Its last major use is targeted for elimination over the next two years. The total amount of releases to the environment and wastes transferred off-site for treatment and disposal from IBM's operations worldwide in 1997 was 1,432 metric tons. IBM's U.S. operations accounted for 94 percent of the total. The increase was due to significant growth in both disk drive and microelectronics production volume in 1997. By far the largest increase involved one disk drive manufacturing site where production volume nearly doubled in 1997, with a corresponding 89 percent increase in the transfer of ethylene glycol, a biodegradable chemical, to publicly owned treatment works for treatment.
Ethylene glycol is part of a slurry used for polishing in the manufacture of disk storage devices.
Numbers reflect the delisting of acetone and non-aerosol sulfuric and hydrochloric acids and the 1995 addition of NMP and nitrate compounds. The award recognizes IBM for its complete elimination of over 12 million pounds of annual use of CFCs and 3 million pounds of methyl chloroform from its products. The award also recognized IBM's leadership in advancing new manufacturing technology and its assistance and encouragement of thousands of suppliers worldwide to take the same aggressive steps, expanding environmental stewardship around the world. Climate change IBM's operations do not release significant quantities of gases thought to have an effect on global climate change. IBM's greatest potential impact in this area is an indirect one, through the release of carbon dioxide by the utility companies providing the electricity the company uses.