Air Products Named Corporate Citizen Role Model in China and Wins Green Chemical Award

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Jan 16, 2014, 09:19 ET

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Jan. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD) has recently been named "2013 Corporate Citizen Role Model" and received the Green Chemical Award from China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF) in recognition of its outstanding performance in sustainability.

CPCIF is a non-profit organization with membership covering more than 300 major companies, institutions and associations in China's petrochemical industry. Aimed at increasing the awareness of corporate social responsibility and driving the sustainable development of the petrochemical industry, the federation held the "Beautiful Chemical" campaign earlier last year and led the recent election of "Corporate Citizen Role Model" and associated awards by professional evaluations of voluntary participating companies.

Fifty-five state-owned, private and foreign-invested companies and 14 entrepreneurs were honored as role models and awarded in one of the five categories: Green Chemical, Innovation, Responsible Care, Social Responsibility and Outstanding Entrepreneur. The judging panel was comprised of more than 20 industry experts, academicians and scholars who judged based on criteria including corporate governance, employee rights and benefits, environmental protection, safety, innovation, public communications and corporate social responsibility. Air Products won the Green Chemical Award for its sustained contribution to environmental protection, clean energy technology promotion and social responsibility.

A responsible corporate citizen with a long-standing commitment to sustainability, Air Products has been serving the China market for over 25 years with its leading-edge technologies and solutions to help customers become more productive, energy efficient and sustainable. For example, the company's oxygen and oxy-fuel technologies enable glass and steel manufacturers to improve product quality and enhance productivity while reducing emissions. The company has also been driving the use of clean energy and powered the official shuttle buses for the Beijing Olympic Games and Guangzhou Asian Games with its hydrogen fueling technologies.

The social responsibility initiatives and activities that Air Products took part in during 2013 included the sponsorship of 2013 China's National University Chemistry Video Contest organized by the Association of International Chemical Manufacturers. The company also worked with China Chemical Society and Peking University to advocate green gas technologies among university students for a better future and participated in the REACH (Resiliency Education: Advocacy Collaboration & Hope) program to develop teenagers' strengths in a middle school in Shanghai through non-traditional subjects such as character, self-confidence, teamwork and emotional resilience.

The company has recently received the 2013 Best Enterprise Public Image Award in China and been rated as China's Top 100 IDEAL™ Employers 2013 by a group of university students majoring in natural sciences and ranked Number 3 in the area of "environmental sustainability."

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE: APD) provides atmospheric, process and specialty gases; performance materials; equipment; and technology. For over 70 years, the company has enabled customers to become more productive, energy efficient and sustainable. Recognized as one of the world's most innovative companies by both Thomson Reuters and Forbes magazine, more than 21,000 employees in over 50 countries supply effective solutions to the energy, environment and emerging markets. These include semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, coal gasification, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. In fiscal 2013, Air Products had sales of $10.2 billion. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2013.

SOURCE Air Products