SUSTAINABILITY
Our 2017-2018 Report
Contributing to the sustainable development of Hong Kong
Alliance’s Sustainability Report introduces our efforts in enhancing responsible business operations, building a trusting relationship with our stakeholders and contributing to the sustainable development of Hong Kong.
CEO
MESSAGE
Transformation towards sustainable development
2017 to 2018 were transformative years for Alliance. Market demand for construction materials began to shrink in the reporting period as we saw the completion of major infrastructure projects. The gross value of construction works for the public sector dropped significantly. The market change prompted increased focus on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement in order to sustain our market position. Over this period the “not in my backyard” attitude shown by the community towards locating of operations considered undesirable, continued to be the pressing issue for our related industries and the wider Hong Kong. Globally, the threat from climate change has driven various policy changes and, Hong Kong was no exception. The call for an acceleration on action for climate protection has boosted the demand for green and low carbon construction materials. Under this growing trend towards a green economy we continue to make it our responsibility to bolster our strategy by moving from risk management to looking for opportunities for further carbon reduction. To realize our commitments toward being a responsible corporation, this reporting period saw the development of the Alliance Sustainability Ambitions 2030 plan which is our sustainability roadmap for current and future contributions to sustainable development. In response to our stakeholders, we have increased some focus on our contribution to our community by supporting different vulnerable groups while taking more visible action on improving our employees’ wellbeing.
After the large construction boom driven by major public infrastructure projects during the last reporting period, we shifted our focus in 2017 / 2018 to better equip ourselves to the rapidly evolving landscape of the diverse risks and uncertainties created by sustainability issues. With our customer focused strategy, we saw the need to further upgrade our production capacity and efficiency, ensure highest possible product and service performance to our customers, and help easing the difficulties our customers encountered. In December 2017, our new concrete batching plant on Tsing Tim Street commenced operation, which helped to synergize with the Sai Tso Wan plant to form a regional Concrete Production Hub. Our West Kowloon aggregates Depot also commenced operations to improve our efficiency in aggregates supplies. Together with our effort on system upgrade and transition towards full automation and digitalization, we were able to improve our operational performance in the reporting period.
Being one of the major operators in the construction materials industry in Hong Kong, our purpose is to support local development. In 2017, we completed the rehabilitation of Anderson Road Quarry. The completion of the Anderson Road Quarry project was not only a significant milestone to us, it was also a just-in-time solution for tackling the imminent housing problem as it created a large piece of safe and usable land for housing development. Our strong rock reserves and concrete production capability also enabled us to contribute to the mega infrastructure projects, such as the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge (HZMB), Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) and the coming Airport Three-Runway System (3RS). All these infrastructure projects enhanced the connectivity of Hong Kong to other cities in Mainland China and in other regions and in turn improved the competitiveness of Hong Kong.
In terms of environmental preservation, we volunteered to launch different initiatives to minimize our impact on the environment. In addition to upgrading of pollution control facilities, we put much effort on energy management and climate protection, which has resulted in more than 20% carbon reduction in the reporting period as compared to base-year 2007. For waste reduction, we introduced the first Returned Concrete Treatment machine in Hong Kong, so we can turn waste concrete into recycled aggregates, which can be used in concrete production and other engineering projects. Furthermore, through R&D and collaboration with customers, we introduced new or improved products with various sustainability benefits to the market, such as more durable concrete products to prolong the usable life of buildings. In addition, we reduced material consumption, and increased the application of recycled materials in our products. All these are aimed at enabling a circular economy, which is one of the sustainability priorities for us as well as for Hong Kong.
Further, we supported the community and our employees in a wide variety of ways. Encouraging results were achieved in health and safety, e.g. 0 Lost-Time-Injury (LTI) for all employees in 2018 and a continued downward trend of road traffic incidents. We believe helping vulnerable groups is vital for building a harmonious society. Therefore, we have actively organized different CSR activities to serve the people in need. We also help develop the younger generation via internship and scholarship programs. At Alliance, sustainability is not just about meeting compliance requirement, it drives our competitive advantage and long term growth. Inspired by the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as Hong Kong Government’s Climate Ready 2030 and our shareholder HeidelbergCement’s sustainability planning, we have developed the Alliance Sustainability Ambitions 2030 to ensure a more strategic and systematic management of our initiatives. With Governance as the foundation, the plan covers 4 pillars of People, Community, Resources and Innovation.
The ongoing challenges of Hong Kong and our industry, such as shortage of land for housing development, increasing raw material costs, limited supply of skilled labour, strict environmental requirements, tight construction schedules, and competition for young talent, are all being addressed in the Alliance Sustainability Ambitions 2030. We are confident in enabling ourselves and our customers to turn risks into opportunities.
The support of all our stakeholders, the commitment and hard work of our employees are essential to our continuing success. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to them. A special thanks to our stakeholders who made valuable suggestions for our sustainability planning that will enable us to realize our purpose of building a great, livable city.
Having received feedback from stakeholders on the quality and readability of our Sustainability Report, it is our aim to reduce paper consumption from the printed copies. This is our first E-report after 4 reporting cycles. We hope you find a good balance between the readability and completeness of disclosures. Your feedback is highly appreciated, which will in turn help us improve. I hope you enjoy reading this report.
Vincent Yu
Chief Executive Officer
Being one of the major operators in the construction materials industry in Hong Kong, our purpose is to support local development. In 2017, we completed the rehabilitation of Anderson Road Quarry. The completion of the Anderson Road Quarry project was not only a significant milestone to us, it was also a just-in-time solution for tackling the imminent housing problem as it created a large piece of safe and usable land for housing development. Our strong rock reserves and concrete production capability also enabled us to contribute to the mega infrastructure projects, such as the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge (HZMB), Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) and the coming Airport Three-Runway System (3RS). All these infrastructure projects enhanced the connectivity of Hong Kong to other cities in Mainland China and in other regions and in turn improved the competitiveness of Hong Kong.
