At this year's Community Service Event, the Vinnolit sites Knapsack and Cologne participated in the clean-up campaign "Kölle putzmunter".

The garbage had to go. Armed with gloves and garbage bags, the employees of the Vinnolit sites Knapsack and Cologne collected empty bottles, plastic bags, packaging residue and other unconsciously disposed civilization waste on the Rhine on 8 April. They also found a grill, a broken sunshade and an old garden chair on the area of Rodenkirchen, which is also called the "Kölsche Rivera". Quickly a small competition evolved among the colleagues, who would fill up his or her bag first.

"Vinnolit's Community Service Event" took place last year for the first time on the occasion of the 30th company anniversary of its parent company, Westlake Corporation. In the US, the "community service event,” the social commitment in the neighborhood, has a long tradition. A good thing we want to establish here at Vinnolit, too,” explains HR Manager Monika Rudnick, who organized the community service events for Knapsack and Cologne. "Last year we baked potato pancakes in a seniors' home with the inhabitants. This year we wanted to take action against garbage in nature." Much of the collected garbage is made of plastic, which hardly decomposes by itself. But plastics are too valuable to throw them away, says Dr. Oliver Mieden, Head of Environmental Affairs and Corporate Communications at Vinnolit. "Many plastic products are excellently recyclable!" Vinnolit manufactures the plastic PVC and is committed to sustainable production and recycling, including participation in VinylPlus, the voluntary self-commitment of the European PVC industry to sustainable development.