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3M Taiwan Acts As a Role Model to Raise Environmental Awareness

3M Taiwan, one of the over 70 subsidiaries of the multinational corporation 3M Company, outperforms its Asian peers in energy saving, waste reduction, and water conservation, according to 3M's annual internal report on each subsidiary's environmental protection achievements.

In 2016, 3M Taiwan cut its electricity usage by 45 million kWh, reducing 32 thousand tons of CO2 emissions, which amounts to 82 times the amount of CO2 that Daan Park can absorb in a year. 3M Taiwan also decreased the amount of energy used per unit of production by 26 percent, which stands out in contrast to the Asian average of a mere 8.42 percent.

Published 7 years ago | About a 2 minute read

The reduction saves nearly NT$40 million in electricity costs, a significant achievement as a result of equipment upgrades, improvements to production processes, and employee training.

In terms of waste reduction, the company cut its waste by 434 tons in 2016, lowering the expense of processing waste by millions. The success is a result of the company's "Green Product Life Cycle" (綠色產品生命週期) policy and 3M's self-devised "Pollution Prevention Pays" (汙染防治有回報), otherwise known as the "3P Program."

The goal of these projects was to eliminate sources of waste by revising product formulas, improving production processes, and redesigning equipment. To meet the goals, the projects also re-examined all aspects of the business, including: material acquirement, research and development, production, usage and disposal to find every possible area for improvement.

In terms of water conservation, 3M Taiwan reduced the amount of water usage per unit of production by 28%. The reduction saves nearly NT$1 million in cost, which is equivalent to saving 71,433 tons of water, 38 times the capacity of a competition swimming pool.

Water resources is another major enviromental issue for 3M Taiwan. Not only does it keep improving the efficiency of its water conservation, 3M Taiwan also focuses on volunteer activities that protect water resources. This year, 3M Taiwan launched an event titled 3M Call for Half a Bucket of Water Saving (3M半桶水省水大募集), which helps donate water saved by people to other regions in Taiwan that are suffering from a water deficit. Through this public event, 3M Taiwan hopes to show its willingness to work with the public to raise awareness of the importance of environmental sustainability.

3M has had its roots in Taiwan since 1969, and it currently has over 1,000 employees, providing services in different sectors including manufacturing, research, development, and business marketing. It has released over 30,000 kinds of products to Taiwanese customers, most of which are daily necessities that integrate technology for increased convenience.