CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE: AZEK) ("AZEK" or the “Company”), the industry-leading manufacturer of beautiful, low-maintenance, and environmentally sustainable outdoor living products, including TimberTech® decking, Versatex® and AZEK® Trim and StruXure™ pergolas, today released its 2021 FULL-CIRCLE™ Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report. The report details AZEK’s ongoing commitment to making a lasting impact on the world by accelerating its use of recycled materials towards its billion pounds goal, fostering a culture that champions diversity, equity and inclusion, and operating with integrity and accountability to always do the right thing.
“ESG is at the core of our business strategy, the products and innovations we bring to market, the people we choose to hire, and our unique position as both a recycler and consumer of hundreds of millions of pounds of otherwise landfill-bound waste and scrap. It is central to both our growth and purpose as a company,” AZEK CEO Jesse Singh said. “I could not be prouder of the progress and expansion of our FULL-CIRCLE efforts in 2021, but also with the view that this is simply the next step in our journey of building a great company. Every day, our team seeks new and innovative solutions to revolutionize our industry, while also making us stronger and more resilient. We are committed to pushing ourselves, and the industry, toward a more sustainable future because we believe that companies like AZEK have a great responsibility to make the world a better place and create shared value for all. We believe it is simply the right thing to do.”
Highlights of AZEK’s 2021 FULL-CIRCLE report include:
- Approximately 500 million pounds of scrap and waste diverted from landfills and used in our products (an increase of ~100 million pounds vs. fiscal year 2020)
- Launched AZEK’s FULL-CIRCLE Recycling™ program to collect and repurpose construction site and remodeling scrap into AZEK products; awarded one of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas in 2021
- 23% reduction in carbon intensity (tCO2e per $1 million net sales) since 2019
- Completed a full Scope 3 (value chain) emissions inventory as preparation for setting science-based emissions reduction targets
- Commissioned the first-of-its-kind, peer-reviewed life-cycle assessment on Ipe decking to quantify and compare the environmental performance against TimberTech decking and further illustrate that TimberTech decking is more sustainable over its life cycle than traditional wood decking
- Achieved Zero Waste-to-Landfill certification for the 2021 TimberTech Championship, the first tournament to do so in PGA Tour Champions history
- 24% improvement in safety performance year-over-year
- Formalized and launched our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion framework and signed onto the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion initiative
- Named one of Chicago’s Top Workplaces by the Chicago Tribune and a Best Led Company by Inc.
- 50% gender and/or racially/ethnically diverse board, up from 33% last year
- 55% gender and/or racially/ethnically diverse executive team, up from 50% last year
- Strengthened our corporate governance profile based upon the feedback obtained through our shareholder outreach initiatives
- ESG added as a component of individual performance under our 2021 management annual incentive plan
- As of 2021, The AZEK Company received an MSCI ESG rating of 'A.'
- In November 2021, The AZEK Company received an ESG Risk Rating of 15.7 from Sustainalytics and was assessed to be at LOW risk of experiencing material financial impacts from ESG factors.
“AZEK’s FULL-CIRCLE strategy has unequivocally become a unique point of engagement for all our stakeholders – our employees, customers, suppliers, partners and investors alike,” said AZEK’s Vice President of ESG and Corporate Affairs Amanda Cimaglia. “I continue to be inspired by the unwavering commitment of our team to create a more sustainable future by collectively advancing our FULL-CIRCLE initiatives. We look forward to continuing to lead by example and transforming the outdoor living industry to be more sustainable and innovative, while always staying true to our core values and providing rigorous and transparent reporting on our performance.”
Learn more about AZEK’s ESG journey here.
About The AZEK® Company
The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE: AZEK) is the industry-leading designer and manufacturer of beautiful, low maintenance and environmentally sustainable outdoor living products, including TimberTech® decking, Versatex® and AZEK® Trim, and StruXure™ pergolas. Consistently recognized as the market leader in innovation, quality and aesthetics, products across AZEK’s portfolio are made from up to approximately 90% recycled material and primarily replace wood on the outside of homes, providing a long-lasting, eco-friendly, and stylish solution to consumers. Leveraging the talents of its approximately 2,000 employees and the strength of relationships across its value chain, The AZEK Company is committed to accelerating the use of recycled material in the manufacturing of its innovative products, keeping millions of pounds of waste out of landfills each year, and revolutionizing the industry to create a more sustainable future. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the company operates manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada and Minnesota, and announced a new facility will open in Boise, Idaho. For additional information, please visit azekco.com.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This release contains or refers to certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and subject to the "safe harbor" protections thereunder. Forward-looking statements are statements about future events and are based on our current expectations. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the words “believe,” “hope,” "expect," "intend," "will," "target," “anticipate,” "goal" and similar expressions. Our forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements with respect to our ability to meet the future targets and goals we establish, including our environmental, social and governance goals, and the ultimate impact of our actions on our business as well as the expected benefits to the environment, our employees, the communities in which we do business or otherwise. The Company bases its forward-looking statements on information available to it on the date of this release, and undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of changed circumstances, new information, future events or otherwise, except as may otherwise be required by law. Actual future events could also differ materially due to numerous factors that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, among other things, the risks and uncertainties set forth under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and the other risks and uncertainties discussed in any subsequent reports that the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Although we have attempted to identify those material factors that could cause actual results or events to differ from those described in such forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Given these uncertainties, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.
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