Ecolab Releases 2014 Corporate Sustainability Report
Report highlights sustainable impact across global value chain

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ecolab Inc. today released its 2014 Corporate Sustainability Report. This annual profile of the company's commitment to sustainability highlights how Ecolab helps make the world cleaner, safer and healthier while protecting people and vital resources.

Ecolab's mission is to provide and protect what is vital: clean water, safe food, abundant energy and healthy environments. Through partnership with customers, NGOs and communities, the company helps address some of the world's most urgent resource and business challenges.

"Our company was built on our dedication to finding solutions to complex problems. Today, we have even more important operational and natural resource challenges to solve for our customers," said Douglas M. Baker, Jr., Ecolab chairman and chief executive officer. "We are proud of the work we do to help ensure a future where businesses, the environment and society can thrive."

The company's unparalleled combination of innovation, expertise and personally delivered service to customers in more than 40 industries uniquely positions it to help mitigate risks and reduce environmental impacts across the entire value chain. Ecolab's 2014 Sustainability Report demonstrates how the company works behind the scenes to help customers improve performance, meet increasing demand and reduce environmental impact, from raw materials to production and manufacturing, and to retail and service environments.

Ecolab's ability to help customers reduce, reuse, manage and treat water more efficiently is central to the company's impact. In 2014, Ecolab solutions helped customers save more than 115 billion gallons of water. The company also launched the Water Risk Monetizer, a first-of-its-kind tool available to the public at no cost, to help change the way water is valued and managed by all water users.

"Ecolab helps customers adapt operations to meet changing demands and achieve sustainability goals," said Emilio Tenuta, vice president of Corporate Sustainability. "Our dedication to serving our customers, combined with our internal commitment to reducing our own footprint, makes Ecolab a powerful force for positive change."

Ecolab has a long history of strong environmental performance. In 2014, the company set aggressive new goals to reduce water, energy, effluent and waste across its global operations.

Building on Ecolab's longstanding commitment to communities, in 2014, Ecolab launched Solutions for Life, a global giving program to enhance the company's mission to conserve water and improve hygiene around the world through collaborations with NGOs, global philanthropy and employee volunteerism. The company announced an initial commitment of $3.5 million over the next three years to support Solutions for Life initiatives through partnerships with The Nature Conservancy and Project WET Foundation.

In 2014, Ecolab was recognized numerous times for its sustainability leadership. The company was named to the FTSE4Good Index, The Civic 50, CR Magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens, Newsweek's Green Rankings and Ethisphere Institute's list of the World's Most Ethical Companies.

Ecolab's 2014 Corporate Sustainability Report was developed in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative's G4 guidelines. The report summary and complete G4 Index are available at www.Ecolab.com/Sustainability.

About Ecolab
A trusted partner at more than one million customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital resources. With 2014 sales of $14 billion and 47,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions and on-site service to promote safe food, maintain clean environments, optimize water and energy use and improve operational efficiencies for customers in the food, healthcare, energy, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world.

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(ECL-C)

Ecolab Inc.
Roman Blahoski, 651-250-4385
MediaRelations@Ecolab.com