LED lighting helps improve plant efficiency.

3M is a diversified technology company, providing innovative solutions that advance companies and improve people’s lives worldwide. We strategically manage energy use throughout our global operations by setting aggressive goals and tracking results. We successfully achieved our 2015 energy conservation goal of a reduction of 25% by 2015 from a 2005 baseline (indexed to net sales). Our 2025 energy conservation goal is to improve energy efficiency indexed to net sales by 30%. Energy efficiency is a social responsibility and a competitive advantage for 3M.

One example of a project to improve energy efficiency is work completed by our 3M Columbia, Missouri plant. While remodeling the production area for 3M™ Curos™ Disinfecting Caps for Needleless Connectors, the 3M Columbia Energy Team replaced the fluorescent overhead lights with LED lights. This change resulted in an estimated energy savings of 26,000 kWh per year, which translated to lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

In addition to significant energy savings, the upgrade to LED lighting had a secondary benefit of reduced maintenance downtime for bulb replacement, due to the longer life expectancy of the LED bulbs vs. fluorescent lights. This is especially important since our Curos™ Disinfecting Cap production area is a clean environment.