GROWING INNOVATION Driving sustainability in our innovation efforts

Our customers are increasingly looking for more sustainable products and we are moving assertively to meet that demand. From food production and new energy solutions to emissions reduction technology and innovative soil remediation applications, FMC has a constantly evolving portfolio of solutions.

The knowledge we gain by listening closely and observing our customers helps to shape our innovation and product development efforts. We strive to hear the voice of the customer.

Here are a few examples of our customer-driven innovations:

• In Brazil, customer intimacy with farmers has sparked an integrated solution for managing crop protection products at large agribusiness operations in an increasingly safe, secure and efficient way. FMC can now customize a program that helps growers protect their workers, communities and soil with safe storage, precise mixing, responsible cleanup, and material recycling.
• For smaller operations where bulk buying isn’t practical, FMC has pioneered a new packaging concept that reduces greenhouse gas emissions while expanding the marketplace for some of our customers’ crops. Over half of the plastic used to make our new, exclusive 20-liter “Green Jugs” is made from sugar cane.
• Where traditional plastic containers are still in use, FMC is helping reduce their impact by using containers made from recycled materials. We were the first in the industry to package our products in 20-liter jugs made from 85 percent recycled plastic.
• Manufacturing customers want to reduce toxic emissions from their industrial stacks. An FMC product line consisting of ground trona, sodium bicarbonate and sodium sesquicarbonate products, along with natural soda ash and caustic soda products, is used to help remove up to 98 percent of sulfur compounds and hydrochloric acid from those emissions. The same product line also reduces mercury emissions. We are also progressing our trials on an innovative hydrogen peroxide-based technology that helps coal-fired power plants reduce nitrogen oxides emissions.
• For more than 60 years, FMC has been a leader in developing new applications for its chemical oxidizers, helping remediate contaminated soil and groundwater sites around the world.
• We are working to develop natural, biological solutions that farmers can use to control nematodes and other pests, as well as marketing a biofungicide that combats bacterial and fungal diseases by triggering a crop’s own built-in defenses.
• FMC is now able to help customers in the food and beverage industries replace colorings made from coal tar and petroleum with naturally derived ingredients. This global market is expanding rapidly, with demand for natural color solutions expected to skyrocket.
• FMC’s high-purity lithium resources and proprietary lithium technology are helping to usher in a new generation of vehicle batteries. Used to assist or replace the internal combustion engine, lithium batteries can help reduce carbon emissions and dependence on oil – making the vision of electric vehicles (EVs) a reality.
• Customer demand in China and other rapidly developing economies is driving customer innovation at FMC. We will open our Asia Innovation Center in early 2013 in Shanghai, accelerating our ability to collaborate with customers and tailor products for the region while developing new technologies for use globally.

More details about FMC’s growing innovation efforts are covered in our 2011 Sustainability Report.