Corporate Social Responsibility

At NatureWorks, corporate responsibility is a process of continually improving our standards, our actions and our processes. Our commitments on business conduct, the environment, and people guide our overall approach.

• We will conduct our business with high levels of integrity, accountability and responsibility.
• We will develop ways of reducing our environmental impact and help conserve natural resources. 
• We will treat people with dignity and respect.

We believe in protecting and conserving the environment. We are developing ways to reduce our environmental impact throughout our global operations and to help conserve natural resources. We have developed management systems and policies to ensure environmental compliance, prevent pollution and continually improve performance on criteria relevant to our business and operations. We have ambitious "beyond compliance" goals for improvements in energy efficiency, carbon emissions reduction and water management. In addition to our efforts within our business, we also partner with others to reduce the environmental impacts of the supply chains in which we participate.

We strive to create a workplace where employees feel valued and are given opportunities to reach their full potential. We are committed to treating people with dignity and respect. Hiring, motivating, developing and retaining the right people is critical to our ability to deepen relationships with customers and fulfill our promises to the communities we serve. A clear demonstration of our respect for our employees is our unyielding commitment to safety. Our goal is to send people home safely every day.

At NatureWorks, we are committed to sustainable water management. NatureWorks believes not only in assessing its water footprint, but also in holistically considering its water usage in terms of overall environmental impacts throughout its supply chain, from field to NatureWorks factory gate. We are committed to full transparency and to putting actions behind these words. We conduct audits on our environmental impact including our water usage. These eco-profile audits have been peer reviewed and published (1). Between 2006 and 2009 NatureWorks achieved a ~29% decrease in water usage. We are not finished; NatureWorks is committed to continued improvement on its environmental impact.

(1) Life Cycle Inventory and Impact Assessment data for 2014 Ingeo™ Polylactide Production. Industrial Biotechnology, Vol 11, No. 3. Pgs 167-180. June 2015