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Herman Miller Launches First Sustainability Report

The furniture designer's inaugural report highlights economic progress, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship.

Herman Miller today issued its first corporate sustainability report tracking the company's progress toward meeting key economic, social, and environmental objectives.

The company has a long history of environmental action, emphasizing design for the environment, producing cradle-to-cradle products and serving as a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Paul Murray, Herman Miller's director of Environmental Health and Safety, said he believes that accountability is required to show a real commitment to sustainable practices. "This report demonstrates that we do what we say at Herman Miller," said Murray. "Our Perfect Vision plan has us on a course to becoming a 100 percent sustainable company by 2020 and every day we're making progress toward that goal with the help of thousands of employees from around the world."

The report, titled "The Journey Toward Sustainability," is based on the company's 2006 fiscal year and focuses primarily on its North American operations. The company plans to release information on international operations in future reports.

Among the highlights of the report:

Economic Sustainability
  • North American sales for fiscal 2006 rose 14.6 percent over the previous year.
  • International sales grew 23 percent over the previous year.
  • New, earth-friendly product lines, including My Studio Environments and Vivo Interiors, were launched.
Social Responsibility
  • Employees logged more than 33,000 volunteer hours to community-based, charitable causes.
  • More than 10 percent of Herman Miller's workforce participates in formal joint management-worker health and safety committees.
  • Lauded by DiversityInc magazine as one of country's top 10 companies for supplier diversity program.
Environmental Stewardship
  • Waste reduction programs were recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • More than 27.5 percent of energy needs were met by renewable sources.
  • All new products were evaluated according to the company's Design for the Environment protocol, which monitors material chemistry and safety of inputs, disassembly, and recyclability.
"This report deals with many dimensions of Herman Miller as a business," said Herman Miller CEO Brian Walker. "It shines a light upon our commitment to sustainability throughout all aspects of our operations, including where we stand, what we've achieved, and most important of all, where we intend to go."

The full report is available at http://hermanmiller.com/environment

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