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3M Sustainability Report 2021: Advancing sustainability in times of adversity

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the spotlight on climate action and social responsibility and significant change is necessary to become more environmentally sustainable. 3M remains focused on upholding its commitment to sustainability, applying its knowledge both to this immediate global crisis as well as to ongoing imperatives such as climate change. Building upon its global capabilities and diverse technologies, 3M’s Strategic Sustainability Framework fully focuses upon three priority areas that align with shared global needs. The Sustainability Report 2021, details 3M’s progress in these areas: Science for Circular, Science for Climate and Science for Community.

3M built on the positive momentum of its actions in 2020 with an invigorating start to 2021. By investing approximately 1BN USD over the next twenty years 3M will accelerate new environmental goals: achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 across all global locations (a footprint which touches over 70 countries) with interim emission reduction goals of 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2040, reduce water use by 25% at its facilities by 2030 while targeting interim reductions by 10% by 2022 and 20% by 2025, and return higher quality water back to the environment after use in manufacturing operations as well as reduce dependence on virgin fossil-based plastic by 125M pounds by 2025.

Robust Progress towards 2025 Sustainability goals

To advance Science for Climate, 3M furthered decarbonization in its operations and collaborated with customers to help reduce the collective footprint. Progress highlights include an increase in renewable energy to 35.4% of total electricity use towards a 50% reduction goal. Further to this, Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 71.1% below baseline ahead of a goal of 50% below 2002 baseline.

To advance Science for Circular, 3M continued to close production loops and innovate with materials to reduce overall waste while helping others do the same. Progress highlights to date include: reduced manufacturing waste by 9.98%, towards a 10% reduction goal (indexed to sales) while 42.9% of 3M’s manufacturing sites had zero landfill waste, well exceeding 3M’s goal of 30%. On Earth Day in April, 3M launched another ambitious environmental goal and committed to reduce its dependence on new plastic made from petroleum by 125 million pounds (nearly 56,700 metric tons) within five years. By innovating new designs for both its products and packaging—using recycled content, bio-based plastic, or decreasing overall plastic use—3M can help advance a global circular economy.

To advance Science for Community, 3M made strides in innovating new approaches and solutions to fight the pandemic and took significant steps to address social equity across the 3M enterprise and beyond. Here, progress highlights include an investment of $87.9M USD in total global giving as well as an increased pipeline of diverse talent in management from 32.6% to 43.2% toward a universal goal of doubling the pipeline. In 2020, 3M and the UNGC announced 3M’s sponsorship of the SDG Ambition, helping companies integrate sustainability goals into their core business objectives.

Collaborating for a better future

“We appreciate the many 3Mers across the globe who remain committed to helping address the world’s biggest challenges, as well as our customers and partners who help us put sustainable solutions in action,” said Gayle Schueller, 3M senior vice president and chief sustainability officer. “We look forward to sharing our continued progress and how we can work together to build a more sustainable and resilient world.”

For more information on 3M’s sustainability strategy, performance and progress view the 2021 Sustainability Report

About 3M

At 3M (NYSE: MMM), we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily as our employees connect with customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M's creative solutions to global challenges at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M or @3MNews.