2018 annual and sustainable performance report

Donating Time to Help Younger Generations

Arkema’s Common Ground^® program makes a point of reaching out to the world of education and youth. Our commitment has expanded to all our host countries and is led by employee volunteers.

Kids  kick a ball around as their coach watches. They are training for an inter-school tournament. An ordinary scene in the soccer world, but for one detail: the coach is sponsored by Arkema’s Casda plant near Hengshui, 250 kilometers south of Beijing. The initiative is part of an educational outreach program known as Arkema ChemArt Green Innovation Class. All of the young soccer players attend the Zhenhualu Elementary School near the Arkema site, which produces sebacic acid and castor oil derivatives. Not far away, at Liminlu Elementary School, also in Hengshui, other young students receive regular English instruction taught by Arkema employee volunteers. The theme of their classes couldn’t be more relevant: environmental protection and sustainable development. The same subject is featured at another educational establishment, the Lvfeng School in Zhangjiagang, near Shanghai. Employees from Arkema’s headquarters in China and the Changshu and Zhangjiagang production sites volunteer to lead various workshops, featuring a mix of environmental protection, English-language classes, everyday safety and art made using Arkema coating products. Computers and books are also donated. All these initiatives in support of education are part of the Common Ground^® program pioneered in France and now active worldwide. It’s a good way to cement local ties between Arkema production sites and nearby communities, using an approach based on discussion and social responsibility.