EPA Again Gives the Company Its Highest Energy-Saving Distinction
Company Website:
http://www.3M.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- (Business Wire)
For an industry-leading ninth consecutive year, 3M has earned the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® Partner of the
Year-Sustained Excellence Award for its comprehensive worldwide energy
conservation efforts. No other company has achieved this distinction for
that many consecutive years, or as many as nine times.
The awards will be presented today at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
They recognize “a select group of organizations that have exhibited
outstanding leadership year after year,” according to the EPA. “These
winners have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by setting and achieving
aggressive goals, and employing innovative energy efficiency approaches.”
“Sustained Excellence” is the EPA’s highest ENERGY STAR award.
“3M’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact on a global basis
long predates the ENERGY STAR program; in fact, it’s thoroughly embedded
in our corporate culture,” says Steve Schultz, 3M’s Corporate Energy
manager. “The year-over-year consistency of the company’s ENERGY STAR
recognition is a reflection of sweeping corporate initiatives that were
instituted 40 years ago and have been vigorously and creatively expanded
ever since.”
Among its achievements in 2012, the company:
-
Earned ISO 50001 energy management certification for two plants (ISO
is the Switzerland-based International Organization for
Standardization, which establishes uniform industry standards
worldwide).
-
Implemented 201 new energy efficiency projects and funded 23 smaller
initiatives from a special corporate fund.
-
Engaged in partnerships to further develop carbon dioxide separation
and recycling technologies.
-
Hosted a “Working with ENERGY STAR” workshop for local manufacturing
companies.
-
Initiated a facility metering project to better track and manage
energy use.
-
Hired a full-time analyst to organize facility energy data and mine it
for new efficiency opportunities.
-
Awarded $225,000 in grants to academic researchers for energy-related
studies.
-
Involved 78 3M facilities in the Department of Energy’s Better
Buildings Challenge, collaborating with other industry participants on
energy-saving techniques.
-
Launched an education program to engage students in environmental
leadership.
3M first undertook its groundbreaking “3P” program (Pollution Prevention
Pays) in 1975, and estimates that 3P innovations since then have reduced
the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 72 percent, and
prevented more than 3.5 billion pounds of pollution.
“The initiatives undertaken each year are broadly intended not only to
continue our own progress but also to share what we’ve learned, and to
encourage participation among our industrial suppliers while stimulating
new avenues of research in the academic world,” says Schultz. “The
overall objective is a better environment through wise energy
management.”
3M established a new set of sustainability
goals in 2010 to be attained by 2015. Chief among those goals are
reduction of volatile air emissions by 15 percent and solid waste by ten
percent, and a 25-percent improvement in energy efficiency. The
energy-efficiency objective already has been achieved and exceeded.
About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR was introduced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
in 1992 as a voluntary market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions through increased energy efficiency. Today, ENERGY STAR offers
businesses and consumers energy-efficient solutions to save energy,
money, and help protect the environment for future generations. Nearly
20,000 organizations are ENERGY STAR partners committed to improving the
energy efficiency of products, homes, and buildings. For more
information about ENERGY STAR, visit www.energystar.gov
or call toll-free 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937).
About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of
ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a
never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M
is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $30 billion
in sales, 3M employs about 88,000 people worldwide and has operations in
more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com
or follow @3MNews
on Twitter.
3M is a trademark of 3M Company. Energy Star is a trademark of EPA.
Note to editors:ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year-Sustained
Excellence Award logo available upon request.
Contacts:
3M Public Relations
Colleen Horn Harris, 651-733-1566
or
LVM
Group Inc.
Bob Rumerman, 212-499-6567
bob@LVMgroup.com
or
Rachel
Antman, 212-499-6570
rachel@LVMgroup.com
Source: 3M
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