for our efforts,” said Susan
Kendall, Sustainability director,
UK & Ireland, for AkzoNobel
Decorative Paints. “We put the
environment at the heart of everything
we do and our teams are always chal-
lenging, questioning and innovating to
ensure we do more, while using less,
right across the business.”
Added Darran Messem, managing
director for Carbon Trust Certification:
“AkzoNobel has for many years demon-
strated a clear commitment to becoming
a more sustainable business, which result-
ed in the company becoming one of the
first organizations to achieve certification
to the Carbon Trust Standard for carbon,
water and waste two years ago, mak-
ing real reductions in all three resources
year-on-year.
“We are now delighted to award
recertification to AkzoNobel for con-
tinuing to make ongoing improvements
and I would like to congratulate every-
one in the business that has helped to
accomplish this.”
This year, AkzoNobel achieved the
highest Carbon Trust score in its sector
for carbon management performance,
demonstrating excellent management of
carbon in day-to-day operations.
Other projects that contributed to the
success include a rainwater harvesting
system at the company’s manufacturing
plant in Prudhoe, which saves around
900,000 liters of water a year, and
has won a British Coatings Federation
Sustainable Innovation Award.
AkzoNobel Supports 70th
Anniversary of Daring WWII
Submarine Rescue of U.S.S.
Cod
More than 200 dignitaries including representatives from The Netherlands, military historians and local officials recently
gathered to mark the 70th anniversary of
a daring World War II rescue of a Dutch
submarine by the U.S.S. Cod.
The “Cod” is now an important historical and cultural landmark, located in
Cleveland, Ohio.
The celebration of the rescue is sup-
ported by AkzoNobel as part of its
Human Cities initiative. The aim of the
initiative is to improve, energize and re-
generate urban communities across the
world, and has a particular focus on the
preservation of important local heritage
sites and landmarks.
“The U.S.S. Cod’s rescue of the 55
sailors on Dutch submarine 0-19 was a
remarkable act of heroism,” said Toby
Oothoudt, an American of Dutch an-
cestry whose father was a sailor aboard
a U.S. submarine lost in World War II.
Oothoudt is vice president and trustee of
the non-profit Cleveland Coordinating
Committee for Cod, Inc., which main-
tains the Cod at its docked location on
the Cleveland lakefront. “This story is
as compelling today as it was back in
1945 and is a reminder of the friendship
that exists between the United States
and The Netherlands.”
In addition to sponsoring the anni-
versary weekend activities, AkzoNobel
is partnering with the Cod coordinating
committee to promote the Cod’s remark-
able history and the enduring friendship
between the U.S. and The Netherlands.
“AkzoNobel is very proud to sup-
port this celebration of naval hero-
ism and international cooperation,”
said Johan Landfors, president of
AkzoNobel North America. “Under
our Human Cities Initiative, we be-
lieve heritage needs to be embraced,
celebrated and protected. As a Dutch
company with a significant presence in
North America and Northeast Ohio,
our support of the Cod – a National
Historic Landmark – is indicative of
our commitment to preserving heritage
in cities around the world.”
North America is AkzoNobel’s larg-
est market for its performance coatings
and specialty chemicals. AkzoNobel’s
Marine Coatings business has pio-
neered the development of market-lead-
ing coatings for the shipping industry,
for over 130 years.
Paul Farace, president and curator for
the Committee for Cod, said, “Cleveland
is privileged to have the Cod anchored in
Lake Erie. We who work to preserve this
submarine as a realistically restored, publicly accessible memorial are grateful for
AkzoNobel’s support of our mission and
this celebration.”
Southwestern Plating
Named a “Whitford Quality
Approved Coater
Whitford, makers of the world’s largest, most complete line of fluoropoly-mer coatings, has launched a “Quality
Approved Coater” program in the U.S.
that recognizes a limited number of coating applicators who meet strict criteria set
by Whitford. The program was originally
tested in the oil industry in Asia, where it
met with great success. It consists of a select group of applicators who have proven
their capacity to provide coated fasteners
that meet a list of strict standards established by Whitford. Its objective is to
assure consistently high quality in coated fasteners. Now it comes to the U.S.,
and Southwestern Plating of Houston,
Texas, is the first member to qualify for
Whitford’s QAC award. Southwestern
Plating is a customer-focused metal finishing and industrial coatings company
that has served manufacturers in diverse
industries across North America and
around the globe for more than 65 years.
Hybrid Coating
Technologies Receives U.S.
EPA Award
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is recognizing landmark
green chemistry technologies developed
by industrial pioneers and leading scientists that turn climate risk and other
environmental problems into business
opportunities, spurring innovation and
economic development.
“From academia to business, we congratulate those who bring innovative solutions that will help solve some of the
most critical environmental problems,”
said Jim Jones, EPA’s assistant administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention. “These innovations reduce
the use of energy, hazardous chemicals
and water, while cutting manufacturing costs and sparking investments. In
some cases they turn pollution into useful
products. Ultimately, these manufacturing processes and products are safer for
people’s health and the environment. We
will continue to work with the 2015 winners as their technologies are adopted in
the marketplace.”
