Ethyl, FMC, BASF Recognized for Outstanding Performance

“Responsible Care exemplifies the chemical manufacturing industry’s commitment to working and performing with safety and sustainability as top priorities,” said ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley. “ACC is proud to recognize BASF, FMC and Ethyl Corporation for their leadership and commitment to the safety of our facilities and products and the health of our employees and communities in which we operate.”

To be eligible for the Responsible Care Company of the Year award, companies must demonstrate they have met and surpassed Responsible Care performance criteria, including: a safety performance rating in the top 10 percent of companies in their size category, with no significant process incidents in the previous year; positive performance measures in the areas of transportation safety, process safety and emissions reduction; and demonstrated improvements in EHS&S performance, product stewardship, distribution safety and emergency preparedness.

Ethyl Corporation has been a strong proponent of Responsible Care since the program’s inception. Today, Ethyl is being recognized as a Responsible Care Company of the Year for the fifth time in the past seven years. Ethyl continues to make energy conservation a top priority. Over the last 11 years, Ethyl’s Houston plant’s conservation efforts have resulted in a 31 percent reduction in electrical usage in kilowatt hours per million tonnes. In addition Ethyl’s Houston Terminal experienced a 50 percent reduction in hazardous waste production from 2014 to 2015.

“Ethyl Corporation’s corporate culture is propelled by a commitment to product safety, the safety of our people and the safety of our communities,” said John Street, CEO of Ethyl. “We are honored to be recognized as Responsible Care Company of the Year for the fifth time as we strive to embed the principles of Responsible Care into all that we do.”

FMC Corporation practices the principles of Responsible Care at its facilities worldwide. The company recently received a leadership ranking from the Carbon Disclosure Project for its climate change strategies. Specifically, FMC converted to natural gas at a Rockland, Maine, facility, which resulted in a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In 2015, the company surpassed by 17 percent its goal of spending 50 percent of its research and development budget on sustainability projects, including biologicals, seed treatments and micronutrients for more sustainable crop protection. 

“Responsible Care has been part of the fabric of FMC a long time,” said Pierre Brondeau, President, CEO and Chairman of FMC. “It has become a part of everything we do. It is a core value in many aspects, much more than what we would call a system or a process. This has led to a culture of continuous improvement that has produced winning results with employees and through the communities we serve.”

The principles of Responsible Care are reflected in BASF’s corporate purpose to create chemistry for a sustainable future. With a focus on addressing global megatrends such as demographic and social needs, increased urbanization and climate change, BASF works to increase the proportion of its products and solutions that make an extensive sustainability contribution along the value chain. Last year, BASF products related to climate protection helped reduce its customers’ emissions by nearly 50 percent – preventing 540 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

“Responsible Care is always a priority in every aspect of what we do at BASF,” said Wayne T. Smith, Chairman and CEO, BASF Corporation. “Not only does it provide a framework for our environment, health and safety programs – a way to track and measure our success – it imparts a common set of principles and a language to use with our employees, our customers, and our communities. It allows us to understand our roles as individuals, as an industry, and as a global environment so we can follow a common path toward a sustainable future.”

Responsible Care is the chemical industry’s world-class EHS&S performance initiative. Since 1988, Responsible Care companies have reduced hazardous releases to the air, land and water by 77 percent, improved energy efficiency overall, and have a worker safety record that is three times better than the overall chemical manufacturing sector and six times safer than the manufacturing industry as a whole.