An ambitious environmental project has put SCA on the map in Slovakia. SCA’s plant for feminine care and incontinence products is located in beautiful natural surroundings in which the company is now working with local interests to protect the unique character of the landscape.
School children and the local population around one of Slovakia’s most famous national parks pooled their efforts to make Domica a cleaner place – with SCA as one of the driving forces in this local environmental project.
The Slovensky Kras National Park, which is near the Hungarian border, is renowned for its caves. SCA Hygiene Products has a major production facility in this area, with a workforce of some 1,200.
“In our role as the largest industrial company here, we focus on minimizing the impact of our production processes on the climate and nature, so naturally we were pleased when representatives from the small communities around the plant invited us to participate in a local environmental project” says Peter Vitoslavsky, HR Manager at SCA Hygiene Products in Gemerská Hôrka.
In 2006, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) initiated this project with local communities in the Domica region. Domica is the name of the most spectacular cave in the national park and was the focus of the most active environmental project in the past year.
Considerable attention
On October 5, 2007, hundreds of local people teamed up with SCA’s and UNDP’s representatives to clean up the trails used for tourism and educational purposes.
“We also involved school children in a bid to raise their awareness of the importance of protecting endangered species in the national park and to prioritize nature in general,” adds Peter.
He notes that the initiative attracted considerable attention nationwide. The primary activity in 2006 – a cleanup of the banks along the Slaná River – was closely monitored by local media. But later activities amid the famous natural heritage around the Domica cave also attracted reporters from national radio and TV.
“These actions made SCA well known to a far larger market in Slovakia. Previously, most local people knew of us, since we are a major local employer. But now numerous Slovakians are aware of the company behind such well-known brands as Libresse and Tena,” he comments.
Long-term project
Peter underlines that local communities and SCA can gain from the environmentally sustainable development of the region. The environmental project will continue for several years ahead. The next item on the list is to arrange this year’s major activity, which will be pursued up until autumn.
“We’re planning a meeting with all the groups involved to select the next cleanup target. This may involve nature areas and/or local communities,” says Peter.
As regards in-house environmental programs, he views the energy issue as the challenge to be tackled next.
“Although our production is not very energy intensive, we continue to improve the efficiency of our processes and, on an SCA level, we are conducting discussions aimed at sourcing more green energy," concludes Peter.
Data in brief
SCA Hygiene Products in Slovakia is in a rapid growth phase. A new production facility is under construction, leading to a workforce expansion from some 1,000 to 1,200 during 2008.
“Higher output requires more employees and we expect to expand the workforce to about 1,500 until the end of 2009,” says Peter Vitoslavsky.
Text: Susanna Lidström