Globally Green:
March 30, 2023
A child in Seoul breathes easier as more emissions-free EVs hit the streets. Families in Mexico City enjoy clean parks thanks to innovative recycling programs. Residents in Berlin save precious energy by using a pioneering home insulation product.
All over the world, innovations that benefit the environment are improving individual lives — and scenarios like those above highlight the fact that sustainability is a global challenge requiring global solutions. “Climate change is something we’re all in together,” says Gayle Schueller, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer at 3M. “It affects every country around the world; every geography.”
Motivated in part by the expectations of a new generation of climate-aware customers, employees and investors, private-sector organizations like 3M are working to develop new solutions for environmental challenges. But the impact of 3M’s efforts stands apart due to the company’s internally driven commitment to sustainability, which is informed by a belief that business progress and climate progress can be realized together.
3M is also distinguished by its vast, international reach, which helps the company’s customers achieve their business and climate goals no matter where they are located. The company has people on the ground in about 150 countries, leveraging over 50 different technology platforms for industries that include energy, transportation, manufacturing and healthcare.
This gives the Saint Paul, Minn.-based company unique insights into sustainability needs across all seven continents. That even includes Antarctica – where 3M’s recycled insulation product, Thinsulate, has helped protect explorers and researchers. “One of the great things about working for a company that has global diversity and market diversity is that we’re getting input from the key markets that we serve around the world,” says Schueller.
Cross-border collaboration
Crucially, 3M’s global teams do not work in silos; they use technology to share ideas across borders. “We have people in all geographies, and we intentionally get input from those individuals,” says Schueller. For example, 3M manufacturing teams in Mexico have developed recycling processes that they are sharing with counterparts in other countries where 3M operates.
Schueller, who holds a PhD in material sciences, says 3M is now looking to help solve one of sustainability’s toughest challenges – ensuring that developing countries catch up to the West economically, while bypassing the climate damage that is a legacy of the industrial revolution. “If we think of people and countries around the world being able to advance and live the lives they aspire to, following the path of developed countries will not be good for our planet,” says Schueller.
The solution lies in creating products that help emerging markets move directly to sustainable technologies such as renewable energy and electric vehicles – affordably and at scale, Schueller says. This can include innovations such as green hydrogen and more efficient platforms for generating solar and wind power.
3M is also working to help customers and partners in developed economies overcome technical challenges as they transition from fossil fuels to renewables and upgrade their aging, legacy infrastructure so it’s more sustainable. Here's a look at how 3M is applying science for sustainability in some of its key markets around the world.
“We have people in all geographies, and we intentionally get input from those individuals.”
The solution lies in creating products that help emerging markets move directly to sustainable technologies such as renewable energy and electric vehicles – affordably and at scale, Schueller says. This can include innovations such as green hydrogen and more efficient platforms for generating solar and wind power.
3M is also working to help customers and partners in developed economies overcome technical challenges as they transition from fossil fuels to renewables and upgrade their aging, legacy infrastructure so it’s more sustainable. Here's a look at how 3M is applying science for sustainability in some of its key markets around the world.
Germany
Challenge:
Half of Germany’s building stock is more than 50 years old.
If the country is to meet its emissions reduction targets under the European Green Deal, it must bring those homes and offices up to modern standards that include energy-efficient insulation. “To get this stock renovated is key if we want to achieve the climate goals we set for ourselves,” says Friedrich Wolff, an application engineering specialist for 3M EMEA. Achieving those goals will help to improve the health, safety and comfort of people across Europe.
Solution:
Maxit Ecosphere.
Developed over several years using 3M’s Glass Bubbles technology, this material is made up of tiny, hollow spheres. It provides high levels of thermal insulation, and can easily be applied to the irregular contours found in older structures that dot towns and villages across the country – helping to avoid costly remodels and preserve historic architecture. “We’re targeting challenging jobs that were difficult to do in the past,” says Wolff. “I’m always interested to work with innovative materials, particularly if they improve all our lives.” Building materials supplier Maxit brought Ecosphere to market in Germany.
United States
Challenge:
Power grids across America must achieve higher capacity to handle greater loads as new, renewable sources of energy – including wind and solar – come online.
Utilities also need excess capacity to deal with outages caused by more frequent, severe storms. This is critical for public safety and quality of life. The usual method would be to simply build more power lines, but constructing them has a significant environmental impact – from the energy needed to create new towers and bases to land consumption and detriments to the biosphere.
Solution:
3M Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced overhead transmission lines.
Made with composite materials, these power lines offer 2 times the ampacity of a typical steel line. That means utilities can simply replace existing lines with ACCR, and avoid building new towers to add capacity. “You have to get renewable power into the grid,” says Douglas Kuller, a global business director in 3M’s Electrical Markets Division. “We provide a more sustainable way to upgrade that connection.” To date, 3M has delivered over 5,000 miles of this cable around the world. “What gets us excited is every time a new project comes in we have the opportunity to help a customer solve a problem,” says Kuller.
