Orion Engineered Carbons (Orion), a global specialty chemicals company, has received a Gold medal rating from EcoVadis, an independent organisation that assesses the performance of companies in a wide range of sustainability areas.
Orion improved its score from the previous year, moving up from 72 to 77 points – just one point away from receiving a Platinum medal rating. The company is now in the 99th percentile of companies assessed by EcoVadis.
“The way Orion was able to jump five points in one year and reach the top 1% of companies shows how the many improvements we have made can add up to a big change,” Orion CEO Corning Painter said. “We are so close to Platinum now and will continue to strive for that goal as we deliver sustainable solutions to our customers.”
EcoVadis reviews companies’ performance in the areas of environment, ethics, sustainable procurement, overall sustainability governance, labour and human rights. The organisation says it assesses more than 100,000 companies in over 200 industries in more than 175 countries.
Orion’s most recent sustainability initiatives have included installing control equipment at its U.S. plants that is substantially reducing emissions. The company is producing innovative products with pyrolysis oils from end-of-life tires and bio-circular feedstocks. Orion also plans to expand production of acetylene-based conducive additives for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.