Don’t Just Take Our Word For It…
The Dow Chemical Company prides itself on its commitment to creating economic prosperity and social value while contributing to the preservation of our planet, and publicly reporting our progress. But don’t just take our word for it – following are a few examples of what others have to say about our contribution.
Groundbreaking Products
Underscoring its commitment to sustainability, Dow received its sixth Green Chemistry Award since 1996. Dow AgroSciences LLC, a Dow subsidiary, was presented with the 2008 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for spinetoram – an innovative insect control technology derived from the fermentation of a naturally occurring soil organism followed by chemical modifications.
The award, presented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of the White House, recognizes technologies that incorporate the principles of sustainable chemistry into chemical design, manufacture and use.
Innovative Processes
Dow’s innovative re-use of municipal wastewater at its Benelux site in Terneuzen, The Netherlands was named the winner of the Most Innovative Corporate Social Responsibility Project in the 2008 ICIS Innovation Awards.
The site uses treated household wastewater to produce high pressure steam and, as recycled water, in its cooling tower. This is the first time that municipal wastewater is being re-used on such a large scale in the industry, exceeding 2.6 million gallons per day. The project is the result of innovative collaboration between Dow, the water treatment provider Evides and the Zeeuws-Vlaanderen Water Board.
Reusing the water results in 65 percent less energy used at the Dow facility – compared to desalinating the same amount of sea water. This is the equivalent of lowering carbon dioxide emissions by 5,000 tons per year. Reusing the water also leads to a reduction in the need for water treatment chemicals.
In October, the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) held its annual award ceremony in Birmingham, UK, and recognized the Terneuzen project as “Highly Commended.” This recognition is of great significance to Dow as the IChemE is a premier, professional institution for chemical and process engineers with 27,000 international members across more than 113 countries.
Transparency in Reporting
The Dow Chemical Company issued its 2007 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Report with UN Global Compact Communication on Progress, which earned Dow an “A+” from the GRI. Dow utilizes GRI’s reporting guidelines to communicate the Company’s sustainability efforts and achievements.
The GRI report is the most widely used sustainability reporting framework that includes the principles and indicators that global organizations use to measure and report economic, environmental, and social performance. This year’s report is the fifth GRI report Dow has submitted since reporting began in 2003 and the first year Dow received an A+.
The “A” signifies the completeness of report, based on the topics described in the GRI reporting guidelines, and the “+” denotes that the completeness of the report was verified by an external third-party. An increasingly common step in GRI reporting, external third-party verification increases stakeholder confidence in the accuracy of the report.
Additionally, in an imc2 study of the S&P 100 companies and their sustainability communications, Dow was cited as the best practice example for “holistic transparency.” Dow earned the recognition because of its quarterly 2015 Sustainability Goals Update which communicates the Company’s long-term commitments as measurable goals.
Overall Leadership
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The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index rated The Dow Chemical Company as one of the top performers in the global chemical industry in 2008 – marking the eighth time Dow has received this recognition since the launch of the Index in 1999.
Although great strides were made in 2008, Dow will continue its efforts in 2009 to set the standard for sustainability.
