For the second straight year, Covestro LLC, a leading producer of high-performance polymers in North America, has received a Product Safety Award from the American Chemistry Council (ACC). The award was presented at ACC’s annual Responsible Care Conference & Expo, held this week in Miami.
Covestro was one of only two companies to receive a Product Safety Award, which recognizes member organizations that have excelled at driving continuous improvement in their product safety and stewardship programs.
“This award is a testament to Covestro’s commitment to product safety, stewardship and sustainability. These key principles are integrated throughout our business from the ground up and I congratulate all employees who made this possible,” said Jerry MacCleary, president of Covestro LLC.
This year’s award submission showcased Covestro’s participation in a field trial with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to pilot a new credit in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) v4, the latest version of the LEED rating system.
LEED v4 includes a material ingredients credit called “Building Product Disclosure and Optimization” and Covestro participated in reviewing option 3, “Product Manufacturer Supply Chain Optimization.” Three Covestro products were evaluated and verified by an external auditor to receive credit. The process involved employee interviews and the exchange of numerous documents, including a building product ingredient inventory with hazard screen, supplier communications, written programs, procedures and more. After successfully completing the required elements of the option and verification by an external audit, Covestro was awarded the credit for all three submitted products.
As part of the test group, Covestro was also asked to review the credit in relation to the ACC’s Responsible Care Product Safety Code to identify areas of alignment with the USGBC LEED v4 option 3.
“For Covestro, being able to achieve the LEED credit was significant. Not only did it allow the chemical industry and USGBC to work together, but it also showed that Covestro’s implementation of ACC’s Product Safety Code prepared us well for this challenge,” explained Lisa Marie Nespoli, manager, Product Safety & Stewardship, Covestro LLC.
At the annual Responsible Care Conference & Expo the ACC honors chemical industry leaders for outstanding work in chemical management, including environmental, health, safety and security performance. Award winners qualify based on exemplary performance and are selected by a committee made up of internal and external experts. The Responsible Care Awards Program was developed to recognize companies that exemplified leadership and outstanding performance based on the implementation and execution of the Responsible Care program.
