3M has announced it expects to invest approximately $1 billion over the next 20 years to accelerate new environmental goals: achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, reduce water use by 25 per cent at its facilities, and return higher quality water to the environment after use in manufacturing operations.
“As we grow 3M, we will lead in environmental stewardship, social equity and justice, and corporate governance,” said 3M chairman and CEO, Mike Roman.
“We are taking action now to bend the curve on carbon emissions and water use and improve water quality. Our investments will make us more effective and efficient and drive growth.”
The company’s long-term investments will help advance waste reduction and pollution control programs, reduce water usage, and acquire and apply best available technology.
The investments further accelerate 3M’s continuous improvement of its manufacturing operations and ability to deliver on its environmental goals.
3M expects to further reduce carbon emissions, aiming for a 50 per cent reduction by 2030, an 80 per cent reduction by 2040, and 100 per cent carbon neutrality in its operations by 2050.1
Starting this year, as part of its ongoing review of its manufacturing facilities, 3M will also work to ensure all operations become best in class for minimising emissions that can be produced during manufacturing operations.
The company said it is also committed to reducing water use at its worldwide manufacturing facilities over the next decade.
As it is in carbon emissions, 3M is taking immediate steps to drive reductions in water use in the coming months and over the longer-term: a 10 per cent reduction in water use by 2022, a 20 per cent reduction by 2025, and a 25 per cent reduction by 2030.1
3M expects to install state-of-the-art water purification technology by the end of 2023 and be fully operational by 2024 at all of its largest water-using locations.
This will enable the company to return even higher quality water to the environment after its use in manufacturing operations. The company will use its expertise and advanced technology to remove impurities from the water it uses.
Through its efforts, 3M expects to reduce its overall water usage by 2.5 billion gallons (about 9.5 billion liters) per year.
The new commitments build upon the company’s existing 2025 goal of engaging with all of the water-stressed/scarce communities where it manufactures on community-wide approaches to water management.
“We are proactively reviewing our manufacturing facilities, going plant by plant to make investments and updates that will go beyond what is required, and at the same time further improve our operations,” said Roman.
“We are applying 3M technologies at a broad scale, which allows us to do more to reduce, restore and reuse the water in our manufacturing processes. We are offering our experience and expertise to communities so we can help others achieve better water quality.”
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