On November 12th, Arkema, the global leader in specialty materials, announced that it has officially joined One Foundation’s Clean Water Project 2020 charitable initiative, which aims to improve the drinking water environment of schools in need in rural areas of Yunnan Province, and enhance students’ drinking water hygiene and health awareness. The project aligns with Arkema Group’s sustainable development strategy and CSR policy, and is another major step towards deepening Arkema’s CSR in China based on local conditions. The opening ceremony was held at Baishiyan Primary School, Zhicun Town, Mengzi City, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and was attended by Mr. Fuzhou Li, Deputy Director of Education Bureau in Mengzi City, Miss Wei Yang, Supervisor of Student Financial Asistance Center in Education Bureau in Mengzi City, Xuelian BAI, Deputy Mayor of Zhicun Town Government, Mr. Baoshu Yang, Principle of Central Primary School in Zhicun Town, Mr. Jiankun Liu, Principle of Baishiyan Primary School, Mr. Mingtao Wei, Project Director of One Foundation, Mr. Xavier Durand-Delacre, Senior Vice President of Arkema Asia Pacific and President of Arkema Greater China, Dr. Morgan Chen Ma, General Manager of Arkema-ArrMaz China.
One Foundation’s Clean Water Project 2020 Opening Ceremony: Mr. Jiankun Liu, Principle of Baishiyan Primary School (Left), Mr. Xavier Durand-Delacre, Senior Vice President of Arkema Asia Pacific and President of Arkema Greater China (Right)
“Sustainable development is a core strategy that Arkema has always insisted upon,” Mr. Xavier Durand-Delacre, Senior Vice President of Arkema Asia Pacific and President of Arkema Greater China said. “We are committed to contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which water management is an important sector. Through the Clean Water Project, we hope to effectively help rural areas in China improve drinking water conditions and enhance young students’ awareness of drinking water quality and safety.”
“Every child deserves clean water.” This is the original intention and ultimate goal of the NGO, One Foundation, which initiated the Clean Water Project. One Foundation’s Clean Water Project provides schools in rural areas water purifiers, water bottles, water and hygiene trainings to improve drinking water environment in rural areas, help students increase awareness of drinking water safety and foster good habits, and enable them to obtain safe drinking water in schools. Also, the project promotes local governments and schools to pay attention to drinking water safety in campus through establishing exemplary counties and provinces.
Clean Water Project equipping students with safety water bottles
Arkema and its subsidiary, the specialty surfactants leader, Arkema-ArrMaz, planned to donate approximately CNY 400,000 (USD 58,000), joining One Foundation to support the gradual implementation of the Clean Water Project in 10 primary schools of Yunnan Province. The project is expected to be completed in 2021 and will install a water purifier for each school, equip students with safety water bottles, and carry out water and hygiene trainings. After strict water quality inspections of all equipment, schools will also carry out follow-up management and maintenance to ensure that the equipment can provide students clean and safe drinking water for a long time. Once the project is completed, approximately 4000 students will benefit from it every year.
In addition to providing water purifiers to the target schools and safety water bottles for students, representatives from Arkema and Arkema-ArrMaz China visited Heilachong Primary School, Yanfengwo Primary School, Yangliujing Primary School, Mobie Primary School, Central Primary School in Zhicun Town and Baishiyan Primary School to get a status update on the water purifier installation situation and the related supplementary education needs of each school. Arkema-ArrMaz also donated 1.2 ton of hydrogen peroxide products to 6 schools for local anti- pandemic disinfection.
“According to the specific needs of these schools, Arkema-ArrMaz will regularly mobilize volunteers to provide courses about hygiene, health, safety, environment, and other related campus activities in the future, so as to promote the gradual development of students’ personal health habits and cultivate their awareness of safety and environmental protection,” said Mr. Jean-Francois Chesneau, Head of Arkema’s global Surfactant & Additives business unit.
This initiative is also consistent with Arkema’s CSR “Better Life, Better Future” brand and its Arkema Green Innovation Class CSR project, which helps young students to broaden their horizons and acquire knowledge from different sources, stimulating their creative abilities and boosting their comprehensive development.
Drinking clean water and developing good hand-washing habits are important to ensuring healthy growth in children, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this in mind, on the day of the opening ceremony, employees from Arkema China, Arkema-ArrMaz carried out a series of volunteer activities. At Baishiyan Primary School, volunteers tutored students on using water purifiers, and explaining the importance of drinking water safety to help them develop good habits of using water safely and drinking water to maintain good health. In addition, the volunteers carried out outdoor interactive activities related to health. The students warmly welcomed and enthusiastically participated in these activities.
Guests of the opening ceremony, employees from Arkema China, Arkema-ArrMaz taking photos with students
Water treatment has always been one of the core focuses of Arkema. As one of Arkema’s six R&D platforms, Arkema is committed to developing and providing advanced technology solutions. Arkema actively participates in CSR projects related to clean water worldwide, including sponsoring Sail for Water, an NGO which has helped more than 30,000 people in more than 10 countries to obtain clean drinking water.
In addition to supporting One Foundation’s Clean Water Project, Arkema also launched Sustainable Development Week-themed activities worldwide, in accordance with the Group’s three overall CSR policy commitments of offering sustainable solutions driven by innovation, managing activities as a responsible manufacturer, and fostering open dialog and close relations with our stakeholders. Various activities were carried out at each local production site. These operations are part of Arkema’s Common Ground® initiative, which entails engaging a dialogue with our local communities and establishing long-lasting relations of trust with all our stakeholders. Arkema remains committed to continuing its CSR activities in China and contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Building on its unique set of expertise in materials science, Arkema offers a portfolio of first-class technologies to address ever-growing demand for new and sustainable materials. With the ambition to become in 2024 a pure player in Specialty Materials, the Group is structured into 3 complementary, resilient and highly innovative segments dedicated to Specialty Materials -Adhesive solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions- accounting for some 80% of Group sales, and a well-positioned and competitive Intermediates segment. Arkema offers cutting-edge technological solutions to meet the challenges of, inter alia, new energies, access to water, recycling, urbanization and mobility, and fosters a permanent dialogue with all its stakeholders. The Group reported sales of €8.7 billion in 2019, and operates in some 55 countries with 20,500 employees worldwide. www.arkema.com.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Daria Gong
TEL：+86 21 6147 6888 *220
[email protected]
