DuPont’s Packaging & Industrial Polymers operations site in Orange, Texas, has been honored by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a trade association, for energy-efficiency improvements that also resulted in green house gas (GHG) reductions. The improvements saved approximately 540,000 million Btu, enough to power 3,800 households, and reduced GHG emissions by more than 30,000 tons/year.

“As part of DuPont’s corporate sustainability commitment, we are focused on reducing the environmental footprint of our operations and working with customers to achieve market-facing sustainability gains,” says Shanna Moore, global sustainability director, Packaging & Industrial Polymers. “Achievements such as these reductions help us support customers who are looking for reduced environmental impact throughout their value chains.”

The plant upgraded the design of its ethylene furnaces and saved more than 67 million Btu/hr fuel savings via the new system. The investment builds upgrades made in 2008 which reduced annual CO2 emissions by 34 million pounds (17,000 tons). The plant is DuPont’s largest manufacturing site in and makes high performance ethylene copolymers, such as Surlyn ionomer resin and Vamac ethylene acrylic elastomers, which are used for packaging, automotive components, construction materials and other everyday items.

According to the ACC, innovations such as these by winners of its Energy Efficiency Awards in 2010 resulted in annual energy savings of 14.8 trillion Btu. Winners were selected by the ACC’s Energy Team, comprised of member representatives, academics and experts in the field of energy efficiency, and were announced at the ACC Responsible Care Conference.

DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers manufactures an extensive mix of adhesive, barrier, peelable lidding and sealant resins and provides a globally networked development team to work with customers on packaging programs that help protect the product, environment; improve shelf appeal, convenience; and reduce cost in the food, cosmetics, medical products and other consumer goods and industrial packaging industries.

DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers
(302) 992-6660
www.dupont.com