The Environment America Research & Policy Center Recognizes SC Johnson for Its Commitment to Green Chemistry

RACINE, Wis., June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Environment America Research & Policy Center, dedicated to protecting America's air, water and open spaces, has recognized SC Johnson in its 2011 Safer by Design report as one of the leading businesses protecting the environment.  The company was given the award based on its utilization of green chemistry and its innovative Greenlist™ process, an environmental classification system designed to help green chemistry and packaging materials.

"We are honored and humbled to receive such an important recognition from the Environment America Research & Policy Center," said Kelly M. Semrau, Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs, Communication & Sustainability for SC Johnson. "These achievements underscore that businesses can marry high quality design, innovative manufacturing processes and the principles of green chemistry to create valuable products for consumers."

Since Greenlist's™ inception in 2001, the program and SC Johnson have received numerous external recognitions, including the 2006 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award and the 2006 Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership - the only Presidential Award to recognize companies for outstanding achievements in employee and community relations.

The process has enabled the company to successfully eliminate nearly 48 million pounds of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from its products. Key successes include:

• Eliminated PVC from packaging due to its link to health and other issues
• Eliminated chlorine-bleached paperboard packaging because chlorine can cause contamination of air and water
• Reformulated Windex® glass cleaner to replace a solvent and removed 1.8 million pounds of VOCs, while increasing cleaning efficacy 30 percent
• Reformulated Pledge® Multi Surface cleaner to increase biodegradability and reduce VOCs, while also increasing cleaning power

How It Works

With the Greenlist™ process, ingredients are rated according to their impact on the environment and human health. Using this information, company scientists work to select ingredients with "Better" or "Best" ratings when developing new products. When reformulating existing products, they must contain ingredients with equal or better ratings than the original formula. At the end of the day, the goal is to annually increase the proportion of ingredients in SC Johnson products that have the least impact on the environment and human health.

"Greenlist™ has changed the way we do business, and is another milestone in our ongoing journey toward embedding environmental sustainability into all of our products," adds Semrau.

What's Inside SC Johnson

Greenlist™ also led to the company's recognized, industry-leading ingredient communication program. Announced in 2009, the ingredient communication program includes voluntarily providing ingredient information for the company's home cleaning, air care and home storage products such as Windex®, Shout®, Glade® and Ziploc®. By 2012, all ingredients will be listed, including dyes, preservatives and fragrance ingredients. The program also goes beyond the industry right-to-know initiative by making the information available through not one but three ways – a dedicated web site, a toll-free number and on product labels; and by also offering the information in English, Spanish and in French-Canadian through our Canadian website.

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family-owned and managed business dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, and pest control. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE®, OFF!®, PLEDGE®, RAID®, SCRUBBING BUBBLES®, SHOUT®, WINDEX® and ZIPLOC® in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN®, BAYGON®, BRISE®, KABIKILLER®, KLEAR®, and MR. MUSCLE®. The 125-year-old company, with more than $8 billion in sales, employs approximately 12,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com

Media Contacts:
Jam Stewart, SC Johnson
[email protected] and (262) 260-6654

Megan DiSciullo, Edelman
[email protected] and (646) 642-7780

SOURCE SC Johnson