Environmental Management
Operating our business safely, responsibly and in compliance with all federal and local regulations—and sustaining the quality of the environment for future generations—is critical to Benjamin Moore. Assuring compliance with applicable environmental, health, safety, security (EHSS), and product safety laws and regulations is inherent in the operating management of the company.
We have a robust EHSS management system in place, including continually improving environmental risk management, preventing and detecting non-compliances, and reducing adverse impacts of our activities, products, and services on the environment. EHSS standards are established at the corporate level to proactively standardize environmental programs and address impacts that may not be regulated, such as energy use, or use of resources. These criteria set forth regulatory and Benjamin Moore-specific requirements for all our sites.
The EHSS Leadership team, consisting of representatives from the corporate and local levels, oversees compliance, performance and EHSS issues affecting Benjamin Moore. Responsibilities include overall governance, setting standards and priorities in line with business plans, goals, driving consistency between functional areas, providing resource recommendations and communicating to company leadership. The mission of the team is to drive a consistent and systematic approach to environmental, health, personal and process safety, and security management resulting in a strong, positive safety culture and improved EHSS performance.
Climate Change
The reality of climate change requires companies to pivot with new regulations, changing weather patterns, and the desire to be responsible corporate citizens. As such, Benjamin Moore teams continuously seek opportunities to reduce our impact on the environment. In 2021, after establishing our baseline emissions, we began a program to track emission-based activities and implemented changes to reduce carbon output, some of which are outlined below.
Energy Management
Benjamin Moore uses electricity for lighting, operations and processing; natural gas for heating; and diesel for our fleet of trucks. Moving towards greater energy efficiency, in 2021 we replaced more than 600 light fixtures with LED bulbs throughout our Clifton, NJ and Vancouver, WA Distribution Centers. This change will help reduce our overall GHG carbon emissions through a reduction in kilowatt hours used. Additionally, we implemented opportunity chargers for 49 of our forklift conventional charging stations across our distribution centers. This will also help reduce our carbon footprint through a reduction in kilowatt hour (kWh) used. As future equipment leases expire, additional chargers will be converted to opportunity chargers.
Our research and development facility has hosted a 1.7-megawatt solar array for Constellation Energy Resources since 2010. The solar array generates more than 2.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually and provides about 70% of the facility’s annual electricity needs. Benjamin Moore purchases the electricity generated by the system under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Sustainable Transportation
In 2021, through the implementation of the Ortec system, Benjamin Moore realized an average 2% increase in overall load efficiency. Two of the company’s five manufacturing facilities saw individual increases of 4-7%. This overall increase in load utilization resulted in approximately 200 less trucks needed to transport the same amount of product.
Benjamin Moore continued our ongoing replacement program of older equipment, switching out 25% of our fleet this year for an increase in fuel efficiency of 6-9% per tractor.
Waste Management
Benjamin Moore is continually exploring new ways to reduce waste. Wash water is used to minimize the amount of water needed in the manufacturing process. In 2021, we redirected 32% more wash water and wash solvent into low grade products thereby keeping it out of the waste stream. Additionally, we recycled over 225,000 gallons of paint.
Our distribution centers ship hundreds of thousands of gallons of paint per day. We have implemented many recycling programs to help decrease waste, including recycling systems for wooden pallets, corrugated cardboard, shrink wrap, tin cans and, in some locations, colorant cans from the tinting process.
Since installing filtered water hubs at our headquarters, we have saved 25,000 bottles from entering the waste stream.
Conservation
Our research and development center in Flanders, NJ, and our manufacturing facility and distribution center in Pell City, AL, have earned a Conservation Certification® from Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), a nonprofit group dedicated to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat. Wildlife teams, made up of employee volunteers, at these locations manage a total of 67 acres, providing habitat for native birds and pollinators and removing invasive species.
The outdoor classroom at our Pell City, AL, site uses the Fishing Creek Wetlands Habitat as the grounds of a formal conservation education experience for local middle and high school students, focused on topics linked to classrooms subjects and state STEM education requirements. Themes include water quality monitoring, wetlands species identification and inventory, planting and native food sources.