Environmental compliance

The Capital Group of Grupa KĘTY S.A. is well aware of its responsibility with regard to environment and climate protection.

Proper regulations and care for abiding by the current requirements are key elements of environmental management. In order to eliminate the potential non-compliance, systems certified for compliance with the ISO 14001 standard were implemented at the companies. Once a year, assisted by the managerial staff, legal compliance assessment is carried out, as well as compliance with the requirements of stakeholders, and threats and opportunities analysis. Additionally, Compliance and Risk Management Department was established to ensure that the companies’ operations comply with legal requirements, adequately to the adopted Compliance Management Policy.

Following the ‘polluter-pays’ principle, the companies of the Capital Group of Grupa KĘTY S.A. pay fees on the use of the environment, which is an equivalent for pollutants emission. Below presented are the values of fees for emissions to air, water withdrawal, and wastewater discharge. The aim of the companies is to limit their impact on the environment and, thus, reduce the value of fees paid on that account. In 2022, thanks to optimisation of water consumption in processes and water system modernisation at Grupa KĘTY S.A., the withdrawal of water from inhouse sources was limited, which significantly reduced the value of fees paid on that account.

In 2022, a formal procedure was adopted to determine environmental and social due diligence, in order to properly identify the risks and opportunities associated with merger, acquisition, or closure processes.

It expands and clarifies the provisions of the ‘Acquisitions of Companies’ and ‘Incorporation of Companies’ procedures introduced in 2016, in consideration of the potential consequences of M&A activities. The document provides standards of conduct in such transactions, from the early stages through to closure. A critical aspect of that responsibility relates to due diligence, consisting in an analysis providing relevant information on the target company and documenting the assessment of the potential risks and expected benefits. Responsibility for the implementation of the M&A, closure, liquidation and divestment processes has been assigned to the Director for Corporate Affairs and Mergers and Acquisitions. A review of the results of due diligence analysis is required before a transaction is undertaken or before a closure/divestment decision is made. Due diligence is carried out with the support of qualified in-house staff or external firms, for example law firms.

It is particularly important to make sure that the due diligence process takes into account the relevant environmental factors related to:

In 2022, there were no merger, acquisition, closure, liquidation, or divestment processes pending. Nevertheless, implementation of the standards of conduct was essential because such transactions, if they finally fail to bring the expected results or generate problems, may bring serious damage to the Group. In addition, environmental due diligence raises awareness of the potential threats and opportunities which may affect investment results.