REC Silicon Annual Report 2019

REC Silicon Annual Report 2019 15 is supplied by renewable sources. The decrease in energy usage was driven by the shutdown of the FBR facility on May 15, 2019. Waste from the manufacturing processes is sorted and recycled with third-party waste management services. REC Silicon’s production and maintenance cycles cause variations in waste generation. In 2019, the Company had a 52.7 percent decrease in total waste generation, with a reduction in recycled waste of 29.0 percent. This decrease consisted of a 52.5 percent decrease in nonhazardous waste, and a 64.0 percent decrease in hazardous waste. Water consumption increased by 4.6 percent compared to 2018 and wastewater discharge increased by 3.7 percent. The Company registered zero environmental permit breaches in 2019 compared to one in 2018. There were no serious incidents or environmental releases in 2019. Our Employees Health and safety have the highest priority, and the Company aims to prevent all work-related accidents, injuries, and occupational illnesses. The target is zero incidents, zero injuries, and no harm to employees, contractors, partners, customers and communities. REC Silicon had 284 employees as of December 31, 2019, down from 407 in 2018. This decrease is due to workforce reduction and employee attrition primarily because of the uncertainty caused by the continuing trade dispute between China and the United States. To achieve a world-class safety culture, REC Silicon’s employees take part in the Company’s continuous safety-focused improvement efforts daily. This includes assessing all work activities to eliminate inherent risks as well as applying control measures. The Company has an extensive set of HSE procedures, safety departments at each facility, and employee-driven processes that monitor, audit, and further develop safety procedures, practices and protocols. All employees have the right and the responsibility to stop unsafe activities as needed. Emphasis is placed on training employees and leadership in the Job Safety Analysis (JSA) method, which is applied to high-risk and nonstandard work activities. In 2019, employees performed 529 Safe Job Analyses and 380 Hazard Recognition Audits. Despite a challenging business environment, the number of lost time injuries (LTI) was reduced to zero injuries in 2019, and the number of total recordable injuries decreased from8 in 2018 to 4 in 2019. REC Silicon’s compensation policy provides a benefit for paid time off (PTO). For employees in the State ofWashington, a portion of an employee’s PTOaccrual is designated as Sick PTO in accordancewith state regulations. Designated Sick PTO hours can only be used if the employee has sufficient PTO accrued. In 2019, 1,465 hours were designated as Sick PTO in Washington. REC does not separately identify sick days in compensating employees in the State of Montana. Accordingly, average sickness rates have not been provided. The Company maintains a health and wellness programwhich facilitates healthy lifestyle choices and activities. 2019 2018 %CHANGE Energy Direct energy consumption (GWh) 329 620 -47% Electricity (GWh) 683 857 -20% Total energy use (GWh) 1,012 1,477 -31% CO 2 emissions Direct emissions (tCO 2 -eq) 66,773 126,740 -47% Indirect emissions from electricity (tCO 2 -eq) 176,051 199,959 -12% Total CO 2 emissions (tCO 2 -eq) 242,824 326,699 -26% Water Water consumption (million m 3 /yr) 2.6 2.5 5% Waste water discharge (million m 3 /yr) 1.4 1.4 4% Waste Recycled waste (MT) 56 79 -29% Non-hazardous waste (MT) 5,454 11,493 -53% Hazardous waste (MT) 60 167 -64% Total waste (MT) 5,515 11,660 -53% Other figures Total number of permit breaches 0 1 -100% Board of Directors’ report