The Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA) recently announced that Ashland’s Calvert City, Ky., facility has been recognized for its outstanding efforts and unique approaches to sustainability practices as part of SOCMA’s 2020 Performance Improvement Awards program. For more than 14 years, SOCMA has honored companies leading the charge in environmental, health, safety, and security (EHS&S) through its Performance Improvement Awards program. Ashland Calvert City is among 19 facilities recognized in 2020 for efforts in environmental stewardship.

“As the specialty chemical industry navigates the challenges of 2020, keeping a sharp focus on sustainable practices is more important than ever,” said Joe Dettinger, SOCMA’s senior director of Compliance & Stewardship. “Ashland’s Calvert City is a shining example of finding and implementing real-life solutions to ensure its operations are minimizing risks to the environment and community. The Calvert City team is constantly looking for ways to reduce injuries, costs, wastes and down time to ensure that the future business operation not only maintains but gains in efficiency, safety and longevity.”

In looking at the facility’s overall footprint in relation to its sustainability goals, the Ashland Calvert City team reportedly focused much of its efforts on decreasing energy consumed on site. To reduce usage, the facility:

• Implemented technologies such as solar arrays
• Switched to variable-speed motors for wastewater treatment blowers
• Defined aggressive timetables to identify and repair both steam and compressed air leaks
• Utilized FLUKE Ultrasonic leak detectors for air leaks
• Installed FLIR thermal imaging cameras to detect heat loss
• Replaced lighting fixtures with LED technology

“Ashland’s Calvert City facility has set an impressive benchmark that other companies can strive to meet as they grow their own sustainability programs,” said Jennifer Abril, SOCMA president and CEO. “SOCMA also commends this outstanding facility and its staff for their efforts to help their community in a time of need. We are proud to count them as part of our SOCMA community.” 

SOCMA reports that the judges were also impressed with Ashland’s efforts to provide 160,000 lbs of hand sanitizer to help support the community’s ability to fight against COVID-19. For more information, visit www.socma.org and www.ashland.com.