DuPont Chairman: Demand for Sustainable Products t
Chicago, IL, October 13, 2006--DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday, Jr. told The Executives' Club of Chicago that the pace of the transition to products and services meeting the definition of "sustainable" will quicken due to the synergistic effect of market demand, societal expectations and product innovation.
"Sustainability is increasingly becoming central to the total value proposition," Holliday said. "Sustainable growth means creating value for our shareholders and for society by developing products that the market demands - and which also are good for the environment and for the health, safety and well-being of people everywhere. This will not only impact our business, but every customer - and through their products - every consumer we touch."
Holliday said DuPont's renewed sustainability commitments, announced Tuesday, are expected to generate $6 billion in additional revenues by 2015. Expanded business offerings will address safety, environmental, energy and climate challenges facing global markets. DuPont's sustainability commitments take a holistic approach that is integrated into its business models and span all of its operations - from research and development to manufacturing and marketing, he said.
"Science and innovation that does not address pressing human needs will not advance sustainability. Likewise, a vision of sustainability detached from science and technology will not succeed. We need both the commitment of sustainability and accomplishments of science," Holliday said.
"Our first job is to create value for our shareholders, and sustainability is good for business," Holliday said. "For DuPont, sustainable growth is not a distant goal - it's about products and services we have in the marketplace right now and products that are moving through our R&D pipeline."
DuPont - one of the first companies to publicly establish environmental goals nearly 20 years ago - has broadened its sustainability commitments beyond internal footprint reduction to include market-driven targets for revenue and research and development investment. The goals are tied directly to business growth, specifically to the development of safer and environmentally improved new products for DuPont's key global markets, including transportation, building and construction, agriculture and food, and communications.
By 2015, DuPont has committed to:
- Double its research and development investment in environmentally smart market opportunities;
- Double revenues to $8 billion from non-depletable resources;
- Grow annual revenues $2 billion or more from products that create nergy efficiency and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for its customers, and;
- Introduce at least 1,000 new safety products or services.