In terms of environmental preservation, we volunteered to launch different initiatives to minimize our impact on the environment. In addition to upgrading of pollution control facilities, we put much effort on energy management and climate protection, which has resulted in more than 20% carbon reduction in the reporting period as compared to base-year 2007. For waste reduction, we introduced the first Returned Concrete Treatment machine in Hong Kong, so we can turn waste concrete into recycled aggregates, which can be used in concrete production and other engineering projects. Furthermore, through R&D and collaboration with customers, we introduced new or improved products with various sustainability benefits to the market, such as more durable concrete products to prolong the usable life of buildings. In addition, we reduced material consumption, and increased the application of recycled materials in our products. All these are aimed at enabling a circular economy, which is one of the sustainability priorities for us as well as for Hong Kong.
Further, we supported the community and our employees in a wide variety of ways. Encouraging results were achieved in health and safety, e.g. 0 Lost-Time-Injury (LTI) for all employees in 2018 and a continued downward trend of road traffic incidents. We believe helping vulnerable groups is vital for building a harmonious society. Therefore, we have actively organized different CSR activities to serve the people in need. We also help develop the younger generation via internship and scholarship programs. At Alliance, sustainability is not just about meeting compliance requirement, it drives our competitive advantage and long term growth. Inspired by the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as Hong Kong Government’s Climate Ready 2030 and our shareholder HeidelbergCement’s sustainability planning, we have developed the Alliance Sustainability Ambitions 2030 to ensure a more strategic and systematic management of our initiatives. With Governance as the foundation, the plan covers 4 pillars of People, Community, Resources and Innovation.
The ongoing challenges of Hong Kong and our industry, such as shortage of land for housing development, increasing raw material costs, limited supply of skilled labour, strict environmental requirements, tight construction schedules, and competition for young talent, are all being addressed in the Alliance Sustainability Ambitions 2030. We are confident in enabling ourselves and our customers to turn risks into opportunities.
The support of all our stakeholders, the commitment and hard work of our employees are essential to our continuing success. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to them. A special thanks to our stakeholders who made valuable suggestions for our sustainability planning that will enable us to realize our purpose of building a great, livable city.
Having received feedback from stakeholders on the quality and readability of our Sustainability Report, it is our aim to reduce paper consumption from the printed copies. This is our first E-report after 4 reporting cycles. We hope you find a good balance between the readability and completeness of disclosures. Your feedback is highly appreciated, which will in turn help us improve. I hope you enjoy reading this report.
Vincent Yu
Chief Executive Officer
YOUR FEEDBACK
Striving for continuous improvement is the spirit of Alliance. We welcome feedback on our sustainability practices, reporting content and approach. Please contact us anytime by your preferred channels.
Alliance Construction Materials Limited
T: 852 2862 2200
E: sustainability@concrete.hk
T: 852 2862 2200
E: sustainability@concrete.hk
THE REPORT
This is the fifth report since we started our voluntary reporting in 2011. To demonstrate our commitment to environmental protection, we go paperless this year by publishing an online report. A print version Abstract of our sustainability report is also available.
- REPORTING PERIOD AND SCOPE
- This report covers Alliance’ sustainability performance from 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2018 at our controlled assets where we set health & safety, green initiatives and other sustainability standards and can therefore enforce their applications. At our non-operated assets, such as Huidong Quarry, we actively promote our good practices and monitor their performance, ensuring the full adoption in these assets.
- REPORTING STANDARDS AND EXTERNAL ASSURANCE
- This report has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards: Core option. All our performance data compiled in the report follows the GRI standards and methodologies. This Report has been verified by HKQAA, you can find the independent Verification Statement below.
- THE REPORT ABSTRACT
- While our web report supports paperless publishing, we also produced a print version Abstract that offers a summary of our sustainability performance in 2017-2018.
VERIFICATION
STATEMENT
- SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE
- Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (“HKQAA”) has been engaged by Alliance Construction Materials Limited (“ACML”) to undertake an independent verification for its Sustainability Report 2017-2018 (“the Report”). The scope of this verification covers the performance data and information associating to ACML’s sustainability performance for the period 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2018. This is the fifth Report that ACML published to communicate its commitments, efforts and progress of performance towards sustainability.
- LEVEL OF ASSURANCE AND METHODOLOGY
- The process applied in this verification was referenced to the International Standard on Assurance Engagement 3000 (ISAE 3000) – “Assurance Engagement Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information” issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. HKQAA’s verification procedure is designed for devising opinions and conclusions to obtain a reasonable level of assurance. The extent of this verification process undertaken covered the criteria set in the GRI Standards: Core Option.
The verification process included verifying the systems and processes implemented for collecting, collating and reporting the sustainability performance data, reviewing relevant documentation, interviewing responsible personnel with accountability for preparing the reporting contents and verifying selected representative sample of data and information. Raw data and supporting evidence of the selected samples were also thoroughly examined during the verification process.
- INDEPENDENCE
- ACML was responsible for the collection and preparation of the information presented. HKQAA did not involve in calculating and compiling the reporting data, or the content development of the Report. Our verification activities were entirely independent from ACML.
- CONCLUSION
- Based on the verification results and in accordance with the verification procedures undertaken, HKQAA has obtained reasonable assurance and is in the opinion that:
- The Report has been prepared in accordance with the Core Option of GRI Standards;
- The Report illustrates ACML’s sustainability performance on material topics in a balanced, comparable, clear and timely manner; and
- The data and information disclosed in the Report are reliable and complete.
Signed on behalf of Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency
Ronnie Ng
General Manager, Construction Business
General Manager, Construction Business
July 2019