Resin and compounding leader LyondellBasell has received the Responsible Care Company of the Year Award from the American Chemistry Council.
In a June 2 news release, officials with Washington-based ACC said the award is the organization's highest distinction. Houston-based LyondellBasell received the award for innovative practices and leadership in the areas of environmental protection, health, safety and security, they added.
"Responsible Care is a program based on leadership, safety and continual improvement in our facilities, operations and products," ACC President and CEO Chris Jahn said. "It's a commitment that helps us to operate with health, safety, security and environmental protection as our top priorities.
"Today, we recognize LyondellBasell for its outstanding leadership and dedication to the tenets of responsible care with ACC's highest honor," he added.
ACC presented the award during its first virtual annual meeting, recognizing LyondellBasell's application of Responsible Care requirements. LyondellBasell also won the award in 2014.
"Year after year our global team has delivered top decile performance in occupational safety and top quartile performance in process safety among our peer companies," LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel said.
The firm experienced its best year ever for environmental performance in 2019, Patel added.
"This honor is a direct reflection of the dedication of our entire LyondellBasell team, and their recognition that the health and safety of our people and the communities where we operate are our highest priorities," Patel said.
Since 2017, LyondellBasell has reduced its total recordable injury rate at its ACC member sites by 68 percent and reduced reportable environmental events by 26 percent. In 2019, the company also implemented key sustainability initiatives.
Those initiatives include expansion of a mechanical recycling project that transforms post-consumer plastic waste into high-quality polymers to make new products, and production of bio-based plastic made from renewable raw materials. Officials said LyondellBasell is seeking opportunities to grow its sustainable product portfolio in the U.S. and other parts of the world.
To be eligible for the Responsible Care Award, ACC members must demonstrate they have met and surpassed Responsible Care performance criteria in their U.S. operations. These criteria include:
- Achieving a safety performance rating in the top 10 percent of companies in their size category, with no significant process events in the previous year;
- Positive performance measures in the areas of transportation safety, process safety and emissions reduction; and
- Demonstrated improvements in EHS&S performance, product stewardship, distribution safety and emergency preparedness.
Since 1988, Responsible Care companies have reduced hazardous releases to the air, land and water by 84 percent These companies also have improved energy efficiency overall. They have an employee safety record five times better than the U.S. manufacturing sector as a whole, and almost three times better than the business of chemistry overall.
LyondellBasell ranks as one of the world's largest producers of polypropylene and polyethylene resins and as North America's largest plastics compounder. The firm has operations in more than 100 countries and posted sales of $34.7 billion in 2019.