Apr 22 2008
Eastman Kodak Company today announced that it has made substantial progress towards its "Responsible Growth" goals. These goals were established two years ago after the company surpassed, ahead of schedule, all of its existing manufacturing-focused health, safety and environmental (HSE) improvement goals.
“Our current goals build on our legacy of manufacturing excellence and product stewardship to drive a culture of ‘Responsible Growth’,” said David M. Kiser Director, Health, Safety and Environment, and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. “They’re designed to reduce our impact on the environment, protect the safety of our employees and customers, and support the communities where we do business while ensuring sustainable growth and profitability for the company."
Unlike former goals dating back to as early as 1991, which were mainly focused on the company's traditional manufacturing infrastructure, the current “Responsible Growth” goals are broad based, encompassing the areas of product stewardship and social responsibility as well as operational excellence.
In the category of operational responsibility, Kodak has:
- Reduced total energy usage (both direct and indirect) by 30% from the 2002 baseline year.
- Closed a 67-MW power plant in Rochester, NY due to successful energy efficiency programs and site transformation. For its efforts, Kodak earned the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Energy Champion Award,” the highest award for energy efficiency for industrial facilities.
- Achieved a 28% reduction in total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (both direct and indirect) from 2002 baseline year.
- Externally certified and publicly reported GHG emission inventories for the years 2002 to 2006.
In the category of product responsibility, Kodak has:
- Reduced packaging by 23% for Kodak’s NEXPRESS Dryink products.
- Recycled, reused or refurbished 42 million pounds of waste through the Printer’s EnviroServices Program.
- Surpassed a lifetime recycling collection total of 1.2 billion One-Time Use Cameras (OTUCs), and manufactured nearly 100% of OTUCs in 2007 from recycled bodies and/or parts.
- Improved energy efficiency and material usage of photo kiosks, and reduced the battery consumption of digital cameras, resulting in an Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology Award at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show.
- Delivered a Kodak Supplier HSE Performance Expectation to key suppliers and joined the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition.
In the category of social responsibility, Kodak has:
- Reduced occupational injury rates by 58% from the 2002 baseline year, with significant reductions achieved in the United States and Canada.
- Enhanced designs for products such as kiosks and scanners to ensure they are accessible to people with disabilities.
Although some of the progress achieved in operational responsibility is related to Kodak’s reduction in traditional manufacturing, the majority of the overall progress is attributed to creative process and design improvements.
“To enable success during our difficult digital transformation, we have relied on our strong HSE management system, and on our employees supporting our Responsible Growth goals by aggressively pursuing additional sustainability goals specific to their local priorities,” added Kiser. “Going forward, we will continue to prioritize our sustainability challenges, implement strategies to drive improvements and strive for meaningful and quantifiable goals.”
For more information on Kodak's Health, Safety, and Environmental policies, procedures and performance, please refer to www.kodak.com/go/hse.