Mexico
Challenge:
Mexico is a major manufacturing center for 3M, with plants in four states producing a wide range of products.
To maintain compliance with national and local recycling regulations and help 3M meet its own corporate goals for the circular economy, 3M Mexico needed to develop innovative processes for reusing waste and byproducts from its production lines while conserving natural resources.
Solution:
3M Mexico created a process for recovering waste from products where polypropylene is used – including respirators, packaging tapes and diaper tape – and reprocessing it into products for 3M’s home care line.
Additionally, engineers at the company’s San Luis Potosi facility installed a water treatment plant to recover and reuse wastewater. This is currently saving 1,000 cubic meters annually, and will save 6,900 cubic meters per year after a second phase takes effect. “This is an important issue as we are surrounded by a community that is sensitive to water use,” says Rodrigo Garcia, a member of the environmental team at 3M San Luis Potosi.
Such efforts don’t only benefit the local region. The San Luis Potosi teams share knowledge with colleagues at 3M operations in Latin American and other parts of the world. “The idea is to look for additional opportunities where 3M has similar manufacturing capabilities to try to replicate those efforts,” says Juan Guevara, senior specialist at 3M’s research lab in San Luis Potosi.
Guevara says the success of 3M’s circular economy efforts in San Luis Potosi stems from staff members’ personal commitments to improving their local community, and the larger world. “Once they realize the work they are doing has sustainability benefits, they think differently. They engage more.”
Japan
Challenge:
Hosting 12 cities with populations over 1 million, Japan must find ways to reduce the climate impacts of urbanization.
These include air pollution, solid waste accumulation and the consumption of natural resources from surrounding lands. Solving these issues is critical if people within these communities are to live healthier lives that are more in harmony with nature.
Solution:
3M films.
Products such as 3M Scotchtint™ Window Film – NANO Series and 3M™ Di-NOC™ Architectural Finishes can help to improve the sustainability of a building or home. The former is a non-metalized window film that is designed to reduce the amount of solar heat entering a building, lowering the burden on the building’s air conditioning system. The latter creates the aesthetically pleasing look and feel of natural wood and other organic materials, without consuming those resources. The latest matte coating technology makes these film solutions look and feel realistic, creating a biophilic effect. “Some species of wood are very rare and need to be protected, but you can still have that look and give your interior fixtures a second life without cutting down trees,” says Yo Suzuki, senior design manager at 3M Japan.
In addition, DI-NOC™ Architectural Films can help to reduce landfill waste by upcycling existing surfaces (doors, cabinets, etc.) instead of replacing them, supporting a circular economy. Adds Asami Kishi, a marketer within the Architectural Finishes team at 3M Japan: “My mission is to change Japanese construction practices in a way that helps society. We can do that by maintaining the economic value of existing buildings.”
South Korea
Challenge:
South Korea is home to some of the world’s most innovative automotive brands.
The country is now setting its sights on becoming a leader in EVs, and is already the fourth largest producer, with more than $8 billion in sales projected for 2023. To be globally competitive, South Korean EV battery makers must find ways to make platforms that are safe in all conditions. Doing so will help EV’s gain market share, which in turn will result in cleaner air globally.
Solution:
3M adhesives, made through a solvent-free manufacturing process.
South Korea battery makers are using 3M “super adhesive” tapes, such as the 100MP, 200MP and 300MP, to securely fasten EV batteries to their housing. It’s not as easy as it sounds. EVs and other modern vehicles are made from composite materials. They could be damaged by traditional bonding methods like metal bolts and screws. 3M’s tapes, however, are designed to securely bond anything to, well, almost anything else. South Korea’s major battery makers are using the tapes to ensure that the batteries sit securely in their casings and nothing shifts around. “The battery cell is very sensitive. It’s flammable. To increase safety, we introduced our solvent-less technology to create bonding inside the frame,” says Wonjae Do, a marketing specialist within 3M’s Safety & Industrial Business Group.
He adds that working on sustainability solutions for 3M is not just a profession, it’s a passion. “When I think of my son, and maybe one day his son, I worry about what we’re seeing with climate change. For the next generation, we need to do something.”
3M is investing $1 billion to improve air and water management, reduce its use of plastics and drive toward carbon neutrality.
Toward a sustainable future
Beyond creating innovations that will help its commercial and consumer customers work and live more sustainably, 3M is using science to improve the environmental footprint of its own operations. It has reduced its carbon footprint by 75 percent since 2002, has been using 50 percent renewable energy since late 2021 and is investing $1 billion on carbon reduction and water management. 3M is also reducing its use of virgin fossil-based plastics and is driving toward carbon neutrality. “These are the things we need to lean into to create a future that we’d all like to live in,” says Schueller.