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Red Cross Children’s
Hospital |
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In June 2005, Unite 4 Health donated
R4 million to the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s
Hospital in Cape Town. This hospital is the only specialist
centre dedicated to treating children of the African
continent. At the hospital, Africa-specific research
on children’s diseases and HIV/Aids improves not
only the health of the children treated there, but also
assists in the training received by doctors and nurses
in this training hospital environment.
The Unite 4 Health donation will go towards a new modern
theatre complex – Adcock Ingram/Unite 4 Health
Operating Theatre – which will enable surgical
teams to operate on 25% more children each year. |
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Some 15 000 residents will take part
in the Heart of Soweto project that aims to track the
incidence of cardiovascular disease in a developing-world
scenario. The study, the first of its kind in Africa,
was launched in January 2006. Unite 4 Health
has committed R2 million in support of this study, led
by Professor Karen Sliwa – head of the Soweto
cardiovascular research unit at Chris Hani/Baragwanath
Hospital in collaboration with experts from Australia
and the United Kingdom.
The Heart of Soweto study has initiated the important
task of better understanding and monitoring the emergence
of heart disease in the Soweto population. Its significance
lies in tracking the incidence of a disease often associated
with increasingly affluent lifestyles in one of South
Africa ’s largest urban areas.
As part of its support to the Heart of Soweto project,
Unite 4 Health has also revamped the cardiology unit
at Chris Hani/Baragwanath Hospital. |
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| Sea Harvest Foundation |
During the 2006 financial year, Sea
Harvest has once again awarded bursaries to 60 West
Coast students to fund their tertiary education. The
bursaries were given primarily to students in the fields
of finance, food technology and information technology.
This is the highest number of bursaries awarded since
the programme’s inception nine years ago.
In partnership with a nongovernmental organisation focusing
on the need for adequate nutrition for those affected
by HIV/Aids in the Saldanha Bay municipal area, Sea
Harvest has sponsored the development of vegetable gardens.
Through the ‘West Coast Quality Schools Programme’,
Sea Harvest has sponsored equipment used to run workshops
for parents who have school-going children. This programme,
endorsed by the Department of Education, is aimed at
building the capacity of local parents with regard to
equipping them to support and assist their children
with school work and basic life skills. |
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| Environmental performance |
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| Management approach |
Environmental performance at Tiger
Brands is driven by a pragmatic risk-based approach
combined with a group-wide drive for resource-use efficiency.
This builds on our established reputation for strict
legal compliance with all applicable national, provincial
and local safety, environmental and health (SHE) laws
and regulations.
SHE management is driven by a group-wide integrated
SHE policy, adopted by the board and signed by our CEO,
that commits all facilities and operations to best practice
operating standards. SHE risk management is an integral
part of the overall business risk management programme,
and is monitored by the group risk committee, which
reports to the board via the audit committee. In terms
of this programme, all manufacturing units are audited
annually by a reputable independent risk assessment
contractor.
Eco-efficiency efforts (energy-use, water-use and materials-use
efficiency) are part of the group’s continuous
improvement drive, co-ordinated by the group-level continuous
improvement committee, particularly in terms of the
process engineering component of this programme. |
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| Environmental management systems |
During the year in review, Tiger
Brands initiated the development of a group-wide environmental
risk management system. Baseline environmental assessments
are nearing completion at all manufacturing units. Implementation
is currently being piloted at three manufacturing facilities
with the highest environmental risk profiles. Roll-out
of the system is scheduled for completion within the
next financial year.
This new system will facilitate improved monitoring
and reporting of environmental key performance indicators
going forward, as well as environmental management systems
(EMS) certification to the ISO 14001 global standard. |
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| Environmental compliance |
| There were no material incidents
of, nor fines or non-monetary sanctions for, non-compliance
with applicable environmental regulations during the
year in review. The group is kept abreast of the implications
of new environmental laws and regulations by external
professionals on an ongoing basis. |
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| Energy-use efficiency |
Energy usage within the group includes
electricity, natural gas, petrol and diesel. Tiger Brands
is a major energy user in southern Africa and we are
cognisant of the fact that nearly all of this energy
is derived from non-renewable resources (Eskom electricity
generated from burning coal and a transport fleet that
uses diesel/petrol). We are also aware that burning
non-renewable fuels is the major contributor to the
production of greenhouse gases which is now widely acknowledged
to be responsible for global warming.
A group-wide energy efficiency project has been undertaken.
Efforts are currently focused on four pilot sites: Langeberg
and Ashton Foods Cannery; DairyBelle (Epping); Consumer
Brands (Boksburg and Isando). Energy audits were completed
at these sites to identify energy wastage. Changes being
implemented include conversion of boilers from coal-fired
to natural gas-fired, and the installation of power
factor correction equipment on electrical distribution
boards. A group-wide rollout of energy efficiency best
practice will follow.
Future plans include the development of a management
system to monitor and report on the consumption of key
energy sources relative to either building floor space
(for office space), per unit of production (for manufacturing
facilities) and per kilometre of travel (for our transport
fleet vehicles). Future reporting cycles will include
these key performance indicators. The burning of fossil
fuels accounts for the vast majority of our greenhouse
gas emissions and the above key performance indicators
will therefore also facilitate the computation of CO2
equivalents in terms of disclosing carbon emissions,
and for potential future carbon emissions trading initiatives
in terms of the Kyoto Protocol. |
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| Emissions to air |
| Emissions to air (e.g. from boilers,
furnaces and heaters) at all sites are required to be
in strict compliance with applicable local authority
bylaws, as well as the provisions of the South African
Air Quality Act (Act No. 39 of 2004). Stack emissions
are monitored at all manufacturing facilities where
air quality standards may be compromised. There were
no material air quality non-compliance incidences within
the group during the reporting period. |
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| Looking
at water-use efficiency at our manufacturing facilities. |
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| Water-use efficiency and wastewater
compliance |
Tiger Brands manufacturing facilities,
all of which rely heavily on a sustainable supply of
quality water, are located in southern Africa, which
is drought-prone and facing a major water supply crisis.
