PricewaterhouseCoopers Opinion
on the environmental, safety and improvement initiatives in this report
At the request of Rhodia’s senior management and in our capacity
as the company’s Statutory Auditors, we have reviewed the following
data published in the 2002 Sustainable Development Report, prepared
under the responsibility of senior management:
- Environment and safety indicators. We reviewed the following
indicators for 2002: safety (TF1, TF2 and contractor TF1); air,
in particular the greenhouse effect expressed in CO2 equivalents,
acidification (nitrogen and sulfur oxides) and tropospheric ozone
(volatile organic compounds); water, in particular eutrophication
(nitrogen and phosphorus) and damage to the aquatic environment
(chemical oxygen demand); and landfilled hazardous and non-hazardous
waste.
- Improvement initiatives: for the first time this year, we reviewed
improvement initiatives reflecting five commitments by the Group
in the areas of health, safety and the environment (see pages
9, 10, 11, 13 and 14 of this report). Only the improvement initiatives
indicated by a
have been audited.
Objectives of our Audit
The objectives varied depending on the data to be audited:
- Environmental and safety indicators: Assessment of the quality
and application of the procedures and systems used to collect
and consolidate the data and verification of the accuracy of indicator
data.
- Improvement initiatives: Effective implementation by the sites
and Enterprises in our sample of the five Group commitments reviewed
in the areas of health, safety and the environment.
Nature and Scope
Our activities covered the corporate headquarters, seven Enterprises
and 17 significant Group sites, representing 43 Group operating units,
selected on the basis of 2001 data. The sites are located in France,
the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, Russia,
China and South Korea.
For each indicator, 2002 data from sites audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers
cover the following percentages compared to figures published by the
Rhodia Group:
 |
| Greenhouse effect (CO2
equivalents) |
88.6% |
| Acidification (nitrogen and sulfur oxide emissions) |
74.3% |
| Tropospheric ozone (volatile
organic compounds) |
79.8% |
| Eutrophication (nitrogen and
phosphorus discharges) |
89.3% |
| Damage to the aquatic environment (COD emissions) |
62.9% |
| Hazardous waste landfilled |
91.5% |
| Non-hazardous waste landfilled
(including mine waste) |
68.0% |
|
Our Approach
- Environment and Safety Indicators
At the 17 sites audited, we met with the environment and safety
managers of the 43 operating units. In addition, we:
- Verified that reporting procedures defined by the Group were
being correctly applied, especially concerning Responsible Care
indicators for calculating environmental and safety data within
the scope of this opinion. - Compared data reported by operating
units with data from other sources (including self-assessments,
reports prepared for government agencies, reports by outside organizations
under local regulations, internal monitoring documents and invoices).
- Systematically reviewed raw data used to calculate 2002 indicators
in relation to the two previous years.
- In cases of discrepancies with regard to data, determined the
figure to be integrated in cooperation with the operating unit
and Corporate Responsible Care Department and verified that the
modified data was correctly integrated into the reporting file
of the unit concerned.
Group Level
At the Group level, we reviewed reporting procedures and any changes
over the past year to ensure the validity of indicator comparisons
made over time. We also confirmed that all data reviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers
for audited operating units were correctly consolidated in the
overall report prepared by the Corporate Responsible Care Department.
- Improvement Initiatives
At the 17 sites audited, we met with the health, safety and environment
managers of the 43 operating units and, where appropriate, reviewed
relevant documents, such as site assessment reports, internal
audits, scorecards and accounting data.
For the seven Enterprises visited, we reviewed the improvement
initiatives related to monitoring Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) by
interviewing the product stewardship managers responsible for
monitoring the SDS portfolio and by reviewing the existing updating
process.
- Concerning the improvement initiatives, we observed that the
sites and Enterprises in our sample effectively monitored initiatives
in the areas of health, safety and the environment. However, given
the nature of the data reported and our sample, we cannot provide
an opinion on the results of the improvement initiatives covered
in this report.
- Concerning the environmental and safety indicators, it is our
opinion, based on the audit described above, that data from audited
sites for 2002 have been calculated in accordance with the methodology
defined by the Group and contain no significant errors.
April 4, 2003
 |
 |
Pierre Riou
Coopers & Lybrand Audit
Member of PricewaterhouseCoopers |
Thierry Raes
Coopers & Lybrand Audit
Member of PricewaterhouseCoopers |
|
