Celanese, Ethyl Corporations Get Top American Chemistry Council Honors

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) presented its highest honor, the Responsible Care Company of the Year Award, to two member Companies: Celanese Corporation and Ethyl Corporation. This premier award recognizes those member companies that have enhanced and embraced the Responsible Care ethic of performance improvement and sustainability throughout their company.

“Responsible Care is what sets ACC member companies apart; it is a common commitment to continual improvement of our industry’s environmental, health, safety, and security performance,” said ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley. “The two recipients of the Responsible Care Company of the Year award clearly embody these stringent performance standards and serve as a model for the industry as a whole.”

To be eligible for the award, companies must show exemplary achievement in meeting a number of Responsible Care performance requirements, including: a safety performance rating in the top 10 percent of companies in the size category, with zero significant process incidents in the previous year and no fatalities in at least three years; a positive trend in performance measures; and a demonstrated commitment to product stewardship goals. The company also must actively promote the Responsible Care ethic to stakeholders at the local, regional and national levels.

Celanese Corporation has gone beyond Responsible Care requirements in multiple areas, achieving aggressive environmental health and safety performance goals to reduce its impact on the environment and safeguard its employees and contractors. In 2010, Celanese exceeded each of its five-year goals, with an energy intensity reduction of 26 percent, greenhouse gases reduction of 35 percent, waste intensity reduction of more than 70 percent and an air emissions reduction of more than 40 percent. Most significantly, Celanese’s 2010 global OSHA injury rate was 0.15, surpassing its 2010 goal of 0.22.

“The fundamental values of safety and environmental responsibility are tightly integrated into the Celanese culture and allows us to stay continually focused on improving our performance,” said Celanese Chairman and CEO Dave Weidman. “Celanese is proud to serve as an example of how thoughtful, sustainable practices and sound business strategies can work together to reduce our environmental footprint while enhancing our business performance. We are honored to be recognized by our industry and the ACC for our environmental stewardship and occupational safety achievements.”

Ethyl Corporation’s commitment to improving its environmental performance is exemplified by its robust waste reduction efforts. In 2011, the company’s Houston plant is on track to reduce its hazardous waste production by approximately 70 percent (more than 200 tons) compared to 2010. Ethyl also implements an active “Safety Observation Program,” to capture and correct items with potential adverse effect, investigates all incidents that take place and ensures that all employees are aware of potential workplace hazards. Ethyl Corporation’s commitment to safety has been acknowledged by the National Safety Council, which gave the company its “Perfect Record Award” for safety performance last year.

“Responsible Care is embedded in the way we do business at Ethyl,” said Azfar Choudhury, president of Ethyl Corporation. “We are humbled by this recognition from our peers, and at the same time we are extremely proud of our employees, whose commitment to a culture of health, safety, environmental protection and product stewardship enables us to ensure that we are a good partner and good member of our community.”

Each year, ACC recognizes companies and individuals that demonstrate performance excellence and leadership in the areas covered by Responsible Care: safety, health, environment, product stewardship, security, distribution safety, emergency preparedness and community outreach. Winning companies are selected by an independent review panel on the basis of their performance, as well as information provided on programs and projects they have undertaken to sustain excellent performance over time. Other company awards were presented at the ACC Responsible Care Conference and Expo in April.

Responsible Care guides ACC member companies to a higher level of environmental, health, safety and security performance. Responsible Care companies reduced hazardous releases to the air, land and water by 71 percent since 1988 and have a worker safety record that is three times better than the average of the chemical manufacturing sector as a whole.