Eastman: 2022 America's Most Just Companies

JUST Capital, along with its media partner CNBC, today released the annual JUST 100, recognizing Eastman for its commitment to address key environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues Americans care about most through its ongoing engagement with employees, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders. The JUST 100 is the only ranking that honors companies doing right by all their stakeholders as defined by the American public.

Through vigorous, objective analysis, JUST Capital, in partnership with CNBC, evaluates and celebrates U.S. corporations that outperform on the issues that matter most to the American public – such as creating jobs in the U.S., paying a fair, living wage, prioritizing accountability to all stakeholders, protecting worker health and safety, providing benefits and work-life balance, cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace, producing sustainable products, and protecting customer privacy.

Eastman’s ESG priorities align with the company’s strategy to position itself as a leading material innovation company, prioritizing its top innovation platforms to address the triple challenge of climate, circularity, and caring for people and society. In 2020, Eastman announced aggressive 2030 sustainability goals, which include but aren’t limited to:

• reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by one-third by 2030 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, 
• recycling ~250 million pounds of plastic waste annually by 2025 and ~500 million by 2030 through the company’s molecular recycling technologies, 
• achieving gender parity in alignment with the company’s commitment to Paradigm for Parity® and being an industry leader for racial equity.

“We are deeply honored to be recognized as one of America’s Most JUST Companies and to be named alongside so many notable and reputable companies,” said Board Chair and CEO Mark Costa. “It’s very gratifying to know that the issues that matter most to Americans are the same as those that matter most to us at Eastman. Throughout the company, we recognize the responsibility we have to all of our stakeholders – employees, customers, communities, investors – and we take that responsibility very seriously. This recognition reflects our culture, our values, and our talented team of people who strive to fulfill our purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way.”

For the annual rankings, JUST collects and analyzes corporate data to evaluate the 1,000 largest public U.S. companies across 20 stakeholder-focused issues as identified through the most comprehensive ongoing public opinion research on Americans’ attitudes toward responsible corporate behavior, engaging more than 150,000 participants since 2015.

“We’ve entered a new era of accountability where employees, customers, and investors want to understand if companies are not just talking the talk but walking the walk to drive change on the critical issues of our time,” said Martin Whittaker, CEO of JUST Capital. “The companies featured in the 2022 JUST 100 are demonstrating that purpose and profits can go hand in hand by delivering value to all stakeholders, including shareholders.”

“I am proud of the work our teams are doing to develop new product innovations that advance solutions for society’s most pressing needs; increasing transparency; attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse workforce; and promoting a welcoming, inclusive culture for all team members. Add to those the commitment by our Board of Directors and executive leadership to continue our track record of strong corporate governance, and I am confident we are positioning Eastman to thrive for years to come,” added Costa.

A comprehensive interactive ranking and benchmarking platform is available at www.justcapital.com.