Sustainability

We recognise the dire consequences of climate change on humanity and the direct risks they pose to our operations. We are reducing our impacts on climate change through our conservation efforts, adopting best management practices in planted areas on peatland, developing methane capture facilities as well as using biomass to generate electricity at our mills.

We continue to identify risks and opportunities to strengthen the Group’s business resilience while striving to adapt as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy. For instance, our research and development efforts include palm seedlings that are able to potentially withstand extreme weather events.

Packaging is essential in maintaining food safety and quality, as well as reducing food wastage by extending shelf life. However, packaging waste and particularly plastic waste is a growing concern and we endeavour to improve our product packaging by:

• Reducing the overall amount of resources required and materials used
• Improving the quality of materials used to increase recyclability
• Ensuring materials are from sustainable sources by improving our sourcing requirements

Our businesses have also been working towards customised packaging to better meet local consumers’ preferences and expectations.

Wilmar’s Equal Opportunity Policy is a commitment that every employee has the right to equal opportunities and treatment.

Safety is one of the Group’s core values and inculcating a culture of workplace safety across our operations globally is an ongoing priority. We have in place an integrated Environmental, Health and Safety Management System covering all our operations and our employees. Governed by our Workplace Health and Safety Policy, we conduct regular trainings and access to education materials to raise awareness and build knowledge among our employees on best practices and up-to-date requirements. These help us to identify work-related hazards, take measures to eliminate or minimise them and prevent accidents in the workplace.

Wilmar transitioned towards an online learning management system in 2020 and have since been developing online training materials that can be accessed and assessed by employees. We are also developing a five-year programme specialising in health and safety audits and trainings.

To further improve employee well- being, there are various initiatives designed to promote and support work- life balance and healthy lifestyles, both in the workplace and at home.

Given Wilmar’s international footprint, our workforce is diverse and brings to the business a unique benefit of different and new perspectives. The Group’s Equal Opportunity Policy is a commitment to ensure every employee has the right to equal opportunities and treatment, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, national origin, age, social class, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, union membership, political affiliation, or disability.

It is a constant race to acquire and retain good talent globally, hence we endeavour to offer attractive and competitive renumeration and benefits while creating an engaging environment for our employees to reach their full potential and pursue their career goals.

We also firmly believe in providing opportunities for our employees to grow and thrive within the Group. This is further complemented by our ongoing efforts to strengthen and upskill our current workforce through various initiatives including the setting up of training academies in Indonesia and China.

We recognise that the scale of our business and geographical presence put Wilmar in a unique position to contribute to the socioeconomic development of the communities we operate in. More importantly, we recognise the varying degrees of economic, social and environmental impacts, both positive and negative, that our business has on our communities.

We continue to support our scheme and independent smallholder suppliers with the tools and knowledge to improve their livelihoods while guiding their efforts to fulfil our NDPE commitments.

The establishment of our oil palm estates have brought about infrastructure development such as roads, electricity and clean drinking water to remote rural areas. Our plantation workers live with their families in proper housing and have access to facilities such as clinics, schools and places of worship. All workers receive at least the applicable local minimum wage in line with legal regulations.

We continue to ensure that all our scheme and independent smallholder suppliers are supported by various and relevant smallholder programmes tailored to the context and specific needs of smallholders from different regions. These include providing them with the tools and platform to access expertise and to share best practices in order to improve their livelihoods while guiding and supporting their efforts to fulfil our NDPE commitments.

With our sugar cane outgrowers in India, we continue to focus on building capacity in a myriad of topics ranging from Super Cane Nursery technology, raising awareness on new varieties and arrangement of planting materials and bio-pesticides as well as Best Management Practices (BMP), health and safety and financial literacy. Our engagement was carried out through conference calls during the country’s Covid-19 lockdown while in-person trainings and demonstrations resumed after restrictions were lifted.

Similar engagement programmes on capacity building and BMP were undertaken with sugar cane outgrowers in Myanmar. In addition, there is a fertiliser programme in place where we sell fertiliser to outgrowers at competitive market rates with an extended credit period as a means to further support them.

Despite having to suspend our regular face-to-face sessions and tours with sugar cane growers in Australia amid the pandemic, we conducted educational and information sharing sessions through video conferencing to provide expert market updates on pricing and pooling options. Our trials on applying mill and mud ash are still ongoing to help sugar cane growers reduce the potential loss of nutrients from farms while potentially increasing their profits.

We allocate about 1% of the Group’s annual profit which is approximately US$10 million to support various philanthropic activities. Some of these include building schools in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa; supporting cataract operations and prosthetic limb surgeries for the needy; building orphanages and nursing homes in China; and contributing to disaster relief efforts.

The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis that not only disrupts businesses but impacts the well-being and livelihoods of our employees and communities. Apart from implementing safe management measures at the workplace to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees, Wilmar is doing our part to support local governments and communities in a collective effort to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.

We modified factories, where possible and necessary, to manufacture hand sanitisers and disinfectants according to World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for distribution to staff, their families and our surrounding communities. Across our global operations, we donated masks, gloves, face shields, rapid test kits, medical equipment and essential food items such as rice, cooking oil, sugar, flour, bread and noodles to the vulnerable, on top of financial contributions. We will continue to support the ongoing global fight against Covid-19.

For the children of our oil palm plantation workers living in the estates, learning did not stop despite the closure of schools. Working closely with schools, we improvised and introduced tools to aid learning such as virtual classrooms and the use of messaging apps, social media and our estate audio system. Where internet access is a challenge, we distributed printed materials and homework.

Wilmar strictly complies with legal requirements and regulatory guidelines, as outlined in each region where we operate, to ensure that we market and label our products in a responsible manner while upholding a high level of ethical standards. This includes, but is not limited to, not targeting children in our sales and marketing activities.

The expansion of our R&D centres globally is a testament to our commitment to innovation. Our R&D work is carried out worldwide and focuses on developing new products, enhancing the quality of existing products and optimising operational processes.

Wilmar has established a dedicated system to address concerns surrounding data management as we strive to protect our employees’ and stakeholders’ rights to privacy while preventing cyber-attacks from occurring.