, for example, increasing. Telko remains committed to further developing its portfolio of green products in order to provide more sustainable alternatives for customers.

PLASTICS Telko Plastics’ portfolio includes a selection of environment-friendly and sustainable materials, such as bio-based polymers and flame retardant plastics produced without any restricted substances under the REACH regulation. We want to be involved in changing the circular economy of plastics and providing customers with sustainable options, for example, through our new green product ranges. Furthermore, we also provide our customers with assistance in adjusting to using these new products. These products are mainly made of recycled plastics, contain significant amounts of recycled material or are fully or partly bio-based and/or biodegradable.

Recycled Plastics Plastic waste is generally divided into two sources: post-consumer and post-industrial waste. Much of the engineering plastic that we work with currently comes from sources classified as post-consumer waste. For example, electrical/electronic appliances recycling is a good, stable source of recycled engineering plastics.

The recycled polypropylene and polyethylene Telko works with come from both post-industrial and post-consumer sources. During 2018 Telko Plastics started new partnerships to supply high-quality polypropylene and polyethylene compounds from post-consumer sources. Both polypropylene and polyethylene are also available from post-industrial sources.

Bioplastics During 2018 Telko Plastics started to offer bio-based polyolefins within a mass balance concept. Mass balance is an efficient way of increasing the proportion of renewable carbon in plastics production using existing assets. Bio-based and biodegradable PLA is also now available from Telko.

LUBRICANTS Telko’s lubricants product range consists mainly of chain oils, gear oils, hydraulic oils, slide oils, concrete oils and greases. Our customers for these products operate in the pulp and paper, marine, concrete, railways and mining segments.

In 1994, our lubricants department started to represent and sell biodegradable lubricants in the form of chain oils, concrete moulding oils and hydraulic oils. Since then we have been able to offer environmentally friendly solutions for industrial applications. This option is important if the application is located, for example, outside, in an environmentally sensitive location such as a groundwater area, or on a river, lake or sea front.

Many biodegradable lubricants are made from natural vegetable oils such as rapeseed oil. The condition of these products needs to be monitored in use as their service lifetime can vary and may be shorter than that of mineral and synthetic oils. The service lifetime depends on the oil type, application and operating conditions. The most important biodegradable oil group for us is products with an OECD 310F certificate - we have around 40 lubricants belonging to this group on the market.

Lubricants based on synthetic oils, such as esters, can offer an excellent service lifetime whilst biodegrading acceptably when necessary. Synthetic ester-based lubricants can offer a service lifetime longer than that of mineral oils, which may go a long way to offsetting their initial cost and at the same time give environmental advantages. We analyse every customer’s demands and data properly to ensure the environmental performance and total lifecycle cost of the product before recommending it.

Telko lubricants signed a contract in 2017 with BP Marine for distribution of marine oils, opening up a lot of new possibilities for us. We added new products to our green portfolio to offer to marine vessels and for industrial applications as of 2018. This will help us to increase our green offering to all lubricants customers in the future.

CHEMICALS Telko Chemicals’ green portfolio in chemicals includes bio solvents and other green chemicals. These products are designed to minimise the burden on the environment without risking the safety of the user or compromising on desired results. Sustainable chemical products are designed to pay special attention to environmental protection, and include products used to clean up any chemical and oil spills. Environmental protection products are an integral part of Telko’s offering, with products for oil or chemicals spill protection and managing oil leakages on land or in water.

Telko Chemicals has started to sell two new chemicals product lines that meet the highest standards for environmental protection. Our fluorine-free biodegradable firefighting foams can be used in any situations, both on land and water. We also represent environmentally friendly polyurethane systems, which can be used for numerous applications. Using these systems does not contribute to smog production as the blowing agent used does not contain any components with GWP (Global Warming Potential), ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential) or VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds).

Due to difficult weather conditions in Europe in 2018, crops of grain for producing bio ethanol were very poor. The product was not available from our accepted suppliers at the end of the year and the shortage will continue at least to some degree into 2019. We have had to purchase more synthetic ethanol to cover the needs of our industrial customers.

Thanks to a special fleet of tank trucks we can deliver small bulk orders to our customers effectively and in an environmentally friendly way. Tanks are divided into several compartments, which makes it possible to combine orders from multiple customers in the same area to make full truck loads. This minimises both the kilometres driven by the trucks and CO2 emissions.

