Owens Corning Sustainability Report: Landfill use, air quality numbers improve significantly

TOLEDO, Ohio, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) today released its sixth-annual Sustainability Report, highlighted by year-over-year intensity reductions in all environmental goals set and an impressive list of innovation-driven achievements.

Among the key accomplishments highlighted in the report is a reduction in waste-to-landfill intensity by 22 percent in 2011. That represents an absolute reduction of more than 37,000 metric tons. Owens Corning also reduced its toxic air emissions intensity by 37 percent last year. That amounts to an absolute reduction of 236 metric tons.

Building on the successes of its first 10-year goals, this is the first year the company is reporting against its new 2020 goals. Introduced last year, the company's 2020 goals are designed to expand the scope and further raise the bar on its commitment to sustainability.

"At Owens Corning, sustainability is a core business strategy," said Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Frank O'Brien-Bernini. "Operationally, this drives decision making that considers the economic, social and environmental impacts of everything we do."

Highlights of the year include:

• Achieved a tenth consecutive year of safety improvement, reflecting a commitment to employees to have an environment that fosters injury-free lives.
• Made significant progress toward achieving 2020 goals, including year-over-year intensity reductions across all environmental footprint reduction goals.
• Transformed entire Residential Insulation product line to EcoTouch®, made with 99-percent natural materials*.  This innovation led to the most significant product transformation in the company's nearly 75-year history. EcoTouch® has been widely embraced by customers and has positively impacted several sustainability metrics.
• Sponsored volunteer opportunities to revitalize neighborhoods in multiple ways and provided insulation products and enough shingles to reroof more than 370 homes for those in need.
• Updated the Board of Directors' Code of Conduct to more explicitly define sustainability expectations in corporate governance.
• Leveraged sustainability efforts through the deployment of a Supplier Code of Conduct as an integral part of the company's supplier management program.
• Led industry collaborations to establish standards for Life Cycle Assessment of product categories and end-use applications, which will lead to the ability to compare the environmental performance of competing solutions.
• Integrated Environmental, Health & Safety functions into the Sustainability organization, further institutionalizing the company's "beyond-compliance" expectations.
• Elevated the depth, breadth and transparency of the company's sustainability reporting, moving from a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting level of B to A.
• Earned placement again in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, an elite listing of the top 10 percent of the world's 2,500 largest companies based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria.

With global energy use expected to grow dramatically in the coming decades, Owens Corning is committed to broad collaborations on the path to net-zero and plus-energy buildings.

"Energy efficiency improvements in buildings are the most cost-effective alternative fuel," O'Brien-Bernini said. "We can unlock this fuel source by delivering energy-efficient systems to new homes and commercial buildings, as well as the vast stock of underperforming existing homes and commercial buildings. Given these tremendous opportunities, Owens Corning is proud to be a leading voice in advocating for effective energy and climate policy in the U.S. and around the world."

Also new in 2011 was an increase in the recycled content in several Owens Corning products and the initiation of an end-of-life shingle recycling program. In addition, the company's Composites business led the creation of fabric solutions that enable wind turbines to increase energy output and operate effectively at lower wind speeds by reducing blade weight.

Owens Corning's 2011 Sustainability Report is consistent with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines known as GRI-G3.1. GRI's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines set a globally applicable framework for reporting the economic, environmental and social dimensions of an organization's activities, products and services.

The full report and a downloadable summary progress report are available online at: http://sustainability.owenscorning.com.

*Made with a minimum of 99 percent by weight natural materials consisting of minerals and plant-based compounds.

About Owens Corning
Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) is a leading global producer of residential and commercial building materials, glass-fiber reinforcements and engineered materials for composite systems. A Fortune® 500 company for 58 consecutive years, Owens Corning is committed to driving sustainability by delivering solutions, transforming markets and enhancing lives. Founded in 1938, Owens Corning is a market-leading innovator of glass-fiber technology with sales of $5.3 billion in 2011 and approximately 15,000 employees in 28 countries on five continents. Additional information is available at: www.owenscorning.com.

SOURCE Owens Corning