Cabot earns Illinois sustainability award for performance at its Tuscola, Illinois, facility in recycling, reduced water, electricity usage, packaging efficiency

Kendall Sinclair

BOSTON , October 31, 2011 (press release) – Cabot Corp. (NYSE: CBT) has been named a 2011 Illinois Governor's Sustainability Award winner for outstanding performance at its Tuscola, Ill., facility.

Cabot Tuscola earned the recognition for significant accomplishments in recycling, reduced water and electricity usage, and packaging efficiency.

"We're extremely proud and honored to receive this recognition. Sustainability is core to our business strategy and it is very important to the team here at the Tuscola facility," said Carl Troike, Cabot Tuscola facility general manager. "Our employees have developed these great ideas on how to save energy, reduce waste and protect the environment, and our leadership team committed the investment of time and resources to achieve these terrific results. We are all pleased with the results and the recognition from Governor Quinn."

A few key projects that have been implemented recently include the following:

A new recycling program for waste packaging materials such as paper bags, plastic film and cardboard along with office wastes including paper, magazines, aluminum and plastic containers resulting in 76 tons of material being recycled rather than landfilled to date and savings of approximately $28,000 for otherwise disposing of the material.
Upgrade of two once-through plant scrubbing systems into one recirculating system that is saving an average of 18.5 gallons per minute, amounting to more than 9,700,000 gallons per year, of water through a combination of reduced water usage and recycling of used water back into the process.
A packaging efficiency project resulting in elimination of more than 51,000 cardboard pallets and 78,000 pounds of shrink wrap from the packaging process and savings in excess of $762,000 to date.
Replacement of inefficient lighting and installation of energy saving motion sensors through Ameren's Act On Energy program for key areas of the plant, including the warehouse, parts stores and maintenance buildings resulting in a reduction of electric usage by 840,000 kWh annually, which is enough to power 17 homes.

"Cabot continues to make important investments in reducing our overall environmental footprint, and the Tuscola efforts represent a great example of the progress we are making," said Martin O'Neill, Cabot vice president, safety, health and environment. "We sincerely appreciate the recognition for our efforts from the state of Illinois. These awards help to reinforce that we are on the right track in making important investments in sustainability. The external recognition from the government is a testament to the positive relationship that Cabot has with the communities in which we operate."

Cabot Tuscola produces fumed metal oxides for a wide range of end-use applications for the automotive, construction, microelectronics and consumer products industries. The plant employs 168 people.

The Illinois Governor's Sustainability Award has been presented by the University of Illinois Sustainability Technology Center in Champaign, Ill, since 1987. The award program evaluates activities that promote environmental sustainability and pollution prevention within businesses and municipalities in the state. For more detail on the award, go to: http://www.istc.illinois.edu/info/govs_awards.cfm

ABOUT CABOT CORPORATION

Cabot Corporation, headquartered in Boston, Mass., USA, is a global specialty chemical and performance materials company. Cabot's major products are carbon black, fumed silica, inkjet colorants, aerogel, capacitor materials, and cesium formate drilling fluids. The company's website is: http://www.cabot-corp.com.

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