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Our focus on developing
products that create a
sustainability advantage will
amplify our ability to create
shared value for all
FMC stakeholders.
FMC’s 2011 Sustainability Report mapped our
core capabilities to the five identified marketshaping
shifts to emphasize the many ways
FMC has a meaningful impact on these societal
challenges. More than challenges, however, we
see these shifts as clear opportunities to serve our
customers’ needs and drive demand for solutions
FMC is uniquely capable of providing.
By focusing on these five global trends –
environmental consciousness, scarce resources,
climate change, land competition, and food
and health expectations – we have developed a
common framework for our businesses to assess
which products and services create a sustainability
advantage. In 2011 we determined that 36 percent
of our research and development investment
was directed towards addressing at least one of
these market trends. So we challenged ourselves
to do more. By 2015, we intend to focus at least
50 percent of our R&D spend to address these
societal needs.
The following pages feature specific examples
of our work in these areas – from the launch
of a new business division focused on products
and technologies that address air, water and soil
remediation challenges – to the expansion of
our food product offerings that help meet the
demands of the world’s growing population. We
believe this intentional investment focus will
amplify our ability to create shared value as these
trends become increasingly important to our
customers, our communities and each of
our businesses.
Assessing Sustainability Advantages
In 2011, we defined a “product that creates a
sustainability advantage” as one that provides a
measurable improvement over existing market
solutions – by addressing at least one of the
five identified market-shaping shifts – without
retreating in performance against any of the
others. We then charged each of our businesses
with the responsibility to develop an assessment
tool that would hold us accountable to our
definition.
This mindset has quickly been adopted and has
aligned our collective efforts as we evaluate new
opportunities. As an example, recent scientific
research provided FMC with an opportunity to
turn a byproduct from our Norwegian alginate
facility into a beneficial product for human health.
In an analysis of fucoidan – a substance derived
from brown seaweed – researchers discovered
health-enhancing benefits for immune and
digestive systems. Now, through a modification
to our manufacturing process, we can isolate and
capture fucoidan for commercial sale as a new
product. FMC will launch ProtaSea fucoidan in
the United States during 2013.
''Our sustainability assessment tool
has been helpful in guiding our
product development processes.
As a result of explicitly considering
sustainability from the outset of a
project, we are finding more ways
that we can impact the market
shaping shifts and spending less
resources on projects that are
determined to be counter to
these trends.''
Jim Walter
Director of Technology Scouting for FMC
Agricultural Products Group
We are also making strides in another health
arena, drug safety. In 2012, we launched
new products for pharmaceutical customers,
including Aquacoat® ARC, an innovative coating
that improves patient safety by controlling the
time-release dosing of drugs in the presence of
alcohol. This product will provide another tool for
pharmaceutical companies to get new, beneficial
drugs approved.
FMC 2012 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
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