The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has honored Arkema’s Calvert City, Kentucky plant with its prestigious Energy Efficiency Award, adding an “Exceptional Merit” designation. According to ACC, this honor recognizes broad programs to achieve energy-efficiency improvements. Arkema Inc. won the award with “Exceptional Merit” in 2019 as well, for its corporate ArkEnergy program.
“This award recognizes companies that have made significant improvements in energy efficiency," said ACC Managing Director of Responsible Care® Tara Henriksen. "The energy savings help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and are an example of how chemistry is the science behind sustainability.”
The Calvert City plant’s award is a great recognition of its efforts under the company’s “ArkEnergy” (Arkema Energy) program, which was launched in 2013. ArkEnergy aims for a 20 percent improvement in Arkema’s energy efficiency by 2030, a goal that is in line with Arkema’s global Climate Plan. The plant significantly enhanced and upgraded its boiler and steam distribution systems and replaced conventional lighting with LED across the site. Taken together, these changes, along with many other energy reduction initiatives, reduced annual energy use by 264 billion BTUs, which significantly reduces emissions related to energy use.
“I’m proud of the way our Calvert City plant has contributed to Arkema’s global sustainability goals, particularly in terms of reducing our energy usage and overall carbon footprint,” said Rich Rowe, president & CEO, Arkema Inc. “This award, which we’re receiving for the second consecutive year, reflects the strong effort underway across our company, and I thank the ACC for recognizing our progress."
Abdel Ramadane, Acrylics PT manager, also manages the ArkEnergy program in the Americas. Ramadane noted that the Calvert City plant’s excellent progress is driven by the strong dedication of Dwight Stoffel (site energy leader), active employee engagement in the program, and strong support from Plant Manager Jeff Hall and business leadership.
The ArkEnergy program is an example of the company’s continuous improvement approach, which is also apparent in Arkema’s global vision for talent development, competitiveness, and climate plan.
“These achievements in improving our sustainability are fully in line with Arkema Group’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and GHG reduction goal by 2030,” said Virginie Delcroix, Arkema’s vice president for Sustainable Development. “ArkEnergy is a key element of the Climate plan, and working as a team enables us to achieve our ambitious sustainability targets.”
About Arkema:
Building on its unique set of expertise in materials science, Arkema offers a portfolio of first-class technologies to address ever-growing demand for new and sustainable materials. With the ambition to become in 2024 a pure player in Specialty Materials, the Group is structured into three complementary, resilient and highly innovative segments dedicated to Specialty Materials - Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions - accounting for some 80% of Group sales, and a well-positioned and competitive Intermediates segment. Arkema offers cutting-edge technological solutions to meet the challenges of new energies, access to water, recycling, urbanization and mobility, and more, and fosters a permanent dialogue with all its stakeholders. The Group reported sales of €8.7 billion ($9.7 billion) in 2019, and operates in some 55 countries with 20,500 employees worldwide. www.arkema.com