Increased Sustainability Achievements by STMicroelectronics in 2010

GENEVA, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, has published its annual Sustainability Report. Entitled "Our Culture of Sustainable Excellence in Practice", the report provides comprehensive details of ST's Sustainability strategy, policies and performance during 2010 and illustrates how ST embeds sustainability into its business practices to create value for all of its stakeholders.  Key commitments and achievements include a record safety performance that puts ST among the worldwide leaders in this field and a commitment to have 100% of ST products eco-designed by 2015.

Sustainability remained one of ST's key priorities in 2010, as in previous years, and was integrated even more thoroughly into the overall company strategy, including a strong focus on responsible products. As a result, ST continued to be included in all of the top five sustainability indices and received awards from its customer Nokia and the European Institute of Purchasing Management for its unswerving commitment to Sustainable Development. Highlights of 2010 included record performance in safety; further extension of the corporate Health Plan, which has now provided over 260,000 medical examinations for ST employees over a four year time span, a reduction of energy consumption per production unit of 30% compared to 2009, and the introduction of a dedicated EnergyLite™ microcontroller platform designed to minimize power consumption in a wide range of applications.

"2010 has been a record year for ST also in terms of Sustainability achievements, focused on our employees, our customers, and all our stakeholders," said Carlo Bozotti, President and Chief Executive Officer of STMicroelectronics. "This is further proof of our long-standing position that integrating sustainability and responsibility into our business activities is not a cost burden but a recipe for even greater success. We will continue to follow this path with the objective to be recognized as a world leader in innovation for sustainable development through excellence in our people, our products, the environment and the community. In this way, we are helping our customers to help make the world a better place at every level: enriching peoples' lives, making society work better, and helping to preserve the planet."

2010 was also an extremely successful year for the ST Foundation's Digital Unify (DU) program, which aims to bridge the gap between those people who have access to IT technologies and those who have not by providing free computer training and access to the internet. In 2010, the DU program exceeded the symbolic threshold of 100,000 cumulative beneficiaries worldwide.

The report clearly demonstrates the scope and success of ST's Sustainability strategy, which is designed in line with its Sustainable Excellence culture to implement ST's determination to balance and respond to stakeholders' expectations in the short and longer terms to make the Company 'sustainable' – successful now and in the future – and enable it to contribute to sustainable development at a global level. Originating as a fusion of TQM (Total Quality Management) culture and ST's pioneering work since the early 1990s in the field of environmental responsibility, Sustainable Excellence has evolved over the years to embrace every aspect of corporate responsibility and is increasingly deeply integrated into every level of the Company's activities.

The Sustainability report, which complies with the disclosure guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative and the United Nations Global Compact, is available on ST's website along with further information about the ST's sustainability approach and the previous reports covering ST's long term commitment to sustainable development.

NOTES

Highlights of the report include:

Company

• ST worked with the renowned organization Business for Social Responsibility to conduct a materiality exercise and refresh its Sustainability strategy based on this most relevant issues identification.  

Social

• ST's Corporate Human Resources implemented numerous key programs, including People Review (a program to ensure the alignment of resources and business needs), and Development Booster, a new development tool designed to equip highly talented people to evolve in their careers.
• There was an even deeper integration of Labour Rights in ST management systems in 2010. ST decided to go beyond the minimum requirements of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) compliance program via an internal audit program. The first audit was conducted in Shenzhen, China, in 2010.

Health & Safety

• ST achieved its best ever safety results in 2010 with a 19% decrease in recordable cases rate and a 43% decrease in severity rate, making ST one of the worldwide leaders in Health & Safety.
• The corporate Health Plan now covers 82% of ST's employees, compared to 63% in 2009. ST's Health Plan has now provided over 260,000 medical examinations for ST employees over a four year time span

Environment

• Building on the previous editions and the experience of over 15 years in which ST has been recognized as a pioneer, the Company finalized its fourth Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Decalogue with ambitious new EHS targets, including the objective of having all new products eco-designed by 2015.
• ST reduced its energy consumption per production unit by 30% compared to 2009, which also represents a 5.6% decrease compared to 2008 (before the crisis).  Sustainable water management and conservation are crucial issues for ST. The Company is implementing continuous improvement programs at every front-end manufacturing site to achieve its water reduction target of 5% per year. ST Agrate (Italy) has developed an innovative system that has reduced its water consumption per production unit by 47% over the past six years.

Product Responsibility

• ST is investing significantly in ultra-low power technologies and design and in 2010 it has launched a dedicated EnergyLite™ platform for microcontroller products.
• Growing needs and challenges of the health sector are increasingly addressed by ST's innovative and complete solutions, leading edge technology, state-of-the-art products and strong commitment to quality and reliability.
• The ECOPACK® program to devise and implement environmentally friendly chip packaging now covers 92% of ST products.

Supply Chain

• The mining of certain minerals in conflict areas associated with human rights violations has been a major focus for ST's supply chain and corporate responsibility programs since 2007. ST has continuously and consistently applied its sourcing policy to prevent illegal and unethical sourcing of minerals from conflict areas and their use in ST's products.
• Commitments to customer service excellence were fulfilled thanks to a risk management approach integrated into ST's key management activities. For example, in April 2010, ST was able to face the Icelandic volcano crisis and prevent any interruptions in its customers' operations thanks to its robust Business Continuity Plan in logistics.

SOURCE STMicroelectronics