Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber

Dear Readers,
As CEO of ALTANA AG, I welcome your interest in our Sustainability Report 2010. In recent years, the ALTANA Group has undergone profound changes. The company sold its pharmaceutical business in 2007 and has been operating as a company with exclusive focus on specialty chemicals since then.

As a globally active chemical company, we have established a reputation for protecting the environment. After two environmental reports in 2007 and 2009 and the Global Compact Report 2010, we have decided to provide updates of our ecological and social development in a sustainability report from now on. At the same time, we have reduced the reporting interval to one calendar year. The sustainability report supplements and enhances our Annual Report. In the future, both documents will provide a joint perspective of our company with comprehensive and authentic reporting. This concept is supported by the similar, yet individual design of the reports. 

Our sustainability report will be published every fall. This publication date guarantees that the relevant previous-year figures and data of all global companies are available and reflected in the report. Projects or developments that extend over more than one reporting year will generally be noted in the text. We will adjust our sustainability report to corporate developments in the future and will comply with changes in reporting requirements.
In an independent effort, we consistently review and optimize our sustainability profile in the company by analyzing processes, identifying weaknesses, and implementing improvements. The performance evaluation of our employees increasingly reflects our adherence to the values and standards for working together we have developed.

As a company with exclusive focus on specialty chemicals, ALTANA joined the Global Compact in early 2010. We had previously been listed as a pharmaceutical company because of our past structure. The objectives of the Global Compact are entirely consistent with the vision of ALTANA and the Management Board fully supports the goals of the Global Compact. As a consequence, this sustainability report also serves as our annual communication on progress for the Global Compact. 
I hope you will enjoy your reading.

Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber
Chief Executive Officer