Vinyl Institute Recognizes Top Safety, Environmental Performers
ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 14, 2010 – The Vinyl Institute Inc. announced awards to the top-performing companies in the vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) industry in improving worker safety and protecting the environment at plant sites throughout North America.
These awards recognize VI members who had the best safety and environmental performance in vinyl production during 2008.
Noted VI President and CEO Greg Bocchi, “These awards illustrate our industry’s continuing commitment to concern for the environment and worker safety. To produce the results that these companies have achieved speaks volumes about the investments all of our members have made, and continue to make, in training, process improvements, and capital expenditures.”
Environmental Excellence Awards are based on outstanding performance under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and an outstanding track record of environmental performance for five or more years.
The winner for 18 consecutive years of outstanding performance was:
- Shintech, Inc.’s PVC plant in Freeport, Texas.
Other winners were:
- PolyOne Corporation’s PVC plant in Pedricktown, N.J., for 15 consecutive years of achievement;
- OxyVinyls, LP’s PVC plant in Deer Park, Texas, for eight consecutive years of achievement.
The environmental criteria for VI’s Environmental Honor Award includes emissions reduction under the NESHAP, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and for purposes of EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The VI awarded two plants with the Environmental Honor Award, one in the PVC category and one in the EDC/VCM category. This year’s winners of this award are:
- The PolyOne Corporation’s PVC plant in Pedricktown, N.J.;
- Westlake PVC Company’s EDC/VCM plant in Calvert City, Ky.
The Safety Excellence Award is based upon federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) recordable incidents, which are defined as an occupational injury or illness resulting in medical treatment. The award, which recognizes plants with five or more consecutive years with no recordable incidents, was presented to:
- Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A., for its PVC plant in Baton Rouge, La.;
- OxyVinyls, LP, for its PVC plant in Pedricktown, N.J.;
- The PolyOne Corporation, for its PVC plant in Pedricktown, N.J.
VI’s Safety Performance Awards recognize efforts to improve worker safety based upon the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) recordable incidence rate. As defined by OSHA, a recordable incident involves an occupational injury or illness resulting in medical treatment. The award, which recognizes plants with no recordable incidents, was presented to three companies in the vinyl and EDC-VCM categories. The winners are:
- Formosa Plastics Corporation U.S.A., for its EDC/VCM plants in Baton Rouge, La., and Point Comfort, Texas; and its EDC plant in Point Comfort, Texas;
- OxyVinyls, LP, for its PVC plant in Niagara Falls, Ontario;
- Shintech, Inc., for its PVC plants in Addis, La.; and Freeport, Texas;
The Vinyl Institute, founded in 1982, represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC/vinyl resin in the United States, as well as makers of vinyl feedstocks, additives, and film and sheet products, and promotes the value of PVC/vinyl products to society.
For more information on The Vinyl Institute, contact:
Jeffrey B. Palmer
Director of Marketing & Communications
The Vinyl Institute
571-970-3327
jpalmer@vinylinfo.org
Also go to: www.vinylindesign.com, www.vinylinfo.org, and www.achievegreen.net.