As we enter 2022 the business area of focus will be ‘The year of Continuous Improvement and ESG’.

Continuous Improvement at Elastomers Australia is tailored to our people and the continual improvement we see happening in all facets of our business. From the manufacturing of our products to the service delivery to our clients will also continue to evolve and grow with the input from all our staff.

Our world continues to evolve and we welcome these changes to our business. Now more than ever, there is an emphasis on our social responsibility and what sustainable and governance practices we have in place at Elastomers Australia.

We are one team.

ESG DRIVES

For Elastomers Australia, 2022 will not be defined by COVID-19.

Obviously, the ongoing pandemic will have a bearing on the way we go about our business, but as we’ve shown throughout the past two years, Elastomers Australia is both adaptable and robust.

Our team has readily embraced the changing circumstances and we’ve defined and refined the way we work and live with COVID. Having adopted best practice across the country and worked with our customer to ensure expectations and requirements align, Elastomers Australia is getting on with business.

On that basis, we are forging ahead with plans for growth and improvement. 

Our primary focus over the coming months for the business will be to provide continual training to all staff as well as extend and implement a range of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives that help our business and our customers improve outcomes for the planet and all the people we work with, in a safe manner.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Last year, Elastomers Australia announced its innovative rubber recycling program in conjunction with Novum Energy Australia. The program involves using a low-energy process to convert waste rubber – from used screen media panels and wear liners to conveyer belts and tyres – into carbon black, gas and oil to be reused in rubber manufacturing, for energy and a range
of other applications.

Any steel reinforcement and wire can also be reclaimed during the recycling process for reuse.

We are also in the process of auditing environmental performance across all areas of our business to identify areas where we can improve. In addition, the company is actively working with stakeholders across the supply chain, ensuring suppliers, customers and others involved with our business share our motivations and take action to improve sustainability outcomes. 

SOCIAL

Elastomers Australia remains committed to growing its indigenous workforce, enhancing gender and cultural diversity, and ensuring all staff receive appropriate guidance and training to enhance inclusivity in our workplace.

Over the past 6 months, the Company has engaged with two recruitment agencies (Dimes and EMG Workforce) that focus on diversity at the core of their business operations. This initiative has been embraced by the Company as a positive step in the right direction by playing our part in supporting social values. 

In assessing the Company’s diversity footprint in its current state, compared to January 2021, there has been an increase in the
overall Indigenous employment within the Company by 1.4%, despite our turnover figures remaining relatively low at 1.78%. In relation to our Senior Management Team, the percentage of females within the team currently sits at 33%, and therefore we will continue to foster an environment that supports all facets of diversity in our day-to-day operations. 

Health and safety have always been central to the way Elastomers Australia carries out its work. But we see health and safety
performance as a journey without a final destination – in other words, continual improvement is a given. 

We continue to gather, analyse and act on safety and health performance data across our operations, providing input and leadership for staff, customers, suppliers and communities in which we operate. 

Work practice improvements, equipment innovation and investment in training and equipping our staff are driven primarily with health and safety in mind and this will continue to be the case for as long as the company operates.

GOVERNANCE 

Elastomers Australia maintains high standards of corporate governance in all areas, ensuring we maintain our own high standards and those of the customers we work with.

We maintain a strong focus on continual improvement and ensure all policies, procedures, staff education and training, and quality management are kept up to date and aligned to overarching legislation, regulation and company vision and values.

A key ongoing focus for the company is to ensure all products are derived from ethical sources, right back to the raw products used by our suppliers. The rubber industry historically has a poor record when it comes to the exploitation of human capital and Elastomers Australia is committed to supporting the end to modern slavery by only working with suppliers that we know share the same values.

This can only be achieved through the education of our suppliers, setting the standards of our expectations and collaborating with our clients and our supply chain to ensure the standards are aligned and being met.

The company looks forward to an exciting year ahead and to continue working alongside our customers to deliver outstanding results in mineral processing.