SC Johnson’s Environmental Initiatives: A History of Doing What's Right
The company’s environmental leadership spans more than 120-years and includes these breakthroughs:
1955 SC Johnson introduces water-based aerosols, which reduce environmental impact while improving safety and performance.
1975 SC Johnson voluntarily and unilaterally eliminates Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from its aerosol products, three years before the U.S. mandate.
1991 President George H. Bush awards SC Johnson a Presidential Citation for Environmental Quality Management. The Citation acknowledges SC Johnson's achievements in integrating responsible environmental practices and processes throughout its worldwide organization.
1991 SC Johnson issues its first public report and becomes one of the first consumer packaged good companies to report openly and extensively about its programs and policies.
1991 Then-chairman Samuel C. Johnson becomes a founding member of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), current Chairman and CEO, Dr. H. Fisk Johnson, services as Council Member today.
1994 SC Johnson receives the World Environment Center Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development.
1998 SC Johnson is presented with Business Ethics Award for best practices in social responsibility. The Award recognizes the company for its sustainable community policies and practices in its nearly 60 host countries around the world.
2000 The Samuel C. Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise is endowed at Cornell University.
2001 SC Johnson develops the first-of-its-kind Greenlist™ environmental classification system as a method to evaluate raw materials based on their environmental impact.
2002 At the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, Chairman Fisk Johnson is a signator of Global Corporate Citizenship: The Leadership Challenge for CEOs and Boards, which recommends a “Framework for Action” leaders can use to implement principles and practices for managing a company’s impact on society and its relationship with stakeholders.
2002 SC Johnson is the first consumer packaged good manufacturer to join U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program, a voluntary partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
2003 SC Johnson breaks ground on the first turbine for our landfill gas Green Energies project that uses cogeneration to create steam and electricity for our largest manufacturing site while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by half.
2003 During the same year, U.S. EPA awards SC Johnson the first-ever Lifetime Atmospheric Achievement Award.
2004 SC Johnson announces installation of a second clean-burning methane and natural gas turbine that will boost greenhouse gas emission reductions to 52,000 tons annually.
2005 SC Johnson becomes the first consumer products company to be granted the right to use the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment seal on two of its products: Scrubbing Bubbles® Trigger Bathroom Cleaner and Shower Shine by Scrubbing Bubbles®. More products are granted this right in the ensuing years.
2006 SC Johnson is awarded the Ron Brown Award for its commitment to responsible raw material choices through its Greenlist™ Program.
2006 SC Johnson is among the first to reach its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program, reducing its U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent per pound of product from 2000 to 2005.
2006 In recognition of its Greenlist™ process, SC Johnson is awarded the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.
2008 Through the use of Greenlist™ SC Johnson was awarded the U.S. EPA Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative (SDSI) Award for the elimination of all nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactant from its products.