Dow Corning is shifting its focus to more research and development of "solutions linked to global megatrends such as the drive for efficiency, increased focus on alternative energy and clean water and the rapid urbanization in fast-growing emerging geographies," said company President Stephanie Burns, reports MLive.com.
After the shift, Dow Corning estimates at least half of its business operations will be related to sustainability, reports WSGW.com.
Dow Corning is revamping Xiameter, what it calls the world's largest online portal for purchasing silicone-based products. For global purchasers of raw materials, the Web portal will more than double the available products.
By having more information on the Web portal, Dow Corning will better educate its customer base about products that have sustainability aspects.
For instance, Dow Corning makes a product that reduces the amount of water needed to make the some 2 billion pairs of blue jeans sold annually around the world, said Vice President Marie Eckstein, reports ABC.
"It's something close to 8 billion gallons of water that doesn't need to be used in the manufacturing of blue jeans," she said.
Dow Corning's subsidiary Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. is the world's biggest producer of polycrystalline silicon, which is used in iPods, laptops, flatscreen TVs and solar panels.
Dow is pouring $5 billion into development of solar panels, reports U.S. Glass News Network.
Earlier this year, Dow Corning announced plans to purchase more than 14,000 megawatt hours of wind power through Consumers Energy’s Green Generation program.
