Yahoo Finance Why 3M is spending $1 billion to help improve Mother Earth
3M Chairman and CEO Mike Roman said it's time for the industrial giant to take its investment in environmental initiatives to the next level.
To that end, 3M (MMM) is putting its money where its mouth is.
The maker of Scotch tape and N95 masks said Tuesday it will spend $1 billion over the next 20 years to accelerate various environmental goals. As part of the investment, 3M plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, cut water use by 25% at its facilities and return "higher quality" water to the environment after use in manufacturing operations.
Near-term goals include reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and slashing the amount of water used in manufacturing facilities worldwide by 10% by 2022.
"This is an opportunity to step forward and take a bigger leadership role. And every time we have done that in sustainability and environmental stewardship and product stewardship with our innovation we have seen it be a strong response from our customers, shareholders and certainly our employees. It is something they look for from us," Roman told Yahoo Finance Live. "This is an opportunity to take that next big step with them and meet their expectations which are certainly increasing over time for 3M."
Besides offering the planet a helping hand, the various environmental initiatives could go a long way to gain favor with the Biden administration as it eyes clamping down on seemingly dangerous PFAS chemicals. Sometimes referred to as "forever chemicals," 3M has used polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in products such as firefighting foam. The problem is that the chemicals don't dissolve in the environment and have been linked to certain diseases.
DuPont and two of its spinoffs recently inked a $4 billion settlement to resolve PFAS liabilities.
3M has been hit with lawsuits on PFAS, and Wall Street remains concerned about a large liability if the Biden administration deems the chemicals hazardous.
One source on Wall Street familiar with 3M's business told Yahoo Finance the company is unlikely to get a litigation pass on PFAS because it's trying to reduce emissions and invest in reusable water for factories.
Roman said the new environmental goals are in 3M's DNA, but also acknowledges that the company is "proactively managing PFAS, taking steps before we are forced to do so."
"The goals we have around water here, these are going beyond the regulations that we face operating our facilities and go further for actively managing environmental stewardship. It will help us address PFAS. The purification technologies in our factories will help address this," he added. "They will address other chemistries as well. Agricultural runoff, we will be able to filter that as well. We will do more than PFAS, but it is certainly about proactively managing environmental stewardship."
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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