Economic Sustainability
At Bemis, our business is always growing and changing. Over the course of 150 years, we’ve gone from producing cotton and burlap bags for the milling industry to creating advanced flexible packaging and pressure sensitive solutions for a wide variety of markets and end uses. Economically sustainable business practices have allowed us to grow into new markets and change to meet shifting demands. Our strong balance sheet gives us the financial flexibility to continue to invest in new technologies and growth opportunities, consistently finding ways to add value for our shareholders.
Economic sustainability functions in cooperation with both social and environmental sustainability initiatives. Healthy, happy employees and good relationships with the communities in which we operate help us do business smoothly and efficiently. Increased efficiency through environmentally sustainable practices can lead to real cost savings. For example, from 2007 to 2011, Bemis facilities in the United States reduced their energy spending by more than 4%.
What’s more, a focus on sustainability leads our world-class research & development teams to generate ever more innovative solutions to meet customers’ needs, allowing us to create a competitive advantage in the markets we serve. By embracing a combination of technology and innovation, customer focus, and manufacturing excellence as a key corporate strategy, we ensure that Bemis is always moving forward and improving, creating solid and lasting value for all our stakeholders.
Maintaining and encouraging a stable and ethical corporate culture is an important facet of economic sustainability. Bemis does this through a company-wide Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, strong Principles of Corporate Governance, and a Financial Code of Ethics that supports and adheres to the legal standards in the United States and the other countries in which we operate.