Environment

The growing energy crisis and issues of global warming place an ever-increasing emphasis on the need for companies in all industries and sectors to reduce their environmental impact wherever possible. Altech recognises that this is as much an issue of business sustainability as it is of corporate responsibility. Rising energy costs and the effects of climate change could have a material impact on our business profitability, our suppliers and on the markets in which we operate.

While all of our operations fall into the low-risk or very low-risk category, we are nevertheless committed to identifying, quantifying and reducing our environmental impact where we can. The issue is governed in Altech by a Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) policy.

Altech makes an annual submission to the JSE SRI, which requires constituents to properly manage and reduce their negative environmental impacts. External environmental auditors MS Alexander & Associates regularly conduct environmental compliance audits, highlighting areas of risk and recommending remedial action where necessary.

Altech’s continued commitment to tracking and reducing its carbon footprint saw the company participate in a second annual carbon footprint and environmental impact survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. With two years’ carbon footprint information in hand, Altech is now in a position to embark on the second phase of its carbon footprint journey, which involves setting carbon reduction targets. Best practice shows that companies that are most successful at reducing their carbon emissions are those that adopt a phased and realistic approach to the process. As such, we will begin investigating those areas where reduction is possible and practical, developing more sophisticated reduction interventions as the carbon footprint project matures.