Since our sites are often in remote locations, we focus our community investment on these areas, responding to specific local needs. We aim to help these communities recover from Covid and build a stronger and more sustainable future.
COVID-19 relief
Our first priority was to support vulnerable communities, as well as hospitals and frontline healthcare workers. Working with local authorities, we provided support that included financial donations to official relief funds, medical equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE) and food donations as well as COVID-19 vaccinations to residents living near our Indian plants
Education and youth development
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) remain our main focus for education and youth development but the disruption of COVID-19 means that we must help address this, too. The knock-on effects on children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds will continue for years, with education disrupted, life-chances potentially limited and incomes lost.
In Brazil, many residents lost livelihoods or left school with few opportunities due to Covid. To support young people nearby, our Brumado plant launched a technical training programme in partnership with community leaders and a local non-governmental organisation (NGO). Project Hexa aims to equip participants to work in construction. We have also requested that our contractor hire from this group when constructing our new rotary kiln in Brumado.
Our Contagem plant also launched a training programme that recruits from local disadvantaged communities. Building the Future participants receive 24 months of administration training, as well as practical, financial and psychological support. On completion, participants gain a professional qualification and practical experience.
Biodiversity / Natural Capital / Environmental protection
We recognise the critical role of natural capital in mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss and are exploring how we can best expand our work in this area.
In addition to planting on our own sites, we support tree-planting in local communities around the world. In Turkey alone, we have planted close to 300,000 trees.
Other initiatives include fruit and vegetable gardens that generate income for local communities, river clean-ups and environmental education projects.
Supporting entrepreneurship
In Brazil, Sewing Love, has been an income-generating project for women whose livelihoods were lost due to COVID-19. Located across five cities, an initial group of 50 women sewed more than 80,000 fabric masks. We provided the materials and purchased the masks, distributing them to employees and community groups. The project expanded to 90 participants, including local nano-business owners. In addition, we teamed up with leading business school Fundação Dom Cabral to help these small business entrepreneurs gain the skills and knowledge to develop successful and sustainable businesses.
