08-05-2012

Grace receives awards for energy efficiency, safety and product stewardship improvements

W. R. Grace & Co has received Responsible Care® Energy Efficiency Awards, Facility Safety Certificates and a Performance Award from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) for implementing energy efficiency improvements and achieving certain safety and product stewardship milestones.

Individual ACC member companies nominated specific energy efficiency projects and safety milestone achievements for recognition. Winners were selected by members of the judging committee, and were recognized at the 2012 Responsible Care® Conference and Expo in Hollywood, Florida on April 30.

The Responsible Care® Energy Efficiency Awards Program is among ACC’s many ongoing initiatives to improve energy efficiency in the chemical industry. In 2011, the total annual energy savings achieved by all of the projects that won ACC awards was 16.9 trillion BTUs—enough to power all the homes in a city the size of Norfolk, Virginia for one year (95,000 housing units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau).

The Energy Efficiency Program Award is given to companies with broad programs to achieve energy-efficiency improvements, with components such as establishing energy teams, goal setting, communications, management support and recognition. Grace’s Alumina manufacturing plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana received an Energy Efficiency Program Award for reducing its steam and natural gas usage by 80% and 15%, respectively, from 2010 to 2011.

The Environmental Impact Award is given for initiatives with substantial environmental benefits, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to improvements in energy efficiency. Grace’s Lake Charles facility won an Environmental Impact Award for reducing the volume of waste water requiring treatment by 25% from 2010 to 2011.

The Non-Manufacturing Improvement Award is given for improvements resulting from energy-efficient lighting, insulation and other building improvements, and other non-manufacturing energy improvements. Grace’s global headquarters in Columbia, Maryland won a Non-Manufacturing Improvement Award for reducing its electricity and natural gas usage by 12% and 7%, respectively, from 2010 to 2011.

These changes reduced the company’s annualized emissions of carbon dioxide by 8,594 short tons.

A total of 13 Grace locations received Facility Safety Certificates. Facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Chattanooga and Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee; Chicago 51st Street and 65th Street, Illinois; Columbia, Maryland; East Chicago, Indiana; Edison, New Jersey; Hesperia, California; and Houston, Texas received Certificates of Excellence for having operated without fatalities, days away from work, safety-related job transfers or restricted work among both employees and contractors in 2011.

Grace’s facility in Chicago 71st Street, Illinois, received a Certificate of Honor for having operated without fatalities, days away from work or safety-related restricted work in 2011.

Grace’s facilities in Curtis Bay (Baltimore), Maryland and Deerfield, Illinois received Certificates of Achievement for having operated without fatalities or days away from work in 2011.

For the first time, Grace also received the Responsible Care® Performance Award, which recognizes member companies who excelled at helping ACC meet industry-wide safety and product stewardship targets. The award recognized the company’s improvements in recordable and lost time incident rates; having operated without fatalities; and, improvement in the number of product stewardship summaries that are publicly available.

“We lead with safety, everyday,” said Karen Ethier, Grace’s Vice President of Global Environment, Health and Safety. “Being recognized in the industry for our environment, health, safety and energy improvement performance is great recognition for the Grace teams that focus on these issues every day.”

Grace received Responsible Care® Energy Efficiency Awards from the American Chemistry Council in 2009, 2010 and 2011, as well as Facility Safety Certificates in 2010 and 2011.

For more information, please visit www.grace.com.