covestro, a world-leading supplier of high-tech polymer materials, received the highest honor “star of green supply chain” at the shanghai 100 enterprises in green supply chain 2016 award, granted by the shanghai environmental protection bureau (shanghai epb). the authority thus recognizes the company’s consistent efforts to manage its sustainability measures across the value chain. awards were presented to 30 companies in seven categories, namely star of green supply chain, innovative practice awards, industry pioneers awards, innovative design awards, clean production awards, low carbon logistics awards and creative practice award. covestro was the only chemical company among four in the highest category “star of green supply chain”.
“we are very honored to receive this award. it recognizes covestro’s holistic approach to sustainable actions across the value chain of our product,” said annette wiedenbach, head of communications, public affairs and sustainability, covestro greater china. “sustainable development for us encompasses the principles of ‘people, planet, profit’. this means: we strive to mitigate the negative impact of our actions on the environment, advance society and at the same time create value for the company. in these efforts, we have worked relentlessly to empower employees and partners to embed sustainability practices throughout their daily activities.”
covestro core sustainability position is to develop products and processes that improve people's lives, help conserve the planet, and move the company's business forward. covestro has been actively advocating collaboration across the chemical industry’s value cycle to improve the competitiveness of chemical industry as well as support the sustainable development of our society and environment. the sustainability value cycle as defined by covestro includes six segments: raw materials, production operations, logistics, enable our partners, development of sustainable product solutions and foster lifecycle thinking. the key point of the first three segments is to reduce impact on the environment during the production and operation process while the second half of the cycle aims to increase benefit to our society.
covestro was awarded for a series of efforts:- for developing carbon dioxide as a new raw material in the manufacture of foams used in mattresses and upholstered furniture. a first batch was delivered to customers by end 2016.
- for advanced technologies and efforts to reduce energy and resource consumption as well as emissions in the company’s production processes at the covestro integrated site shanghai.
- for a new logistics network optimization model that resulted in a distribution mode which is safer, reduces the co2 emission footprint and saves costs.
- for efforts to inspire buyers and suppliers to make their own processes, services and goods more sustainable. covestro is one of the members of “together for sustainability” (tfs), through this initiative, major chemical industry players aim to achieve a common basis of environmental, social and standards among their suppliers.
- to foster product lifecycle sustainability, covestro has established the company’s first salt-containing water recycling program to turn salt-containing water into raw materials again.
as both a domestic and international center, shanghai plays an important role in the economic development of china. in a bid to use the market’s leverage to promote environmental sustainability and embark on the 13th five-year plan which includes a set of environmental and energy targets and guidelines, the shanghai epb therefore launched the 2016 shanghai 100 enterprises in green supply chain program, inviting multinational companies, state-owned enterprises and private firms in shanghai to submit proposals of their green supply chain projects to the city’s environmental authorities. covestro’s comprehensive sustainability model will be further promoted by the shanghai authorities as industry best practice throughout 2017.
in 2017, the green supply chain project will expand its scale as green sharing program. it aims to encourage enterprises for further green supply chain management, sharing outstanding cases, best practices and corporate environmental information with peers and to optimize supplier management system. the green supply chain service platform will be rolled out to help all enterprises to well manage the whole system.
about covestro:
with 2016 sales of eur 11.9 billion, covestro is among the world’s largest polymer producers. business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. the main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries. covestro has 30 production sites around the globe and as of december 31, 2016, employed approximately 15,600 people.
forward-looking statements
this press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by covestro ag. various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. these factors include those discussed in covestro’s public reports which are available on the covestro website at . covestro assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.