Responsible Care, the chemical industry's most important global voluntary initiative for sustainable development, aims to reconcile business growth and environmental performance as part of a significant, tangible focus on continuous improvement.

The Program, a voluntary initiative, was formed in 1984 in Canada by the Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA) and subsequently adopted in the USA by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and in 1989 in Europe by the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC ), of which Federchimica is a member. Today the Program is supported by more than 10,000 chemical companies in 47 countries around the world.

Federchimica has promoted the Responsible Care initiative in Italy since 1992; supporters are required to commit to a set of "Guiding Principles", whose specific objective is to reduce emissions into the air and water, optimize waste management, contain energy consumption, reduce accidents and occupational disease among employees and organize training for company staff.

Every year, Federchimica publishes a Responsible Care Report presenting data for the companies in the Program, to enable the results of preventive work and continuous improvement performance at industrial sites to be checked. 174 companies support the Program.

The Bracco Group joined the Responsible Care initiative when it began in 1992, subscribing to the Guiding Principles and confirming its strong voluntary commitment to continuous improvement of its performance in guaranteeing workplace health and safety and caring for the environment.

Sustaining the focus on continuous improvement, a "Responsible Care Global Charter" was recently drawn up, extending the Responsible Care principles to focus on important new challenges facing companies in the chemicals industry. In particular, these include sustainable development, effective management of chemical compounds over the entire life cycle, greater transparency among industry players and greater harmony and uniformity among national Responsible Care programs. Specifically, the main goals of the "Responsible Care Global Charter" are:

• to expand and broaden the continuous improvement method over and beyond the production process, for application to all activities associated with use of products;
• to direct key corporate elements, including the sustainable development process, to address the industry's need for transparent stakeholder engagement;
• to maintain an active commitment to cooperation among companies in order to strengthen and promote a Responsible Care ethic that delivers real benefits and value for the whole community.