Jun 19 2011
Styron, a leading global materials company established in June 2010, announced today the publication of its first Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report. The report, published precisely one year after Styron's formation as an independent company, profiles the company's economic, environmental, health, safety and social performance, as well as how the company's products help its customers improve their own sustainability.
Highlights in this first year's report include a series of company commitments notably,
- A significant improvement in the historical safety performance of the company's manufacturing sites, even as employees went through considerable change as Styron became an independent company.
- The implementation of the Responsible Care management system ("RCMS") framework. Responsible Care is an initiative of the global chemical industry which requires its members to commit to the safe, responsible, and sustainable management of chemicals throughout their life cycle. Styron is committed to reporting the results of the first formal review of its implementation of the RCMS in 2013.
- Alignment of employee compensation and rewards to safe, environmentally responsible operations. Every employee has their annual bonus tied to the company's safety and environmental performance, as well as meeting the company's financial goals. In addition, Styron introduced the Triple Zero Award for each Styron manufacturing plant that has no recordable injuries, significant spills or leaks or process safety incidents in a calendar year. In the company's first year, 20 production units earned the Triple Zero award.
- A wide range of product, plants and other success stories that contribute to sustainability in products like tires, cars, carpet, packaging, electronics, and lighting.
"We are proud to have achieved an excellent safety and environmental record in our first year of operation, and this will continue to be a high priority in the future," said Chris Pappas, President and CEO of Styron. "As a new company, we have established a good foundation for our sustainability efforts, and in coming years, Styron's Sustainability and CSR reporting will become even more comprehensive."
Economic Focus
Styron prides itself in using the highest business standards to implement its quality strategy so that its products and services consistently meet established specifications, contractual obligations and regulatory requirements. Styron's management system integrates elements from several ISO and other standards into its best practices including quality management, product stewardship, automotive production, environmental health and safety and manufacturing practices.
One example in the CSR Report where Styron has successfully helped its customers optimize their economic performance is CO©üRE Foaming Technology, Styron's patented plastic foaming technology. This technology provides an opportunity for the dairy packaging and food service industries to improve their sustainability by accomplishing total density reductions of up to 20 percent. Additionally, in countries where weight-based packaging disposal taxes have been implemented, brand owners are able to reduce the amount of taxes improving their economic performance across the value chain.
Environmental Health and Safety Focus
Styron is committed to delivering superior health, safety and environmental performance and in upholding the highest product standards, as detailed in Styron's Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Policy.
In the past, for example, Styron has offered several ignition resistant grades of STYRON Polystyrene Resin (IR-PS) that contained a flame retardant known as decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE). As a part of Styron's continued monitoring, it became apparent that there were several marketplace concerns about the potential environmental impact of DecaBDE. As a result, STYRON IR-PS resins have been replaced globally with IR-PS resins that no longer use DecaBDE.
Additionally, Styron has successfully complied with European regulations, such as REACH in its first year of operation. With further implementation landmarks through 2018 and a review of the REACH regulation in 2012, Styron will remain actively involved in several work groups of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and the national trade associations.
Moreover Styron has a rich heritage of environmental and product stewardship to advancing product sustainability. Styron plays a key role in collecting and contributing cradle-to-gate data inventories for among others, PlasticsEurope, Cefic and The American Chemistry Council.
Social Focus
Since Styron was formed in 2010, the company's employees have demonstrated high levels of commitment to and satisfaction with Styron as an employer. This is demonstrated by the fact that Styron consistently has a voluntary attrition rate (percent of employees quitting) that is below 1 percent, which is far below the industry average. Qualitative feedback from employees around the world, as well as the results of a recent opinion survey of Styron employees, indicate a high level of motivation and alignment in the organization.
Styron also actively encourages its employees to engage actively in local volunteering. Employees at Styron's Dalton, Georgia, USA site, for instance, received international recognition for their contributions to their local wildlife habitat at the Wildlife Habitat Council's (WHC's) 22nd Annual Symposium.