BUSINESS OPERATION AND PERFORMANCE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FINANCIAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS APPENDIX society throughout the value chain. GC also aims to become a leader in the management and development of green product design and operates its business in compliance with national and international environmental standards and requirements as well as the National Economic and Social Development Plan No.12 (20172021), the 20-year National Strategic Plan (2017-2036), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN) in the following ways. 3.1) Strict Compliance with Environmental Standards and Requirements GC values the prevention of environmental impacts. To this end, it thus puts in place control and protection measures from the design stage before a project begins and carries out a comprehensive environmental impact study covering different aspects of the project to produce a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment report (EIA). GC also strictly complies with measures to prevent and reduce impacts as well as regularly reports the results of the implementation to regulatory agencies. Furthermore, the Company has adopted the ISO 14001: 2015 Environmental Management System as a baseline standard for its operations as well as applied several other international standards, guidelines, and best practices, such as the Guidance on Chemical Risk Assessment of the International Council of Chemicals Association (ICCA) and the water shortage risk assessment using the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas tools of the World Resources Institute (WRI), etc. Furthermore, external verification on environment related operating results has been carried out every year. 3.2) Proactive Environmental Management (PEM) and Development of Key Performance Indicators for Sustainability Since 2008, GC has systematically adopted the philosophy of resource management alongside sustainable business operations known as Ecoefficiency from the Manual of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as an indicator of its environmental performance. The intention is to improve resource efficiency and reduce environmental impacts caused by its activities and production processes in compliance with the BS 8001: 2017 framework of circular economy practices. In tandem, GC has also developed an Environmental Performance Database under the framework of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, which is in line with UN SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. GC is Thai land’s f i rst petrochemical and ref inery organization to continuously conduct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accounting and report GHG production and reduction across all plants of its subsidiaries in accordance with the ISO 14064-1 standard. In addition, GC has developed proactive environmental management plans in operating plants and its surrounding areas by applying the circular economy concept as a basis for driving resource efficiency in the organization to keep the environmental quality above the standard and reduce impacts on the environment and communities. Examples of its activities in this regard are as follow: Resource and Waste Management GC strives to manage resources and waste according to the concept of circular economy, which places emphasis on maximizing resource efficiency. This initiative begins with the product development stage, in which GC minimizes waste by exchanging leftover products, feedstock, and fuels from production between plants to create added value. GC also raises awareness among all concerned parties, both internal and external, by applying the concept of circular economy and expanding towards a green culture and green resource and waste management, employing the 5Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse, Renewable) to reduce waste and maximize resource efficiency across the value chain, and ultimately achieve the goal of zero industrial waste to landfill. These initiatives have been carried out since 2015 and are still ongoing. Moreover, GC has continuously implemented the Green Turnaround Management Project, in which measures have been established to prevent and reduce environmental impacts resulting from the maintenance of machinery and equipment. For example, GC began treating wastewater generating from the cleaning of equipment and machinery during a turnaround in a plant to reduce the amount of water destined for incineration. Air Quality Control GC has carried out projects to control air pollution in both process areas and fence lines. It has also applied air pollution reduction innovation and technology through collaborations with the public sector and petrochemical operators to maximize efficiency. 177
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