ST. LOUIS, Dec. 04, 2008 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that its St. Louis site has earned International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification, a global benchmark of an organization's commitment to understand and continuously improve its environmental performance.
Boeing is working to have all of its major manufacturing facilities certified to the ISO 14001 standard by the end of 2008.
Independent auditors from Det Norske Veritas, an accredited certification body of quality, environmental and safety management systems, audited facilities in St. Louis and St. Charles, Mo., Oct. 13-17 to ensure an established environmental management system exists and that employees understand their roles in protecting the environment.
The auditors recognized the St. Louis site for numerous efforts, including employees' awareness of the company's environmental policy and their environmental responsibilities, and a high level of employee involvement.
"Achieving this standard provides a foundation on which we will continue to reduce our environmental impact by minimizing waste, increasing recycling rates and improving energy efficiency," said John Van Gels, vice president of Integrated Defense Systems Operations & Supplier Management and senior St. Louis site leader. "Everyone can be proud of this achievement because it serves as an important symbol to our customers and community that Boeing is a committed steward of our environment."
The St. Louis and St. Charles sites have been recognized for their environmental performance with four consecutive years of Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment Awards for outstanding compliance and reporting. In addition, the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G Acquisition Programs Green Hornet Team earlier this year captured its fourth consecutive Chief of Naval Operations Environmental Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition team award. The team's work has had a direct impact at Boeing's St. Louis facilities, helping to reduce hazardous waste by more than 62 percent since 2005.
St. Louis joins Auburn and Everett, Wash.; Exmouth, Bankstown and Fishermans Bend, Australia; Huntsville, Ala.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Long Beach, Calif.; Mesa, Ariz.; Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; Sylmar, Calif.; and Winnipeg, Canada as Boeing sites that have achieved ISO 14001 certification.
The Boeing Company is committed to pioneering environmentally progressive technology and relentlessly reducing its environmental footprint. Since the introduction of the first Boeing jetliner, airplane emissions of carbon dioxide have been reduced by around 70 percent and noise footprints have been reduced by approximately 90 percent. Boeing targets improving fuel efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide emissions of each new generation of commercial airplane by at least 15 percent compared with the airplanes they replace. Boeing has set aggressive targets to increase solid-waste-recycling rates and energy efficiency by 25 percent and to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions intensity by 25 percent at its major manufacturing facilities by 2012, with a comparable goal for hazardous-waste reduction. For more information, visit the company's Environment Report at www.boeing.com/environment.