Read more in our Responsibility report 2018 (on page 7-)

See our green product range (linkki)

By doing business responsibly and professionally, Telko maintains and grows relationships with suppliers and customers, develops cooperation and increases profitability. We take care of our responsibilities as an employer, as well as take care of all the other responsibilities in the society around us.

ANTI-CORRUPTION AND ANTI-BRIBERY MEASURES Aspo’s Code of Conduct absolutely prohibits corruption and bribery in all their forms. Code of Conduct training includes anti-corruption issues and provides guidance on identifying any suspicious situations and practices that are considered unethical. Telko also uses even more detailed guidelines relating to bribery, and it complies with the Ethical and Business Principles of Fecc (the European Association of Chemical Distributors).

Supplier Code of Conduct launched: The key tool in the prevention of corruption and bribery is the responsible management of the supply chain. To ensure proper operating practices, we prepared a Supplier Code of Conduct.

We also renewed the Telko Compliance Manual, which steers our practical processes. The Compliance Manual provides our personnel with practical instructions on how to work responsibly and it includes instructions related to matters such as the legality of operations, organisation, business relations, data protection, confidentiality and financial sanctions.

RISK MANAGEMENT Risk management is a systematic process aimed at ensuring Telko-wide and appropriate risk identification, assessment, management and control.

In 2018, Telko continued to develop its risk management activities, completing a risk assessment and risk questionnaire in every Telko country in August 2018. We believe that this first round improved our thinking and risk awareness in our daily work. By doing this, we identified best practices and started to share these within the group. We also positioned ourselves better to identify and prevent risks that may harm implementation of our strategy or the identification of new opportunities.

Read more in our Responsibility report 2018 (on page 13-) 

Social responsibility is about taking care of Telko employees, customers and other partners, but also about acting responsibly in every part of our society.

The Code of Conduct and HR policy guide our operations as a responsible employer. We comply with local laws in each country in which we operate. We also comply with the Ethical and Business Principles of Fecc, the European Association of Chemical Distributors.

We provide opportunities for professional development for employees at all levels of the organisation. As an organisation that is built of highly skilled professionals, continuous development is an essential value for us. A significant part of our annual training is organised according to our special requirements.

EMPLOYEE-RELATED RISKS  We do our best to keep our employees safe in order to avoid accidents at work. This means, for example, providing training in chemicals handling and safe transportation in our warehouse areas. We evaluate our warehouse and terminal activities and processes regularly, as well as organising training in protection and for minimising the consequences of possible dangerous situations, such as use of fire extinguishers. We also offer first aid training regularly in accordance with local requirements.

In an office environment the risks of work-related accidents are quite low. In these settings, we concentrate on well-being at work, good working environments and proper working tools.

HUMAN RIGHTS  We treat our employees in a fair and equal manner in all countries where we operate. The applicable local legislation and regulations are complied with in all employment contracts. These concern, among other things, working hours, remuneration, development opportunities, human rights and working conditions.

Telko uses Aspo’s whistleblowing channel for reporting any human rights violations. In 2018, no confirmed cases of violations were reported through the channel.

The Code of Conduct absolutely prohibits any discrimination of employees that is based on race, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, age or any other factor. We consider equality an important value and measure it in the atmosphere survey. Employees consider the level of equality to be high.

Read more in our Responsibility report 2018 (on page 17-)

WAREHOUSE AUDITS  In 2018, audits of five partner warehouses were conducted in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. All the warehouses were compliant with local regulations and authority requirements, although we found many safety deviations from our own internal standards.

Deficiencies in the storage of incompatible chemicals were discovered in four warehouses, and room for improvement was found in areas such as the availability of first aid equipment, absorbent materials for potential leakage instances and emergency exit signs.

We requested and instructed the operators of these facilities to store chemicals that react with each other in safer manners. Instructions were also given about first aid and emergency response equipment as well as on the marking of emergency exits. We also recommended paving for all unpaved outdoor areas of two storage facilities where chemical packages are stored or transported. The storage and transport of packages in unpaved outdoor areas increases the risk of chemicals seeping into the ground in the event of a leak or an accident. The implementation of corrective actions and recommendations are followed up.

The audits showed us that safe working habits need still improvement. As a result of this, a new Telko safety manual for our warehouse operations is to be prepared.

Read more in our Responsibility report 2018 (on page 21)