Performance

We use a number of metrics to track our progress toward higher levels of sustainability. Here are some of the results:

Strategic partnership successes

Many of our key sustainability successes have come from working with our corporate strategic partners to develop sustainable products and processes:

• We completed a 3-year, $17 million contract with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to reduce the cost of enzymes used in the conversion of biomass to ethanol.
• Our researchers demonstrated that fuel can be created from renewable plant sources at a greater than 10-fold reduction in cost by reducing enzyme costs to less than 20 cents per gallon of ethanol. These improvements were both in the dosage of enzymes required and the cost of producing them.
• Together with DuPont™, Genencor received the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2003 Presidential Green Chemistry Award for its development of 1,3 propanediol (PDO), a monomer used to produce DuPont's polymer Sorona®, which uses renewable resources instead of petrochemicals to make high-quality polyester.

Supply chain initiatives

• We’ve made a number of packaging changes, such as switching from treated wood to metal pallets and increasing bag sizes, to improve safety, environmental impact, and usability for customers.

Focus on people

• We have received recognition as one of Top 50 Best Places to Work in the Silicon Valley.