Dow

Focus on a Member - September 2008

Neil Hawkins, Vice President Sustainability of The Dow Chemical Company, discusses the potential of the chemical industry to contribute to global sustainable development.

As one of the largest chemical companies in the world, Dow has a role to play in addressing global environmental and social challenges. How would you describe Dow's approach to sustainability?

Neil Hawkins

Our founder, Herbert Henry Dow, believed in the inter-relationship and dependency of a successful business and a successful community. Being a good neighbor, then (in today's vernacular, being a good corporate citizen), is a deep cultural trait in Dow. As we have grown over 111 years from a small Midwestern company in one community to a global enterprise operating in more than 100 countries around the world, this value still holds true, shaping our thinking, decisions and actions.

Sustainability requires making every decision with the future in mind. It is our relationship with the world around us -- creating economic prosperity and social value while contributing to the preservation of our planet.

Sustainability factors into everything we do. It is a key driver for our business strategy right along with talent management, investing for growth, and maintaining financial discipline.

In 1995, we set important goals for improving our environment, health and safety performance. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our employees, the improvements we implemented reduced solid waste by 1.6 billion pounds, reduced water use by 183 billion pounds, saved 900 trillion BTUs of energy and reduced personal safety and health incidents by 84% - while saving the company over $5 billion on a $1 billion investment.

Woman carrying new HydrAid™ BioSand Water Filter

Building on our achievements, we set the bar higher in 2006 with the introduction of a more ambitious, next-generation set of goals - our 2015 Sustainability Goals. These goals outline our commitments to not only reduce our own global footprint, but to drive our growth and profitability by focusing our products and innovation around helping to solve global challenges such as climate change, sustainable water supplies and human health. We measure our progress regularly and rigorously, and publicly report our results on Dow's website (www.dow.com).

In Dow's 2015 Sustainability Goals, you have defined a set of "challenge platforms" in which Dow has the most potential to contribute to solving some of the world's toughest problems. How did you identify and choose these focus areas?

While implementing Dow's aggressive 2005 Environment, Health & Safety Goals, the company's leaders recognized the need to look further into the future. Taking inspiration from the UN Millennium Development Goals, and through consultations with internal experts and external partners like the company's Corporate Environmental Advisory Council, Dow developed three key areas of focus for its 2015 Sustainability Goals: footprint, citizenship and solutions, with goals to support each. We have seven goals divided into those three areas.

For example, climate change and energy supplies are key areas of focus for our company. Over 90% of manufactured products have some level of chemistry in them, and as the premier chemical producer and one of the largest industrial energy users, no one has more at stake in - or more ability to impact - the solutions to climate change challenges.

We have therefore committed ourselves to leading the way on energy transformation, maximizing the efficient use of limited fossil fuels while developing alternative and renewable energy sources. Our ultimate aim is to help shape a future that harnesses reliable, affordable and sustainable energy sources that support economic growth and stability.

To take an example, could you describe more in detail Dow's goals and achievements related to your focus areas such as decent housing or sustainable water use?

Dow employee volunteers installed solar panels at the Habitat for Humanity Jimmy Carter Work Project in California

For 25 years, Dow has been a partner of Habitat for Humanity (www.dow.com/habitat), helping to provide safe, affordable and energy-efficient housing for deserving families across the globe. Habitat and Dow have long recognized that decent housing is one of the world's most pressing challenges.

More recently Dow has committed, through its 2015 Sustainability Goals, to achieve a breakthrough that will significantly improve the world's ability to solve global challenges like decent, sustainable housing. Dow sees Habitat as an ally in achieving that goal, and has supported Habitat's work through house sponsorship, product donation, employee/retiree volunteerism and science education. Together, these organizations have created a new model - for sustainable construction and for sustainable partnerships.

In collaboration with local authorities and a local water producer, Dow's Terneuzen site in the Netherlands reuses 7,500 m³ of municipal household waste water every day. The local water producer removes residual contaminants and Dow then uses more than 70% of this water to generate steam. After use, it is reused in cooling towers at the site until it finally evaporates into the atmosphere.

That process offers a second and a third life to the waste water at Dow. This effort results in 65 percent less energy use at this facility compared to desalinating this amount of sea water and a reduced need for water treatment chemicals. The reduced energy use is the equivalent of lowering carbon dioxide emissions by 5,000 tons per year.

Dow uses both philanthropy and technology to provide clean drinking water. One partnership with WaterHealth International uses an innovative financing arrangement to help small communities in India obtain access to clean water AND economic self-sufficiency. Another partnership, with International Aid provides low-cost water purification technology to developing areas of Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. For more information on Dow's commitment to water, please visit www.dow.com/commitments/goals/water.htm.

Dow's 2015 goal is only a few years away. How would you assess the progress made so far and the way forward?

As in most programs of this nature, progress varies among the goals, with many contributing factors.

Dow ensures the continuity of its Sustainable commitments as one of the company's pillars, even as conditions change within the company or in the external environment. The company has a Chief Sustainability Officer, as well as a Sustainability Team comprised of senior officers.

You can track our progress on our web site (see the latest 2015 Sustainability Goals Update - 1Q 2008). For more general information on Dow's position, please visit Our Commitments at www.dow.com/commitments.

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