Rohm and Haas receive sustainability award

The award was presented by Dr Karl-Henrik Robert, founder of The Natural Step, a non-governmental organisation that has pioneered an extensive set of principles to advance society toward sustainability. The conference and a multi-day workshop was hosted by Chemson but organised by Hydro for 10 top global suppliers. It provided a forum for participating companies in the PVC supply chain to report their progress in utilising the sustainable development methodology developed by The Natural Step during the last year. Rohm and Haas were elected as the best performing company by Hydro and The Natural Step at the conclusion of the conference. 'This award, and the fact that many other very worthy participating companies chose to recognise Rohm and Haas for our work in sustainability, is quite gratifying', says Jon Hastings, European general manager for Rohm and Haas's Packaging and Building Materials business. 'The close working relationship we have with Hydro Polymers has greatly influenced our sustainable efforts. It has paved the way for coordinated efforts between our companies, and enabled us to further elevate sustainability values in our company.' As winner of the award, Rohm and Haas will act as leaders for sustainable development issues within their circle of suppliers, co-suppliers and customers. The company will co-sponsor a distance learning course regarding The Natural Step sustainability development principles scheduled to begin in the autumn. The course is created for professionals in the chemical industry and aims to equip 'agents of change' with information to address sustainability within their own companies. Hastings added that Rohm and Haas have been spurred on by the award. 'We recently completed a presentation on The Natural Step program to the senior leadership within Rohm and Haas, and there already exists new and exciting proposals for its continued use throughout our company.'