On January 6, 2021, A. O. Smith Corporation published its 2020 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Report which covers the company's environmental, social and governance activities and performance in the past two years.
Kevin Wheeler, chairman and chief executive officer of A. O. Smith, proudly shared the positive impact that the corporation is having in the areas of efficiency, energy and water conservation and sustainability. He also highlighted the forward movement they have made over the past two years to reduce their contribution to global carbon emissions.
"The strength of our company and ability to meet these goals are dependent on our employees who live our values and identify opportunities to improve our processes, deliver outstanding performance and bring innovative, high efficiency products to market." he added.
Meanwhile, A.O. Smith’s senior vice president, investor relations, treasurer and corporate responsibility & sustainability, Patricia Ackerman, revealed that the adoption of the company’s first GHG emissions reduction goal is an important step for them to help further advance their innovation efforts. According to her, the goal was developed through a strategic initiative to identify opportunities to further reduce and conserve water, natural gas and electricity consumption and associated GHG emissions.
“This is a journey for the A. O. Smith organization, and we recognize and are committed to the work to be done to achieve our goals in the coming years.” she declared. The corporation aims to achieve a 10% GMG reduction by 2025.
Some of the details mentioned in the 2020 report are:
- 28% of 2019 sales earned a positive environmental impact.
- Water filtration systems replaced over 1.2 billion single-use plastic bottles in North America.
- A. O. Smith’s North America business unit recorded GHG emissions of 222,790 tons water heaters and 289,110 tons boilers.
- The 2020 Global Employee Engagement Survey gained 96% participate rate with high scores for employee loyalty and engagement.
- A. O. Smith Foundation received a total of $1.6 million in donations for its partnerships with 199 nonprofit organizations. The purpose is to support the primary focus areas of education, human services, art and culture and health.