Abbott Receives Sustainability Award for Continued Efforts to Protect the Environment in Illinois

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ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Oct 29, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- ABT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced today that it has received the annual Illinois Continuous Improvement Award for environmental excellence. It is the eighth time Abbott has received the award for its efforts to safeguard the environment and integrate sustainability initiatives throughout its operations in Illinois.

"Abbott's efforts in Illinois are an important part of our broader work to safeguard the environment through sustainable business practices across all of our global operations," said Corlis Murray, vice president, Global Engineering Services, Abbott. "We are taking a multi-faceted approach to minimizing our impact on the environment; from the way we manufacture our products, to how we manage our facilities, to engaging and involving employees in environmental initiatives. We're looking across our businesses to find ways to do things differently, which will improve the environment and strengthen our business over the long-term."

Abbott was recognized for implementing 11 projects aimed at reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and waste, and saving water and energy at its Lake County, Ill. headquarters and manufacturing facilities. These initiatives included:

    --  Implementing a "green" roof that improves energy efficiency and reduces
        rainwater runoff
    --  Reducing CO2 emissions by improving cooling efficiency at the central
        information technology (IT) data center
    --  Establishing a program to recycle employees' personal electronic
        equipment
    --  Eliminating more than 44 tons of waste annually by recycling packaging
        material from incoming packages

    --  Implementing changes to its manufacturing processes to reduce CO2
        emissions by more than 5 million pounds per year and reduce the amount
        of raw materials required for one process by more than 1 million pounds
        per year.

The Continuous Improvement Awards are part of the Illinois Governor's Sustainability Awards program. Previously called the Governor's Pollution Prevention Awards, the awards recognize businesses and organizations in Illinois for significant achievements in protecting the environment through sustainable business practices. The award is administered by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), a division of the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability at the University of Illinois.

Safeguarding the environment is an important part of Abbott's mission to improve people's health and the company's efforts to be a leader in global citizenship. Abbott has identified increased use of cleaner and renewable energy, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, water conservation and limiting the impact of product packaging as environmental priorities. The company has set measurable goals in each of these areas to track its progress. All of Abbott's various health care businesses are examining their manufacturing processes and needs, as well as their product packaging, to develop environmentally friendly and sustainable approaches to help the company meet or exceed these goals.

Abbott was recently named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for the fifth consecutive year. Abbott was one of just two U.S.-based companies in the pharmaceutical industry category to be listed on both indices. The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index ranks Abbott among the top 300 of the world's largest 2,500 companies, based on an assessment of economic, social and environmental performance.

About Abbott

Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs more than 72,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries.

Abbott's news releases and other information are available on the company's Web site at www.abbott.com.

SOURCE Abbott

http://www.abbott.com

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