Water

Water is a very important yet limited resource in our manufacturing plants where this precious commodity is critical to our glove production processes.

At Rubberex, we are committed to managing and using water in the most efficient manner, not only in terms of reducing unnecessary costs but also for the long term sustainabilty of the environment as well. Some of the water saving initiatives that the Group has put in place include:

(i) ongoing improvements in production process parameters, particularly in the leaching process that targets reduction in water usage by 20% by early 2023;

(ii) re-routing pipes and reusing water from certain operational processes into the production processes where viable and feasible.

Rubberex's glove production plants are housed in within a single location in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia where we deploy well-established river water systems, waste water treatment plants and water recycling systems on-site to manage the consumption of water and address water security risks.

Recycled water are reused for general cleaning, gardening and other non-critical functions within factory grounds. In addition to the systematic monitoring of daily water consumption, the quality of effluent discharges are also closely tracked to ensure that processed water are safely treated before its release to our drainage and river systems.

Rubberex sources its water from the local municipal water council as well as from rivers. The volumes of both treated water generated and water withdrawn had increased in financial year 2021 owing to higher production capacities and output in the year for the Group's nitrile disposable glove operations.

With reference to year 2021 as a base, the Group targets to increase the ratio of treated water against water withdrawn from source from the current 1.27 to 1.36, an improvement of approximately 7% year-on-year with a higher volume of water treated by our effluent plants, recycled and reused within our factory operations. This would translate to savings of approximately RM100,000 a year from 2023 onwards.

The Group is also in the midst of setting up a rainwater harvesting system on-site that would be capable of capturing approximately 30,000 meter cubes of rain water a year, for recycling and use within its factory operations. The reduction of such volumes of water withdrawn is expected to result in savings of approximately RM48,000 for the Group when successfully commissioned by mid-2023.

Water risks, such as floodings, droughts, storms and risks of water-borne diseases are prevalent global challenges brought on by climate change, rising rates of ice melts and sea levels.

As indicated by the World Resources Institute (WRI), we have ascertained that our plants in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia are located in a low to medium water-stress area (https://www.wri.org/applications/aqueduct.water-risk-atlas). Nevertheless, we acknowledge that floods, droughts and other water related risk issues brought on by unpredictable weather patterns and climate change will likely impact on the way businesses are organised and operated in future.

In the financial year 2021 and up till to-date, there were no incidences of non-compliance to water quality/quantity permits, standards and regulations that resulted in any fines, penalties or warnings. We will continue to closely monitor such water security risks in our plants and report on them accordingly.

* The increase in Scope 1 emissions was due to higher natural gas consumption from new nitrile disposable glove production lines that came onstream in 2021

Notes:
(i) Scope 1 emissions refer to direct CO₂e emitted from sources that are owned by the Group, such as our machineries and vehicles
(ii) Scope 2 emissions cover purchased electricity from the national grid, using location-based and market-based methods
(iii) Scope 3 emissions refer to indirect CO₂e as a result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the organization

At the present time, Rubberex will not be disclosing Scope 3 emissions due to challenges in obtaining data, but will continue our efforts to report this in the future.

Rubberex is very much conscious of rapidly rising climate change risks, including those that are Physical and Transitional. In response, we proactively identify and manage such risks and opportunities that materially impact our value creation abilities. Driven by our in-house ESG Committee and under the direction of the Board and Management of Rubberex, we present the following:

Risks
- Climate change related disclosures and regulations that could impact on our financial and regulatory reporting
- Reallocation of financing from financial institutions into other green-intensive investments would affect our business funding

Opportunities
- Management of climate change risks and adoption of greener technology could result in less wastages and contribute to overall cost savings for the Group
- Stakeholders' trust and perception could be improved through effective emissions management and disclosures
- Positive differentiation in the market for long-term value creation for the benefit of stakeholders

Social

Some of the Group's Human Resource Policies that are currently in place include:
POLICY ON LABOUR RIGHTS
POLICY ON WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION
POLICY ON WORKPLACE HARASSMENT
POLICY ON ZERO RECRUITMENT FEES
POLICY ON FORCED LABOUR PRACTICES

These Policies also published on this website, under Investor Relations/Corporate Governance and are available in both English and Malay.

Communication of our expectations and codes of conduct with regards to these policies are carried out on all new recruits within their first week of employment. We encourage open active communication between employees and Management with regards to these policies.

In the financial year 2021 and up till to-date, there were no incidences of non-compliance to labour laws and regulations that resulted in any fines, reprimands or penalties. We will continue to closely monitor such risks in our daily operations and report on them accordingly.

As at the end of previous financial year (FYE2021), the total full-time workforce of the Group stood at 1009 (including staff based at our office in Spain); there were no contractors or temporary staff in the Group's payroll. While active recruitment stood at 28.8%, this was set-off against a corresponding voluntary staff turnover rate of 25.5% during the period.