Consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan recognized silicones supplier Dow Corning Corp. for the company's sustainability efforts with the 2008 Global Specialty Chemicals Corporate Leadership Green Excellence Award, the organizations said in a Nov. 10 statement.
Specific achievements identified by Frost & Sullivan include:
- Energy Efficiency, with significant improvements made through initiatives such as plasma gasification technology, and the use of solar panels as a power source at one of its largest manufacturing sites located in Wiesbaden, Germany.
- Solar Power: The company owns a majority stake in Hemlock Semiconductor Corp., which manufactures 30% of the world's total supply of polycrystalline silicon. Dow also is involved in research at its Dow Corning Solar Solutions Application Center in Michigan where the company is working to reduce the cost per watt produced of solar energy to make solar technology a viable, sustainable energy option, globally.
In addition, Midland, Mich.-based Dow Corning has invested more than $35 million in a new technology at its manufacturing site located in Michigan, which is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20%. At its Kentucky plant, a new manufacturing process has led to the reduction of carbon emissions by more than 1,200 tons. In Europe, Dow Corning will use barges instead of road tankers to transport certain products from the company's site in Wales to its site in Belgium.
Frost & Sullivan commended Dow Corning for its ability to implement a strategy focusing on green energies and sustainable development, while at the same time, significantly reducing its energy and power demands by utilizing the same products and technologies that it offers customers.
"Dow Corning is more than a manufacturer supplying products to the global green energy industries. It is a company that "leads by example" and shows the rest of the industry how manufacturers can use their technical expertise and products in achieving measurable environmental targets and improving their environmental performance across their business," notes Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Leonidas Dokos. "Dow Corning's sustainable development approach is coupled with the value of corporate responsibility which are founded on the company's vision and connected through to business unit goals."
