In focus

Lower provisions required for lake bed clean-up

Canton Zurich has commissioned a full-services contractor to conduct the clean-up of the lake bed beside the CPH Group’s former Uetikon operating site. The total cost of the clean-up operation is now expected to be lower than was originally estimated and allows the CPH Group to release CHF 12 million of the provisions.

The CPH Group sold its former operating site in Uetikon on Lake Zurich (where the company first began its business operations over 200 years ago) to Canton Zurich in 2016. In doing so, the CPH Group also made provisions of CHF 32 million to cover its share of the estimated costs of cleaning up the adjacent lake bed.

Canton Zurich now awarded the lake bed clean-up contract to a full-services contractor. In the light of the latest findings, the canton expects the total cost of this operation to be lower than was originally estimated. In view of this, the CPH Group is releasing CHF 12 million of the provisions made to cover these costs, which will be shown as extraordinary income in our 2020 accounts.

The CPH Group is also overseeing the clean-up of the former Rotholz waste disposal site in Meilen (pictured), which is adjacent to our former Uetikon operating site.

In both these areas, the CPH Group is living up in full to its responsibility to ensure the due and proper rectification of the environmental effects of its previous chemicals production at the Uetikon site.

Please find the media release here.