Our Vision

A note from Martin Madaus

Over the last four years Millipore has transformed itself from a filtration company into an innovative leader in the life science tools market with $1.6 billion in revenues and 6000 employees worldwide. Our mission is to help our customers advance life science and to help solve the world’s most challenging human health issues.

Central to our brand is Millipore’s commitment to sustainable growth. To us, sustainability means being able to operate efficiently and productively while minimizing our negative impact on the environment.

No issue illustrates the importance of sustainability better than climate change. In recent years we’ve seen increases in average temperatures, and decreases in polar ice. If left unaddressed, climate change will have a major negative impact on us, and future generations. Millipore has decided to take action now, through a dramatic reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainability — and this is the really exciting part — is fundamentally about opportunity.
As a leading company in the life sciences industry, we have the opportunity to demonstrate good corporate citizenship on a global scale. This requires creative thinking and bold action before and beyond regulations. While moving carefully to ensure that we don’t over commit with what we can accomplish, we already have several efforts underway that are moving us in the right direction.

We completed a second inventory of our global greenhouse gas emissions through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program and set an aggressive absolute goal of 20% reduction versus 2006. We’ve saved over three million kilowatt-hours of electricity through energy efficiency programs and completed our first facility expansion that will be LEED accredited. We also continue to upgrade our company auto fleet: 50% of the vehicles we lease in the US are hybrids.

Decreasing our environmental impact not only benefits the planet, but also our bottom line.
We have seen that reducing the amount of energy we use while creating less waste saves money, helps to maintain strong relationships with local communities, and increases employee pride in our company.

Our customers increasingly care about sustainability, too. They want to know how they can reduce their own ecological footprint. We’re already working with some of those customers on innovative alternatives for their packaging and shipping needs.

Longer term, it is our goal to find solutions that will eventually eliminate Millipore’s contribution to climate change and operate carbon neutral. Exploring suitable alternatives to oil-based raw materials that are used today in many of our products is also part of our long-term plan. These are big changes that will require time and significant investment, but will pay-off in the long-term for the environment, our people and our shareholders.

As individuals, we have the opportunity and an obligation to make better choices in our lifestyles. As a result, we will leave a better natural environment behind for our children and grandchildren. For me personally that means reducing carbon footprint by reducing energy consumption at home with solar energy. Or using the car less for short trips when the distance is within biking distance. Or teaching my 3 children about where energy is coming from and what we can do every day to consume less of it.

We’re also encouraging Millipore employees to reduce their individual climate impact by offering guidance on what they can do, and incentives to make it financially possible. It’s very much about changing hearts and minds.

In the end, our drive towards building a thriving business built on an environmentally responsible foundation reflects what we deeply care about: our customers, our people and creating value to our shareholders on a long-term sustainable basis.

Sincerely,

Martin Madaus, PhD
Chairman, CEO and President
Millipore Corporation

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