sustainability Home > About > Sustainability > Sustainability at Ashland > Chairman's message Chairman's Message In every one of Ashland’s manufacturing sites, research centers and offices, I see examples of our employees in action, continuously seeking ways to make a lasting, positive impact toward our sustainability efforts. The Ashland Way is reflected in countless areas, like how we collaborate with customers to deliver breakthrough products while reducing our environmental footprint. And it’s our way to give back to the communities where our employees live and work by supporting a broad range of non-profit organizations, including those that promote environmental responsibility. From launching an innovation lab for middle school students in Nanjing, China, to volunteering at the Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary in Bernardsville, New Jersey, to sending more than 1,500 fourth-grade students to nature camps in Wilmington, Delaware, Ashland is dedicated to protecting our environment and making an impact in our communities. We remain committed to improving the environmental, health, safety and security performance for facilities, processes and products throughout our entire footprint. We deliver on these commitments through our comprehensive Responsible Care® program, a global industry initiative to advance the safe and secure management of chemical products and operations. Within Ashland, this program includes a global management system, employee involvement at every level of the organization, continuous improvement toward our goal of operating with zero incidents and ensuring compliance, and reducing our environmental, health, safety and security impact. At Ashland, we are passionate about creating technologies and solutions to improve our customers’ products and processes, reducing our environmental impact, preserving natural resources and enhancing the quality of life within our communities. The sustainability section of ashland.com, details our focus on continually improving upon our sustainability efforts. Here are just a few highlights of Ashland’s progress during fiscal 2016: The American Chemistry Council (ACC) honored Ashland with its 2016 Responsible Care® Initiative of the Year Award, in recognition of its reinvigoration of the Zero Incident Program and recognized 21 Ashland sites for safety performance in 2016. Responsible Care - three new Ashland sites were added to the company’s Global Certificate for RC 14001 in 2016. Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates honored five Ashland sites with EH&S Performance Improvement Awards in 2016 (one Silver Award and four Bronze Awards) This year, Ashland continued to focus on our Year 2020 environmental goals which are aimed at reducing our use of energy as well as reducing our emissions and environmental footprint. Moving forward, our approach to sustainability will be guided by these goals, which target short- and long-term, production-weighted outcomes in five specific areas of focus: Energy: Reduce energy consumption by 10 percent Greenhouse gas emissions: Reduce GHG emissions by 10 percent Hazardous waste: Reduce hazardous waste generation by 10 percent Nonhazardous waste: Track nonhazardous waste generation to establish a baseline for a future reduction goal Water: Develop a baseline for water use at Ashland sites in water-stressed regions of the world and/or maintain to base-year level. These goals are just the beginning. Going forward, we will find ways to be more sustainable through innovative products, sustainable operations and supply chains, and new areas and ways we have not yet considered. In 2016, we launched a Sustainability Engagement Team composed of employees from around the globe who are working closely with Ashland’s leadership group. The engagement team is working on projects involving sustainable sourcing, sustainable operations and sustainable solutions to address opportunities across the supply chain, in our operations and in the products we make. I am proud of the approximately 6,000 employees throughout Ashland who remain dedicated to achieving the highest safety standards and are passionate about making a difference in their communities. In the coming year, we look forward to building upon the progress we’ve made toward the Ashland Way and continuing to share the results we are achieving toward our Year 2020 environmental goals. Thank you for your support. William A. Wulfsohn Ashland Chairman and Chief Executive Officer efficacy usability allure integrity profitability about industries investors products services sds search global code of conduct suppliers and vendors terms of use privacy transparency in supply chain disclosure efficacy usability allure integrity profitability ©2018, Ashland. All rights reserved.