For more information about Responsible Care® , please visit the website: www.responsiblecare.org

Responsible Care® is the chemical industry's global voluntary initiative under which companies, through their national associations, work together to continuously improve their health, safety and environmental performance, and to communicate with stakeholders about their products and processes. Responsible Care® commits companies, through their national chemical associations, to work together to continuously improve the health, safety and environmental performance of their products and processes. It is a major contribution by the industry in achieving sustainable development.

The Responsible Care® ethic helps our industry to operate safely, profitably and with due care for future generations, and was commended by UNEP as making a significant contribution to sustainable development at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.

Mechanisms to ensure an effective and robust Member Support network are fundamental to the further development and future success of Responsible Care®. The The International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA)'s Responsible Care Leadership Group (RCLG) provides support for the 53 associations that have signed up to the initiative, which is particularly important for smaller organizations that may be less well-resourced. This support includes provision of a global networking process that enables best practice sharing, mutual support and experience sharing between participating countries. The support system encourages associations in their implementation of Responsible Care, who in turn encourage and support their member companies.

 

Responsible Care® Global Charter Signatory Chemical Industry Associations in the world:

The ICCA's Responsible Care Leadership Group has issued a new brochure offering a global perspective on the ICCA's Responsible Care initiative. This brochure can be reached at: http://www.responsiblecare.org/filebank/RC%20BROCHURE%20ENGLISH.PDF

 

RESPONSIBLE CARE ® - ÜÇLÜ SORUMLULUK ® How it started in Turkey

Turkish Chemical Manufacturers Association intensifed its efforts on the enviromental issues shortly after becoming a CEFIC member in 1992. At that time, the most exiting aspect of the CEFIC membership was the Responsible Care initiative of the world chemical industry, which had already received due attention in most of the developed countries. We recognized the fact that Responsible Care initiative was more than "just a program" but the chemical industry associations under titles in individual country's language.Prompted by the wealth of this initiative, we decided to move on the initiation of Responsible Care in Turkey .

The first step in our action was to have a seminar on "what Responsible Care was about" and decide the Turkish title for this initiative.A two-day seminar was held at the Klasis Hotel in Istanbul at the and of 1992 wiht the attendance of Mr. Louis Jourdan of CEFIC and the Turkish Standarts Institute representatices.That seminar had received quite a lot of attention in our member companies.The title of this initiative had become "ÜÇLÜ SORUMLULUK (Three-way Responsibility) " at that meeting.

Following completion of institutional preparations at tha Turkish Chemical Manufacturers Association, the ÜÇLÜ SORUMLULUK initiative was laonched at a meeting held in the, then Sheraton, now the Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel in the spring of 1993.

ÜÇLÜ SORUMLULUK implementation practices has received significant attention within the Turkish industrysince itsinception in 1993. I am in the opinion that the success of our Association in implementation of Responsible Care is a good indicator of enviromental protection awaraness of the Turkish chemical industry, which has been under undue criticism. With this occasion, I would like to express my gratitude to all of our member companies for their sincere interest in the ÜÇLÜ SORUMLULUK Responsible Care initiative in Turkey .

Timur ERK
TCMA President