Corporate: Social Responsibility     Processes In 2007, the production site in Gits was successful for the 8th year in a row in renewing the "West-Vlaams Milieucharter" (West-Flemish Environmental Charter). In Turkey, the production site at Izmir has, for the first time, been certified according to ISO 14001. In the meantime, preparations have commenced for attaining the same environmental certificate at the Winsa,Sari Mese, production site. At the production site in Bogen, investments in the newest production technologies have led to energy savings of 200,000 euros on an annual basis. The energy-savings projects, which were defined in the energy plan of the "Auditconvenant", a Flemish convention that promotes energy savings in industry, have in the meantime been carried out at the Belgian production sites. This convention is a voluntary agreement, which medium-sized companies can conclude with the Flemish government, whereby, in exchange for reduced taxes, an external energy study had to be carried out and a realization plan had to be developed for all energy-saving measures, including a cost recovery period of +/- 4 years. In the extrusion plants, this plan resulted in energy savings of almost 2%. Last but not least, a very thorough plan for internal, selective waste collection was implemented, with an emphasis on recycling. REACH The European REACH Guideline has been in effect since the 1st of June 2007. REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemical substances) is the European guideline that regulates the trade and use of chemical substances in Europe. The necessary preparations for an inventory were carried out during 2007. As a user of chemical substances (“downstream user”), the impact in 2007 on operational activities was rather minimal.       Environment