Milliken & Company: Net-Zero Hero
Global manufacturer Milliken & Company does not shy away from a challenge. When it comes to sustainability goals, it has set the bar high. In October, the Spartanburg-based company announced its commitment to a science-based net-zero future by 2050.
Halsey Cook, president and CEO of Milliken, announced the big news at Sustain SC’s Sustainability Symposium on October 27. He shared the tenements of their sustainability strategy, which breaks its reduction goals into three scopes of emissions.
“Climate science is clear and compelling, and the time to act is now,” says Cook. “From an industry standpoint, sustainability and decarbonization will be the very basis of competition in the future, and we’re proud Milliken is already on that trajectory. We know we’ll need to collaborate with key partners in order to reach our bold targets. We’ll share our progress as we go.”
Its science-based net-zero targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which is a United Nations-backed collective of international organizations dedicated to helping companies set emission reduction targets consistent with climate science and the Paris Agreement. Milliken is one of the first 50 companies globally to achieve approved science-based net-zero targets and is the first company to be approved in South Carolina.
“Milliken is a paragon of corporate responsibility and is truly leading by example,” said Ethel Bunch, founder and CEO of Sustain SC. “Halsey’s willingness to share Milliken’s progress will be invaluable to the many South Carolina businesses striving to set their own goals and finding realistic means to do it.”
Milliken commits to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by 2050 from a 2018 base year, which is when the company stopped using coal as a fuel source.
“Sustainability is a core value of Milliken, so this effort really comes full circle for us,” Cook says. “Our targets empower our team of more than 8,000 to reduce risk, minimize impacts, work efficiently, control costs and identify new ways to deliver products.”
