Ashland Calvert City Receives 2020 SOCMA Sustainability Award

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Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates

Dec 17, 2020, 10:45 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA) is pleased to announce that Ashland's Calvert City, KY, facility is being recognized for its outstanding efforts and unique approaches to sustainability practices as part of the SOCMA's 2020 Performance Improvement Awards program.

For more than 14 years, SOCMA has honored companies leading the charge in environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) through its Performance Improvement Awards program. Ashland Calvert City is among 19 facilities recognized in 2020 for their efforts in environmental stewardship.

"As the specialty chemical industry navigates the challenges of 2020, keeping a sharp focus on sustainable practices is more important than ever," said Joe Dettinger, SOCMA's Senior Director of Compliance & Stewardship. "Ashland's Calvert City is a shining example of finding and implementing real-life solutions to ensure its operations are minimizing risks to the environment and community. The Calvert City team is constantly looking for ways to reduce injuries, costs, wastes and down time to ensure that the future business operation not only maintains but gains in efficiency, safety and longevity."

In looking at the facility's overall footprint in relation to its sustainability goals, the Ashland Calvert City team focused much of its efforts on decreasing energy consumed on site. To reduce usage, the facility:

Implemented technologies such as solar arrays.
Switched to variable speed motors for wastewater treatment blowers.
Defined aggressive timetables to identify and repair both steam and compressed air leaks.
Utilized FLUKE Ultrasonic leak detectors for air leaks.
Installed FLIR thermal imaging cameras to detect heat loss.
Replaced lighting fixtures with LED technology.

The judges were also impressed with the Ashland's efforts to provide 160,000 pounds of hand sanitizer to help support the community's ability to fight against COVID-19.

"Ashland's Calvert City facility has set an impressive benchmark that other companies can strive to meet as they grow their own sustainability programs," said Jennifer Abril, SOCMA President & CEO. "SOCMA also commends this outstanding facility and its staff for their efforts to help their community in a time of need. We are proud to count them as part of our SOCMA community."

See the full list of Performance Improvement Award winners here.

About SOCMA

SOCMA is part of a $300 billion industry that's fueling the U.S. economy. For more information visit www.socma.org.

SOURCE Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates