Introduction By The Managing Member - Puma

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3. Non-hazardous waste 3. Hazardous waste 5. Recycling 5. Greenhouse gases The 14.9% increase in water consumption in 2007 is assumed to be directly related to our move to new premises, including the installed improvements in access to on-site produced coffee and tea, and the installation of better ablution facilities. However, it is our intention, now that we have become aware of this issue, to monitor our average volume of water consumed per unit of production, and to rectify any water wastage problems if and when they are identified. Over the past few years we have noticed a significant increase in the amount of garbage that has been disposed of in landfills. However, we attribute this informally observed increase in waste disposal as a direct result of our significant increase in total garment production. To-date, we do not have formal systems or processes in place to monitor and measure the volume (by weight) of solid waste sent to landfills via our waste haulage contractors. However, we are committed to measure and monitor this figure throughout 2008, and to identify ways in which we might be able to reduce our impact on landfill over-crowding. As of now, we are already instituting the following mechanisms for reducing our solid waste disposal: • Increasing the pace of our conversion from manual cutting to computer aided design and cutting procedures to maximise fabric usage; • Collecting reasonably large pieces of scrap materials and distributing them to rural economic development projects that can make use of the fabric to manufacture clothing and other items; and, • Collecting and recycling our scrap paper (specifically from patterns and office use) and plastics. Although limited in total volumes consumed and/or disposed of, hazardous materials are often used in our manufacturing facilities, particularly in the maintenance and operation of our facilities and equipment. To-date, we do not have formal systems or processes in place to monitor and measure the volume of hazardous materials consumed throughout our operations,. However, we are committed to measure and monitor this figure throughout 2008, and to identify ways in which we might be able to reduce our overall discharge/disposal of these materials. The principles of ‘Renew, Re-Use and Recycle’ are at the core of all small and medium-sized businesses throughout South Africa. The issue is not so much an environmental one, although the environmental benefits are clear and potentially significant, but rather one of financial prudence. By sticking to ‘the 3 R’s’, we stand as much to gain environmentally as we do financially, through cost savings and improvements to our overall profitability. As such, Vimal has always attempted to find ways to reduce our waste haulage through redirecting materials to alternative uses. That having been said, the process of developing this report has helped us identify new opportunities for both re-using and recycling materials. Our processes now include: • The donation of unusable end-cuts and/or out of fashion fabrics to local and/or rural economic development programmes that include sewing projects. • The separate collection of paper and plastics to be collected by local recycling service providers; and, • The collection of larger pieces of material and donating them for use in local and/or rural economic development programmes that include sewing projects. As the monitoring and management of our environmental impacts has become much more rigorous with the initiation of our sustainability reporting process, we have had to establish reasonable limits to both the development of new data management systems and improvement processes. Although we are aware of the issue of global warming, as well as the ways in which each company can monitor and manage their contribution to greenhouse gas build-up in the atmosphere, we are not yet in a position to report on our emissions, nor processes to improve our performance. It is our intention to review our greenhouse gas emissions as part of our 2008 reporting process. 26
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMMUNITY INVESTMENTS It has been said that “Charity begins at home,” and we believe that in the context of Vimal, our ‘home’ is in fact our family of managers, supervisors and production staff. As such, we have prioritised our commitment to the communities in which we operate in terms of: 1. Our employees and their families; 2. Our local communities directly surrounding our operations, and the communities in which our employees live; 3. Our province, particularly the more rural areas where issues of AIDS, poverty and hunger continue to threaten lives; and, 4. Our country, particularly those who participate in activities that are consistent with our products, values and mission. As mentioned above in ‘The Vimal Team’, we annually contribute to the eradication of barriers to education among the families of our employees. This programme, which requires employees to demonstrate their commitment to Vimal’s success through low levels of absenteeism, has annually contributed to the education of more than 130 children per year, at an annual cost to Vimal in excess of R67 000. At the height of this programme in 2006, we paid the school fees for 254 children at a cost of more than R113 000. In 2007, we also donated R8 440 to charitable contributions, in support of their community development and support initiatives. The recipients of our support included the Divine Life Centre, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, the Heart Foundation and St. Mary’s Hospital. Vimal, in accordance with the brand protection commitments we have offered our clients, do not donate subquality garments to employees, charities or local community members. In doing so, Vimal helps our clients ensure that their brands are linked to garments of extremely high quality. However, the process of producing this report has allowed us to identify an opportunity to donate our stock of out of fashion and/or end-cut fabrics and threads to economic development projects in one or more deeply impoverished communities. It is our hope that through this donation, we will be able to have a ‘material’ impact on the sustainability of persons who are unable to secure meaningful employment, and we look forward to providing an update on this initiative in our next Report. 27
Page 2 and 3: CONTENTS PAGE Introduction by the M
Page 4 and 5: Our operations exist only in South
Page 6 and 7: Start (20 employees) ‘81 ‘87 Th
Page 8 and 9: In order to ensure that the same pr
Page 10 and 11: OUR MOST MATERIAL ISSUES At Vimal,
Page 12 and 13: Theft and unethical ISSUE PERFORMAN
Page 14 and 15: ASSEMBLY AND MATERIAL PREP Flat Mac
Page 16 and 17: Vimal is a proud supplier of soccer
Page 18 and 19: THE VIMAL TEAM At the heart of any
Page 20 and 21: Since 1988, Vimal has recognised th
Page 22 and 23: What our employees have told us In
Page 24 and 25: 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2003 2004 Injuries on
Page 26 and 27: Vimal’s parking lot could have be
Page 30 and 31: STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Until recent
Page 32 and 33: - Collecting reasonably large piece
Page 34 and 35: VISION & STRATEGY ECONOMIC SOCIAL S
Page 36 and 37: • A review of the approach of man

Introduction By The Managing Member - Puma

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