Corporate Social Responsibility

Social responsibility is an increasingly important concept in the activities of companies activating in Romania.

România Internațional, 08.06.2016, 13:42

Specifically it entails a greater involvement of these companies in the life of the community they work in, so that they can bring their contribution to the progress of society. Social responsibility has become a vital part of these companies’ sound and long-term development strategy, all the more so if we take into account their obligation to also present an annual report on their non-financial activities, proving that they got involved in social and environmental activities.

For six years now, an instrument has been operational in Romania, measuring the impact companies have on the community and the environment. Through the Green Business Index project, green initiatives in the Romanian business sector are being monitored. An annual classification of Romania’s greenest companies is also drawn up every year.

With the help of an online platform created for the assessment of environment performances, and using nearly 200 performance indicators, companies make an annual assessment of their efficiency in the management and protection of the environment. They also measure their carbon footprint and benefit from technical support and recommendations by environment experts, in order to improve their performance and increase competitiveness so as to observe international standards.

In 2016 over 400 companies, which is 16% more than in 2015, registered for the Green Business Index competition organized by the Green Revolution Association in partnership with the Royal Norwegian Association for Development, with funding from the Norwegian Funds. Raluca Fiser is the president of the Green Revolution Association. She believes companies in Romania are concerned with sustainable development and environmental protection.

With details on that, here is Raluca Fiser herself: ”This year we have come up with novelties for those who understood that sustainable development is part and parcel of a business plan. Companies have already understood that besides being nice to save the planet and look after its resources, which are profitable and economical for their businesses, Brussels authorities have now passed a Circular Economy Package. So, we managed to bring a new instrument that should help companies measure the circularity of their business, besides the regular environmental assessment they are supposed to make every 6 years. We are also happy to be the only ones who this year managed to update the greenhouse gas emissions calculator with emission factors for 2015 at the level of the whole country. Therefore the accuracy of data used by companies to improve their environmental performance is better and better”.

This year’s results of the Green Business Index competition point to the fact that 60% of the industrial companies use ecological design instruments, 47.5% have reduced their water consumption and nearly 60% of the companies have implemented energy efficiency measures.

At this year’s edition of the Green Business Index, the Marriott Hotel in Bucharest was designated the most environmentally – responsible company. Ranked 2nd was DHL Express Romania, a company that also received a special prize for circularity in business.

Alina Oprea, a manager within the DHL Express Romnaia says: “DHL Express Romania is certified to ISO9001 in terms of quality and to ISO 14001 in terms of environment friendliness. Moreover, DHL Express Romania and the Deutsche Post Group have clear objectives regarding the protection of the environment, the main objective being the reduction of the carbon dioxide consumption by 30% by 2020. As compared to 2015, we have improved our performance by more than 20% and we continue with various programs that prove that we are friends with the environment. Our customers also require these certifications and programs”.

Marinela Nedelcu, an expert in the quality and protection of the environment with DHL Romania has more: “This objective set by the region to reduce the carbon footprint and to increase our efficiency by 30% until 2020 as compared to 2007 has been almost accomplished. We have a social responsibility report for 2015 which our group has published, and 25% of the set 30% target was already achieved in 2015. We have a program that is being supported by the entire DHL group called GoGreen, and it is supported by another two programs, which means social responsibility: Go teach and Go help. But for the Green Business Index we have said and proved that we are concerned with environmental protection. Competition is a sort of auditing of certain activities that do not happen for the sake of a contest. In our company protecting the environment has already become a tradition, we are not doing it for the competition’s sake. We are happy to have the opportunity to present and share with the others what we learnt from the Deutsche Post group, what we can apply in Romania. Our results have been appreciated in a contest. We mainly observe the environment legislation and the ISO 14001 standard”.

“Takata Romania” whose main activity is to manufacture parts for the producers in the car industry, managed to win prizes in most of the categories of the 2016 Green Business Index, such as ‘impact on the environment’, ‘waste management’ and ‘green buildings and spaces’.

Andrea Szekely is an environmental officer with Takata Romania: “We have installations for the reduction of emissions, and in terms of responsibility towards the environment we have implemented several projects meant to reduce energy consumption. And I mean modern lighting systems, we replaced the traditional bulbs with LEDs. We are trying to use the natural light and we are already using skylights wherever we can. Besides that, our company provides for the transportation of employees, so it’s better to have 40 people coming to work together in a bus, than each one coming in their personal cars. We have also started a campaign meant to encourage cycling to work. Last year we were ranked 3rd in terms of ‘green buildings and spaces’, as our efforts to reduce the impact on the environment of the activities undertaken in buildings, namely auxiliary activities, got appreciated. We are also concerned with green areas. We are in an industrial area, so the land allows for landscaping. We planted trees, grass, so we are trying to bring oxygen not only to consume it”.

Green Business Index has been, since in 2010, the most famous competition for companies in Romania measuring their performance in terms of environmental protection and management.