Sustainability for many organizations is mission-critical and materials science group  Corning is making great progress.  Most recently, using guidance developed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and in alignment with a 1.5°C future scenario, two more goals were added to their list of climate commitments: reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% (absolute basis) and relevant Scope 3 emissions by 17.5% (absolute basis) by 2028 compared to a 2021 baseline.  

These are hugely challenging targets and Corning recognizes that to make an even bigger impact, partnering with its customers and supply chain will be key to its success: by understanding their priorities, engaging with them on how best to drive change, and mutually reinforcing each other’s progress.

One particularly challenging problem to solve involves single-use plastics.  On average, a lab scientist might use more than 150lbs of plastics a year – so, when a pipette, for example, weighs less than an ounce, it is easy to see the scale of the waste reduction task. However, tackling the problem of single-use plastic waste is an important ambition for Corning.

A major win for the group would be helping to implement an ecosystem where used plastic products are not incinerated but are chemically recycled down to a monomer level to be reconstituted as feedstock for the resin maker, resulting in a circular pathway.

In this podcast, Christie McCarthy, Director of Sustainability at Corning Life Sciences, talks about being the conductor of a sustainability orchestra, building on from pockets of goodness, connecting the dots between employees and impact, and the importance of industry engagement.