The culture of a company grows through responsible actions taken by its employees. Initiative and personal commitment are greatly encouraged at LANXESS. This naturally also applies to the involvement of individuals in charity activities or aid projects. Active social responsibility and open dialogue are important cornerstones of LANXESS’s corporate culture. For that reason the company consciously supports employees in their voluntary activities.

Employees are frequently also the motivating force behind charitable projects that LANXESS supports at its sites around the world. Corporate volunteering therefore has an important identity-giving significance, standing as it does for personal social commitment to meet our social responsibility and share valuable experiences outside the corporate environment.

Passing on knowledge
In many projects the focus is on supporting and educating children. In schools, kindergartens and universities, employees pass on their job experience and practical expertise during lessons. At the same time this increases children’s and young people’s interest in the sciences. The educational institutions benefit from corporate volunteering through the link to practice and the exchange with representatives of the company.

Here are a few examples:

In Mexico, in 2011 LANXESS supported in cooperation with the international non-profit organization “Un Techo para mi País” the construction of ten transitional homes for families in extreme poverty. Together with construction builders from ONG also LANXESS employees pitched in to build up the wooden houses in their spare time. The construction of the transitional homes is only the first phase of a structured plan that also includes the construction of a permanent homes and the implementation of social inclusion programs to empower the families with tools to improve their life quality.

LANXESS Korea sponsors again the yearly activity ‘Fun Chemistry World’, program hosted by the Korean Responsible Care Council (KRCC) and sponsored by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Ministry of Environment and chemical companies. As part of our Responsible Care’s voluntary activities, ‘Fun Chemistry World’ is held in four different cities in Korea, Busan, Ulsan, Seosan and Yeosu, where chemical plants are mainly located.

‘Fun Chemistry World’ is to promote understanding of chemistry to young children through variety of chemical experiments. It also provides opportunities for local school teachers and employees from the chemical companies to volunteer and interact with students under the common interest of chemistry. In 2011, more than 1,400 students from 260 schools participated in ‘Fun Chemistry World’ and LANXESS Korea’s Employees participated as volunteer teachers since 2008, in 2012 held a chemistry experiment booth in Busan called 'Let's make soft water'

Everyone pitches in
Social commitment in terms of neighbourhood help also has top priority. Employees get involved with the minimum of fuss when there is a shortage of available local manpower. In Orange, Texas, for example, employees set up a recycling project.

In April 2012, LANXESS Brazil ran its second edition of the LANXESS Community Day, a social initiative aimed to encourage the integration between the company and the local communities.

More than 1,200 people were benefited in 1,600 volunteer-hours of 200 employees from all the business units that ran simultaneous activities to help local charitable institutions in the states of Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo.

For LANXESS, corporate volunteering is not only a commitment to its sites and the local community but also part of a successful and sustainable corporate strategy. After all, only if it gains the trust and support of its neighbours can a company be successful in the long term. LANXESS is committed to being recognized as a reliable partner and attractive employer that meets its social responsibility. This increases competitiveness, both for the region and for the company.