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Hercules Incorporated: Our Core Values

Hercules Incorporated will conduct its business worldwide in accordance with the highest ethical standards. These standards not only require that employees comply with all government laws and regulations, but that employees communicate openly with each other to ensure that the ethical dimension in each business situation is fully understood and addressed. By learning from one another, we can avoid adverse impact on our company and its businesses and employees. Furthermore, we can preserve the goodwill that Hercules has earned throughout its history.

The spirit of the Business Practices Creed sets a framework for behavior that fully applies to the Hercules Business Practices Policy and all compliance procedures issued from time to time under that policy.

Environmental Stewardship

What does Environmental Stewardship mean to Hercules? It means taking thoughtful and deliberate actions that have a beneficial impact on the environment. And it all starts with our unique brand of chemistry - from the many renewable raw materials we use to the influential role our products play in improving the environmental performance of our customers.

Our stewardship is evident in our commitment to the chemical industry's Responsible Care initiative and to our products, both in terms of performance and their effect on the environment. We consider the impact of our products while still in development, and this green thinking carries over into commercialization, product use and recycling or disposal. Throughout the lifecycle of our products, we focus on the health and safety of people and the protection of our environment.

Just as environmental awareness has grown around the world in recent decades, so have our awareness and stewardship efforts--and they continue to evolve. We have made significant progress in addressing legacy environmental issues from our nearly 100 years of operations. In addition, we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions by making our manufacturing facilities considerably more energy efficient.

On June 26, 2007 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., Hercules received the 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This honor resulted from our role in the development and commercial application of a formaldehyde-free adhesive made from soy flour and a unique polymer chemistry from Hercules. In July 2007, we formed a joint venture with Heartland Resource Technologies to accelerate the development of this innovative adhesive technology, known as Soyad adhesive systems.

Hercules has evolved through the years, both from an environmental perspective and as a company. Today, Hercules manufactures and markets chemical specialties for a variety of products used every day in the home, at the office, and in industrial markets. Our two primary businesses - Aqualon, and Paper Technologies and Ventures (PTV) - largely use renewable raw materials, and many of their products improve their customers' environmental profile in addition to offering beneficial advantages in end-use applications and markets.

  • The majority of Aqualon's products are derived from natural materials, such as cellulose or other renewable resources, and provide a number of environmental advantages.
  • PTV focuses its environmental efforts on developing greener alternatives for customers and helping them improve their own environmental stewardship. Often, PTV attains both goals at once, using green chemistry to develop more environmentally friendly products that also help paper mills improve their performance.

Hercules takes a broad and far-reaching perspective on environmental stewardship, encompassing what goes into our products, the green benefits they provide to customers and consumers, the safe management of products over their lifecycle, and the impact our worldwide operations and manufacturing facilities have on the environment.

Learn more about the many shades of green in our renewable raw materials, the greener alternatives we provide for customers, our overall environmental performance and our greener mindset.

Community Involvement

Hercules has a strong history of supporting the communities in which we live and work. Our employees participate in numerous fundraising efforts and volunteer activities for many worthwhile causes. To encourage and support the valuable volunteer efforts of our employees, Hercules has a policy enabling employees to take "one paid day away" from work a year for community involvement.

The "Day Away" for community work is one way of acknowledging the commitment and dedication inherent in our employees' volunteer efforts.