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DuPont Expands Sustainability Commitments to Include R&D, Revenue Goals

DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday, Jr. today said the company is broadening its sustainability commitments and will expand its business offerings addressing safety, environment, energy and climate challenges in the global marketplace. The company expects to derive additional revenues of $6 billion or more by 2015 from the targeted effort.

DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday, Jr. today said the company is broadening its sustainability commitments and will expand its business offerings addressing safety, environment, energy and climate challenges in the global marketplace. The company expects to derive additional revenues of $6 billion or more by 2015 from the targeted effort.

Holliday announced the DuPont 2015 Sustainability Goals at a town hall meeting and global webcast attended by a cross-section of stakeholders representing the business, government, public interest, environmental, financial, science and academic communities. Holliday said DuPont - one of the first companies to publicly establish environmental goals nearly 20 years ago - is broadening its sustainability commitments beyond internal footprint reduction to include market-driven targets for revenue and research and development investment. DuPont also has reset its footprint goals, which largely have been achieved ahead of their 2010 deadline.

"Our top priority is to create value for our shareholders. We will do that by delivering sustainable solutions through science and innovation," Holliday said. "Many companies say that what's good for the environment can also be good for business. We have a slightly different view: What's good for business must also be good for the environment and for people everywhere in the world."

Drawing on its 204-year history of science and innovation, DuPont is among the world's leaders in developing and commercializing renewable, bio-based materials; advanced biofuels; energy-efficient technologies; enhanced safety and protection products; and alternative energy products and technologies. These include high-performance products such as Bio-PDO, which is made using corn as the raw material, as the key ingredient for Sorona polymer used in carpeting, apparel, and other applications; Pioneer seeds, which use advanced plant genetics to develop higher yield, higher quality crops; and new uses for DuPont Kevlar, Nomex and Tyvek in personal protective apparel for law enforcement personnel, firefighters and emergency responders.

The company also is developing new products that enhance the environmental profile of its traditional businesses. These include refrigerants with lower greenhouse warming potential; automotive finishes with lower VOC content; and engineering polymers and coatings based on renewable materials.

"Sustainable growth is not a distant goal for 2015 - it's about products and services we have in the marketplace right now and products that are moving through our R&D pipeline," Holliday added. "While we have made progress, we can - and will - do more, working closely with our customers and partners around the world. We recognize that we don't have all the answers and need to partner with others to deliver the best solutions, when and where they are needed most."

DuPont's 2015 sustainability goals span all of its operations - from research and development to manufacturing and marketing. The goals are tied directly to business growth, specifically to the development of safer and environmentally improved new products for DuPont's key global markets, including transportation, building and construction, agriculture and food, and communications.

Holliday said that revenues from the company's current safety and environmental offerings are increasing at double the company's average annual revenue growth rate.

As part of its 2015 Sustainability Goals that are focused on the marketplace, DuPont has committed to:

  • Double R&D investment in environmentally smart market opportunities. By 2015, DuPont will double its investment in R&D programs with direct, quantifiable environmental benefits for its customers and consumers along its value chain.

  • Grow annual revenue $2 billion or more from products that create energy-efficiency and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By 2015, DuPont will grow its annual revenues by at least $2 billion from products that create energy efficiencies and/or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions for its customers. DuPont estimates these products will contribute at least 40 million tones of additional CO2 equivalent reductions by its customers and consumers.

  • Double annual revenue to $8 billion from non-depletable resources. By 2015, DuPont will nearly double revenues from non-depletable resources to at least $8 billion.

  • Introduce at least 1,000 new safety products or services. DuPont will enhance its focus on protecting people. The company will increase the amount of R&D spent on developing and bringing to market new products that will protect people from harm or threats. Between now and 2015, DuPont will introduce at least 1,000 new products or services that help make people safer globally.

    DuPont also has updated its environmental footprint goals, which largely have been achieved ahead of schedule. "Footprint reduction remains a priority for DuPont. When a company has been making thousands of different products for more than two centuries, there are bound to be legacy issues," Holliday said. "We have them. We accept that society expects transparency and responsiveness to such issues and we are committed to both in order to earn and keep the public's trust."

    The 2015 footprint goals are:

  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Since 1990 DuPont reduced its global greenhouse gas emissions measured as CO2 equivalents by 72 percent. By 2015, the company will further reduce its greenhouse gas emissions at least 15 percent from a base year of 2004. Holliday noted that the company's 72 percent reduction to date was achieved six years ahead of schedule and avoided costs of $3 billion.

  • Water Conservation. DuPont commits to reducing water consumption by at least 30 percent over the next 10 years at its global sites that are located where the renewable fresh water supply is either scarce or stressed as determined by the United Nations analysis of river basins globally. For all other sites, DuPont will hold water consumption on an absolute basis through the year 2015, offsetting any increased demand from production volume growth through conservation, reuse and recycle practices.

  • Fleet Fuel Efficiency. DuPont will introduce fleet fuel vehicles that represent the leading technologies for fuel efficiency and fossil fuel alternatives. By 2015, the company will ensure that 100 percent of its off-site fleet of cars and light trucks meet these criteria. DuPont will continue to ensure these vehicles are safe as well as fuel efficient, and will track and report on its fuel efficiency improvements.

  • Air Carcinogens. Since 1990, DuPont has reduced its global air carcinogens by 92 percent, well beyond legal requirements. By 2015, the company will further reduce its air carcinogen emissions at least 50 percent from a base year of 2004. This will bring total reductions since 1990 to 96 percent.

  • Independent Verification. By 2015, DuPont will ensure that 100 percent of its global manufacturing sites have successfully completed an independent third-party verification of the effectiveness of their environmental management goals and systems. This information will be publicly available and communicated to local communities.

    DuPont will continue to pursue and report on its 2010 goals to hold total energy use flat versus 1990 and to source 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources at a cost competitive with best available fossil fuels. In 2005, the company's total energy use was 6 percent below 1990 levels and 5.5 percent of DuPont's total energy use was from renewable sources.

    "Our 2015 goals are DuPont's investment in the future of our business, the future of our customers, and the future of people around the world," Holliday said. "They are also about the future of our planet - the one we live on today and the better, safer and healthier planet that we aspire to leave for tomorrow."

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