In the mid-1980s, the chemical industry realized that its success would be greatly enhanced by gaining the public's trust. Even though responsible chemical companies were taking great precautions to ensure their operations were safe, many communities surrounding those plant sites were unaware of those measures.

To address this issue, the American Chemistry Council developed Responsible Care^®. CEOs of most major chemical companies throughout the U.S. voluntarily made a public commitment to improve health, safety, and environmental performance beyond levels required by the U.S. government – and to make that performance known to the employees, communities and public outside their companies.

No other industry can claim such an initiative, and Eastman played a leading role from the very beginning.

Since Responsible Care^® was first launched, the chemical industry has achieved significant reductions in emissions to air, land and water; major improvements in workplace and community safety; security; and expanded programs to research and test chemicals for potential health and environmental impacts.

The Next Generation of Responsible Care^®

Eastman and other American Chemistry Council companies have raised the bar even higher by enhancing the Responsible Care^® program.

New program enhancements adopted by the American Chemistry Council as a condition of membership include:

• A Responsible Care Management System;
• An independent third party certification of the management system to ensure appropriate actions are taken to improve performance;
• Tracking and publicly reporting performance based on economic, environmental, health and safety, societal and product related metrics;
• A Security Code that helps protect people, property, products, processes, information and information systems by enhancing security throughout the chemical industry value chain.

Eastman has implemented the Responsible Care Management System in corporate organizations and received third-party certification in 2005. Implementation and certification of all U.S. manufacturing sites will occur over the next several years.

In compliance with the Security Code, Eastman has conducted comprehensive facility security vulnerability assessments, implemented security enhancements and obtained independent verification of those enhancements.

Visit http://www.responsiblecare-us.com/ to learn more about Responsible Care^®.

Responsible Care^® is a registered service mark of the American Chemistry Council, formerly known as the Chemical Manufacturers Association.