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Contributed by Jeffery Whitford, Sigma-Aldrich [PRESS RELEASE]
Sigma-Aldrich Corporation dramatically decreased its global water and energy use, increased its investment in Green Chemistry and donated more than 8,000 hours of community service around the world last year, the Company announced Monday in its new 2013 Global Citizenship Report: What if Science Changed the World?
The report comes in a year when Sigma-Aldrich has earned several honors for being a responsible corporate citizen, including recognition for the second consecutive year on CDP’s Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index, an inaugural listing on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and a top position as the No. 1 company in the materials sector on The Civic 50, a national ranking of the most community-minded companies in the U.S.
“Sigma-Aldrich continues to strengthen its focus on Global Citizenship enabling us to deliver tangible results that benefit our employees, customers and the world at large,” said President and CEO Rakesh Sachdev. “We are pleased with the recognition we have received by taking a leadership position when it comes to innovation and sustainability, and we continue to collaborate with our stakeholders to broaden the benefits of our Global Citizenship programs.”
The 2013 Sigma-Aldrich Global Citizenship Report highlights a number of successes accomplished during the calendar year, including:
- A major reduction in energy and water use, achieving an absolute reduction in water usage of more than 100,000 cubic meters. Since 2009, the Company has saved more than 1.9 million cubic meters of water -- enough to fill more than 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The Company cut its electrical energy usage by 4 million kilowatt hours in 2013, enough to power more than 365 homes for an entire year.
- Promoting innovation in Green Chemistry through its nine global Centers of Green Chemistry Excellence, enabling the Company to deliver new products with smaller environmental footprints.
- More than 8,000 hours of employee volunteer community service, worth approximately a half million dollars in donated time. Employees participated in 72 charity events in 31 locations worldwide, including St. Louis, Milwaukee, India, Singapore, Germany, and the UK among others. The Company reached 8,350 students around the globe with its Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives and donated a total of $2.2 million in cash and products to charitable organizations.
- The launch of a new, interactive Global Citizenship website with enhanced functionality and a unique, live-time carbon footprint feature.
“Sigma-Aldrich has grown its Global Citizenship platform by focusing on initiatives that have a substantive, positive impact,” said Jeffrey Whitford, Global Citizenship Manager. “As we ramp up our engagement efforts internally and externally, we increase our ability to create positive change.”
Sigma-Aldrich uses several external guidelines and measurement frameworks to inform the scope of its reporting including the U.N. Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative G4.This is the first year the report has been aligned to the G4.
For more information about Sigma-Aldrich’s corporate citizenship efforts, or to use the new interactive sustainability tools, visit www.sigmaaldrich.com/globalcitizenship.
Sigma-Aldrich is a member of the ACS GCI Chemical Manufacture's Roundtable.
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