At RPM, sustainability is more than just simply "greening" our products and operations. It’s about putting into play practices that will drive the continued existence and growth of our business, in turn benefiting our customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders. RPM applies the principles of sustainability through its:
In its simplest terms, sustainability is all about creating and maximizing long-term social, economic and environmental value for the greater good of future generations. In many ways, it ties back to the operations, processes and products an organization has in place.
At RPM, we look at sustainability through a broader lens by applying its principles to those most impacted by our company – from employees, customers and suppliers, to communities and shareholders. Over the years, RPM has come to focus on what we call the five "Ps" of sustainability: products, processes, people, place and prosperity.
In keeping with RPM's entrepreneurial culture, execution of these five "Ps" is carried out by our operating companies. We believe that the foundation of sustainable business practices is most effective at the operating level, which is closest to the markets and customers our company serves.
Many of RPM's products, services and processes drive sustainability by helping our customers minimize their environmental footprint. Energy efficiency, zero landfill, renewable resource use, greener chemistry, life cycle analysis, LEED support and emissions reductions are just some of the many customer expectations that RPM meets every day.
Below are a few specific examples from among the hundreds offered by RPM’s operating companies:
By transitioning its product packaging from aluminum pails to innovative cardboard boxes with plastic liners, Stonhard created an eco-friendly solution. The boxes cost less to produce and ship, require less storage space and can be easily broken down on the job site for recycling. This unique packaging prevents more than 4.8 million one-gallon pails and quart cans from being dumped into landfills annually.
When it comes to RPM's internal operations, the expectations for sustainability are simple: we lead by example. Our operating businesses do this by taking a proactive approach to managing their environmental impact. Among recent highlights are:
When considering employees from the perspective of sustainability, RPM founder Frank C. Sullivan was ahead of his time. His philosophy, when he established the company in 1947, was to "Hire the best people you can find. Create an atmosphere that will keep them. Then, let them do their jobs." RPM continues to practice this philosophy today by providing its employees with:
Incorporating these sustainable practices enables RPM to continue to hire the best employees and retain them throughout the course of their careers.
RPM has a long history of sustainability through its many products that renew, repair and protect materials and promote energy efficiency. Among those products are Rust-Oleum's small-project paints that give household items a new life, DAP's caulks and sealants that make houses and buildings more energy efficient, and Carboline's corrosion-control coatings that extend the life cycle of materials and protect them against harsh environments.
RPM employs nearly 15,000 employees and operates 156 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries. No matter their spot on a map, our company and its subsidiaries strive to be good corporate stewards in everything we do by:
Through these actions, RPM makes a positive impact on the communities in which it operates and helps them to thrive.
Embracing sustainability by way of RPM's products, operations, people and communities is certainly rewarding on many levels. A positive byproduct of these efforts is that they extend to RPM's bottom line, thus allowing our shareholders to continue to prosper.
RPM has increased its dividend for 46 consecutive years, enabled by its continually strong operating cash flow. This sustained dividend performance places RPM in an elite category – joining only 41 of all publicly traded U.S. companies that have consecutively paid an increasing annual dividend for this period of time or longer, according to the Mergent Handbook of Dividend Achievers. In addition, RPM's total return to shareholders, including both capital appreciation and reinvestment of dividends, has considerably outperformed the S&P 500 Index for the past ten years.
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