The Vinyl Institute Recognizes Top Companies for Safety and Environmental Excellence
Washington DC (PRWEB) December 04, 2014 -- The Vinyl Institute(VI) announced the recipients of VI’s annual top safety and environmental awards, given to companies in the vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) industry for improving worker safety and protecting the environment at plant sites throughout North America. Awards were announced for performance during the 2013 calendar year.
“These awards illustrate our industry’s unwavering commitment to concern for the environment and worker safety,” said VI President Richard Doyle. “Over the past 26 years this commitment has resulted in a 75 percent reduction in vinyl chloride emissions, while our industry’s PVC resin production has increased by 87 percent.”
He continued, “Our industry’s occupational injury and illness rate has improved 82 percent during the past 21 years. The Vinyl Institute’s survey shows our members have overall incident rate reported to OSHA of 0.86 for the manufacture of ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, and vinyl resins during 2013. The vinyl industry’s employee safety performance is typically six times better than overall manufacturing. To receive the type of results that these companies have achieved speaks volumes about the investments all of our members have made, and continue to make, in safety training, process improvements, and emissions reductions.”
The Vinyl Institute’s Safety Excellence Award is based upon federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (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:
• Oxy Vinyls, LP for its PVC plant in Pedricktown, New Jersey, which has 13 consecutive years with no recordable incidents.
• Mexichem Specialty Resins, Inc. for its PVC plant in Pedricktown, New Jersey, which has 12 consecutive years with no recordable incidents.
• Oxy Vinyls Canada, Inc. for its PVC plant in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which has 6 consecutive years with no recordable incidents.
• Occidental Chemical for its Ethylene Dichloride plant in Convent, LA which has 5 consecutive years with no recordable incidents.
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 seven companies representing 14 facilities in the vinyl and EDC/VCM categories. The winners of this award for performance during 2013 were:
• Formosa Plastics Corporation, USA for its PVC plant in Baton Rouge, LA;
• Mexichem Specialty Resins, Inc. for its PVC plants in Pedricktown, NJ, and Henry, IL;
• Occidental Chemical Corporation for its EDC plants in Convent, LA, and Geismar, LA;
• Occidental Chemical Corporation for its EDC/VCM plants in Ingleside, TX;
• Oxy Vinyls Canada, Inc. for its PVC plant in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
• Oxy Vinyls, LP for its PVC plant in Pedricktown, NJ.
• Oxy Vinyls, LP for its VCM plant in Deer Park, TX.
• Shintech, Inc. for its PVC plants in Addis, LA and Plaquemine, LA.
• Westlake Chemical Corporation for its PVC plant in Calvert City, KY.
• Westlake Vinyls for its VCM plant and its PVC plant in Geismar, LA
The Vinyl Institute’s 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 winners demonstrated continued outstanding performance in 2013.
The winner for 23 consecutive years of outstanding performance was:
• Shintech, Inc.’s PVC plant in Freeport, Texas.
Other winners were:
• Oxy Vinyls, LP’s PVC plant in Deer Park, Texas, for 13 consecutive years of achievement;
• Oxy Vinyls, LP’s PVC plant in Pedricktown, New Jersey, for 8 consecutive years of achievement;
• Formosa Plastics Corporation’s PVC plant in Point Comfort, Texas, for 6 consecutive years of achievement;
• Occidental Chemical Corporation’s EDC/VCM plant in Ingleside, Texas, for 6 consecutive years of achievement;
• Westlake Chemical Corporation’s EDC/VCM plant in Calvert City, Kentucky, for 6 consecutive years of achievement;
• Westlake Chemical Corporation’s PVC plant in Calvert City, Kentucky, for 5 consecutive years of achievement.
The environmental criteria for VI’s Environmental Honor Award include emissions reduction under the NESHAP, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The Environmental Honor Award is presented to two plants, one in the PVC category and one in the EDC/VCM category. The winners of this award for performance during 2013 were:
• Formosa Plastics Corporation, USA for its PVC plant in Delaware City, DE;
• Westlake Vinyls for its VCM plant in Geismar, LA.
The Vinyl Institute represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC vinyl resins and its raw materials in the United States, and promotes the value of PVC and vinyl products to society.
Susan Wade, Vinyl Institute, http://www.vinylinfo.org, +1 202.765.2296, [email protected]
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