Our response has been to firstly look closely at water-use
efficiency at our manufacturing facilities, driven largely
by integrated cost-reduction programmes.
The water-use efficiency improvement project at the
All Gold Tomato Sauce factory in Boksburg is now complete.
The project team focused on identifying leaks, determining
where water was being used unnecessarily and re-engineering
closed-loop processing water systems. As a result, daily
water consumption has been reduced from 350 kl to 120
kl. Lessons learned from this pilot project will be
shared throughout the group.
Greater disclosure of water-use efficiency (in kl per
unit of production) is being planned for future reporting
cycles.
It is group policy that all manufacturing sites are
in strict compliance with applicable local authority
by-laws, as well as national legislation (such as the
South African National Water Act (Act No. 36 of 1998))
that govern the discharge of wastewater and industrial
effluent. There were no material non-compliances within
the group during the reporting period in this regard.
The group is in the process of implementing a wastewater
discharge water quality improvement programme to accommodate
anticipated step-ups in facility production, water recycling
projects (which have the effect of concentrating contaminants)
and stricter national water quality standards.
Recent improvement projects include the construction
of improved wastewater treatment facilities at Ashton,
Modjadjis Kloof, Musina and the jam factory at Paarl.
At this latter site, modular membrane reactor technology
has been successfully pioneered with preliminary results
showing success in significantly reducing BOD (biological
oxygen demand) and COD (carbon oxygen demand) levels.
The project will now be implemented fully in F2007.
Future reporting cycles aim to include BOD and COD levels
as a unit of production for applicable facilities throughout
the group. |
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| Solid waste management |
It is group policy that all solid
waste be separated at source into hazardous and non-hazardous
streams and disposed of separately. Hazardous waste
is disposed of by registered contractors to licensed
hazardous waste sites. Periodic audits of waste contractors
are conducted by the company.
Recycling of paper, cardboard, wooden pallets, plastic
chemical and product containers, glass and metal is
conducted at all sites where volumes facilitate ongoing
efforts. |
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| Chemical storage and handling |
In terms of potential soil and groundwater
contamination resulting from leaking chemical underground
storage tanks (USTs), above-ground storage tanks (ASTs)
and/or associated pipe work, it is group policy that
all our sites assess this risk on an ongoing basis and
comply in full with the National Water Act (Act No.
36 of 1998), the National Environmental Management Act
(NEMA) (Act No. 107 of 1998) and other regulations that
govern such a risk.
Group policy requires that regular integrity testing,
to ensure that tanks are not leaking, are conducted
of all bulk chemical storage tanks at all our facilities.
Where these tanks are owned and serviced by external
petrochemical companies, integrity testing is required
in terms of the service contracts. A group-wide inventory
of all bulk ASTs and USTs used for the storage of hazardous
substances is currently being developed. USTs are being
phased out in terms of group policy, and are being replaced
by ASTs complete with adequate secondary containment.
Smaller containers of hazardous chemicals are stored
in dedicated chemical rooms, which are required to be
certified by relevant local authority fire departments. |
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| Asbestos |
Asbestos was historically used for
construction and insulation at our manufacturing facilities.
Asbestos is no longer permitted for any new developments
or retrofits and the group has embarked on a comprehensive
asbestos identification and removal programme of existing
facilities. Asbestos does not pose a material risk to
workers or production within the group.
An Asbestos Handling and Disposal Guide has been approved
and is being implemented throughout the group. All asbestos-containing
construction material (typically roof sheeting) is removed
by registered asbestos removal contractors in terms
of the South African Occupational Health and Safety
Act’s 2002 Asbestos Regulations. |
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| Climate change |
The group is heavily reliant on sustainable
agricultural production from within southern Africa.
This includes fruit and vegetable production, as well
as wheat, maize and sugar.
There is growing consensus that climate change will
affect agricultural production in the region over the
next 15 to 30 years. The exact nature of this phenomenon
is being examined by scientists both globally and regionally
and the group is following developments in this arena. |
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| Sustainable fisheries |
Through our holdings in Sea Harvest
and Oceana, Tiger Brands is exposed to global fish stocks,
though predominantly to southern African-based small
pelagic stocks (pilchards/sardines and anchovy) and
hake.
Long-term fishing quotas have been allocated for these
key fisheries and sound management plans are in place
to ensure that stocks are not overutilised. Both the
South African hake and pelagic fisheries are monitored
by independent on-board observers to ensure compliance
with the South African Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism’s licence conditions. All fishing
vessels are fitted with Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS)
to track that vessels do not fish in “no go”
marine conservation areas.
The South African small pelagics industry is considered
to be well managed and stable. The South African hake
offshore demersal trawl fishery (which provides the
majority of hake caught in South Africa) is Marine Stewardship
Council (MSC) certified. As such, the fishery has been
assessed by MSC-approved international fisheries scientists
and found to adhere to the MSC’s principles and
criteria for sustainable fishing. |