Promega Receives Wisconsin 75 Sustainability Award

There is nothing like a bit of recognition to energize your efforts, right? Promega was recently awarded the 2019 Distinguished Performer: Sustainability award, as one of the Deloitte Wisconsin 75 awardees.

This award is not so much a feather in our cap, as fuel for our sustainability fire both in Madison, and globally. Here are a few details on the award and why Promega was chosen.

The Deloitte Wisconsin 75 awards recognize private sector companies that:

Promega Germany GmbH office.
New Promega Germany (GmbH) office.
  • Are headquartered in Wisconsin
  • Have a majority (>50%) of ownership held by an individual, family or employees stockholders
  • Have at least $50M in annual sales

These criteria are just a beginning. Wisconsin 75 award winners are more than just places where employees make and sell goods. Wisconsin 75 awards are given in five categories:
Community: Awarded to a company with a particular devotion to and a special goal of community involvement.
Diversity: This award recipient provides opportunities for those across a broad range of cultures and values.
Innovation: For a company that shows exceptional entrepreneurship.
Succession: This company has successfully transitioned to a next generation of leadership.
Sustainability: This award recognizes a company that balances growth with environmental management.

In the Sustainability award announcement, Promega was recognized for adhering to the United Nations Global Compact by setting aggressive 2020 reduction goals for greenhouse gas emissions, natural gas, electricity, water, product distribution emissions and waste.

What this means to scientists and researchers around the world is this: Promega has researched ways to ship products at ambient temperature instead of on dry ice, where possible. We’ve reduced our carbon footprint by switching almost completely to LED lights, turning off lights and computers when not in use, providing products in cabinets and freezers on-site globally, for easier access and to decrease the number of individual product shipments.

Promega has developed products that are stable at room temperature, and encouraged recycling of shipping containers, as well as kit boxes in which products are supplied. In recent years, kit box packaging has been updated to sustainably-sourced materials.

Products have been developed that minimize the use of (or replace entirely) hazardous materials, such as radioactive compounds.

And it goes beyond products. In the past five years Promega has designed and built new facilities globally, including in the U.K., Germany and Madison, WI. These facilities were built with high standards for sustainability, including the installation of solar panels and in some cases, geothermal heating and cooling.

Did I mention the car charging stations?

As a Promega employee, I’m proud of the number of ways we work to recycle and decrease the amount of paper used, as well as the number of employees that bike to work and/or drive electric and electric-hybrid vehicles.

The Wisconsin 75 award is super recognition, as well as fuel for the sustainability fire here at Promega, as we continue to work to increase sustainability and decrease our carbon footprint.

And yours.

Want more information on how we can help your laboratory meet your sustainability goals? Learn about our Helix™ on-site stocking program. And read this report to learn more about Promega sustainability efforts.

Have a suggestion for how we can improve? Have a sustainability story to share? Tell us in the comments.

After all, we’re in this together.

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Kari Kenefick

Kari Kenefick

Kari has been a science writer/editor for Promega since 1996. Prior to that she enjoyed working in veterinary microbiology/immunology, and has an M.S. in Bacteriology, U of WI-Madison. Favorite topics include infectious disease, inflammation, aging, exercise, nutrition and personality traits. When not writing, she enjoys training her dogs in agility and obedience. About the practice of writing, as we say for cell-based assays, "add-mix-measure".

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