It was only a while ago that Pipelife Austria's outstanding new products were honoured with the sought-after "Innovation Award", and recently, on 25 January 2008, the company was able to celebrate yet another success. In a ceremony attended by over 200 employees, the President of the Association of the Austrian Chemical Industry (Austrian Chamber of Commerce), Dr. Wolfgang Eickhoff, awarded Mag. Karl Aigner, the CEO of Pipelife, the Responsible Care Certificate. It certifies practical responsibility towards society and the environment by Austria's market-leading plastics manufacturer. "The Responsible Care Certificate is highly recognised. Responsible Care is an encompassing Management System which was tailored to the specific requirements of the chemical industry, and which is highly practice-oriented", Eickhoff emphasised during the award ceremony. Responsible Care is a global, voluntary initiative by the chemical industry, which has thus accepted strict self-monitoring procedures with the aim of improving health, safety and environmental conditions. The measures which companies must fulfil within the framework of the Responsible Care Programme surpass by far the legal regulations and obligations that apply in Austria. The companies are assessed through independent external inspectors. In the course of such an assessment, over 200 queries relating to energy, waste disposal, recycling, noise, storage, air purification, employee protection, accident prevention, environment, etc. are included in the assessment pursuant to a specified rating scheme. "The Responsible Care certification has confirmed that we are on the right track. Moreover, it also raised awareness of the important issues of health, safety, environment and sustainability within the entire company" said a delighted Aigner. Responsible Care shows similarities to the EMAS Regulation and ISO 14001 in terms of the objective and approach. A significant difference, however, lies in the fact that Responsible Care not only assesses environmental concerns, but the areas of operational safety and employee protection as well - and thus presents an extension of the EMAS Regulation. Pipelife Austria has been certified pursuant to ÖNORM EN ISO 9001 since 1993, and is the first Austrian plastics manufacturer to receive this specific certification. The company's quality policies are not simply geared to meeting the certification standards, but rather undertaking the decisive steps towards Total Quality Management. Pipelife Austria, with its head office and production site in Wiener Neudorf, its distribution centre in Krems and 20 sales branches across Austria, generated €106 million revenue in 2007 whilst employing 272 people. "The Responsible Care Certificate embodies living out responsibility towards society and the environment" Dr. Wolfgang Eickhoff (2nd from left), President of the Association of the Austrian Chemical Industry, emphasised during the award ceremony where he handed the certificate to Pipelife CEO Mag. Karl Aigner (3rd from left). Image: Thomas Frauhammer/Pipelife Austria From left to right: Viktor Erhardt, Safety Officer Pipelife Austria Dr. Wolfgang Eickhoff, President of the Association of the Austrian Chemical Industry, Austrian Chamber of Commerce Mag. Karl Aigner, CEO Pipelife Austria Erwin Oswald, TQM/Q-Manager Pipelife Austria Enquiries / feedback to: Ingrid Schneeberger is@pipelife.at (+43) 664/514 6 413 31 January 2008