NEW CASTLE, DE – Senator Tom Carper, State Representative James Johnson, DNREC Deputy Secretary David Small, Croda International Plc Group Chief Executive Steve Foots and Croda Inc. President Kevin Gallagher broke ground on a $2.3 million solar installation project at the company’s Atlas Point facility in New Castle, DE.

The 777kW project, expected to be completed by year-end, will reside on 2.5 acres of the plant property and will generate approximately five percent of the site’s electricity – equivalent to the power consumed by 130 homes. Additionally, the solar panels will reduce the site’s annual CO₂ emission by more than 1.381 million pounds – the approximate equivalent of CO₂ emitted by 1,345 flights from New York to Los Angeles. Croda has partnered with EnterSolar to procure solar panels manufactured in Delaware and installed by Delaware labor.

The solar installation is one of several sustainability initiatives at Croda’s Atlas Point facility. Earlier in 2013, Croda began channeling methane gas from a nearby landfill to power more than 70 percent of the Atlas Point manufacturing operations with a combined heat and power (CHP) unit. Later this year, the facility expects to receive certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil for its advanced initiative to support sustainable palm oil and palm kernel oil derivatives in the manufacture of its specialty ingredients.

Since acquiring the plant in 2006, Croda Inc. has invested $100 million in upgrades to the facility. Over the next three years, Croda plans to invest $50 million more in upgrades at Atlas Point to enhance and expand the site.

Croda was ranked 25^th in the 2013 ”Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations” report, compiled annually by Corporate Knights, a Canadian media organization specializing in corporate sustainability. It is the most extensive data-driven corporate sustainability assessment and is based on the financial, social and environmental performance of nearly 4,000 of the world’s largest listed companies.