Pinova Publishes Sustainability Report

Pinova Holdings Inc., the parent company of Renessenz LLC, has published its 2011 Sustainability Report, which describes the sustainability aims of the organization including green solutions, environmental stewardship and the next steps toward a sustainable future.

The sustainability report reports data for the previous year, comparing it with prior years. This most recent report reveals data for 2011, comparing it with 2010.

"Sustainability is a mainstay of Pinova Holdings' business philosophy and practices. Each of our operating companies—Renessenz and Pinova—has relied on sustainable raw materials for development of natural and renewable specialty chemicals throughout its more than 100-year history," said Ted Butz, president and CEO of Pinova Holdings.

Between its two units, Pinova has reportedly spent about $30 million over the past two years to improve operational performance to meet or exceed regulatory requirements. Capital projects in which the company has invested include a multimillion dollar investment in GMP compliant packaging and warehouse facilities at Renessenz and Pinova; a state-of-the-art wood grinding system; a new pastillating, packaging and palletizing system; and a modern, high-efficiency boiler that has significantly reduced NOx, greenhouse gas and odor emissions.

New or planned projects will provide increased protection against potential environmental contamination by relocating wastewater piping to optimize waste treatment; upgraded wastewater treatment facilities; groundwater use project at Pinova; and enhanced containment tanks for chemical storage.

In addition, Pinova has partnered with the American Chemistry Council and member companies in the industry to determine the carbon footprint of one of its primary feedstocks: crude sulfate turpentine (CST). The CST cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis will examine the environmental impact of this raw material and will serve as the starting point for conducting  the company's own cradle-to-gate carbon footprint analysis for the major CST-based products it manufactures.

Pinova said it's off to a strong start in carrying out its responsible care commitments and integrating its responsible care guiding principles to continuously improve sustainability performance throughout the organization. It has also implemented and obtained third-party verification of a formal responsible care "14001 management system" to measure improved performance in addition to measuring and publicly reporting sustainability results using the responsible care performance measures.