Company Profiles

STMicroelectronics

France

The semiconductor industry is fraught with high energy and resource consumption which makes it all the more outstanding to see a large corporation such as STMicroelectronics (ST) embrace sustainability. Long ago ST expressed its belief that "the world is priceless; ecology is free." The company has found that by adopting more environmental business practices, it has been able to realize extraordinary savings of well over $100 million per year. ST has committed to working toward achieving "environmental neutrality." Following former CEO Pasquale Pistorio's belief that sustainability can provide a real competitive advantage, new President and CEO Carlo Bozotti's vision is to use sustainability to "create financial and non-financial value for all stakeholders." After achieving measurable success in reducing waste, water, and energy usage, among other things, ST's goal is to communicate the success of its commitment and to encourage other businesses to strive for sustainability. We hope ST's influence will contribute to reducing the environmental impact of semiconductor manufacturing throughout the industry. Specific areas for improvement identified by Portfolio 21 include a reduction in the use of waste incineration (even with energy recovery, we consider this an undesirable approach to handling waste), and an increase in efforts to reduce heavy metals in waste water.

To the best of our knowledge the above information is accurate and was obtained from sources we believe to be reliable. Neither the information presented above nor any opinion expressed shall be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy the security. The views expressed are those of portfolio management as of 1/31/07 and may not reflect current opinions or subsequent events.