Rheem Manufacturing to Hit Ambitious Green Goals by 2025

The company continues to decrease carbon emissions and prioritize sustainability in its business strategy.

Rheem has made a significant commitment to sustainability and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) since 2019. The company’s three pillars of its “A Greater Degree of Good” initiative—“Intelligent Products,” “Responsible Processes” and “Inspired People”—guide comprehensive efforts to advance United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieve ambitious global sustainability goals by 2025.

By definition, the Environmental aspect involves how a company impacts and interacts with the natural world, including factors such as carbon emissions, pollution, resource efficiency, and biodiversity. An example would be Rheem’s development of environmentally sustainable products, manufactured in ways that consume fewer resources while generating less waste and lower emissions. 

To date, the sale of higher-efficiency Rheem products has prevented 21.8-plus million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, a positive climate impact equivalent to taking more than 5 million cars off the road for a year.

As part of its ESG Governance actions, Rheem prioritizes sustainability in its business strategy, stakeholder engagement, government affairs and communications. Courtesy Rheem Manufacturing

In 2022, Rheem made progress on its goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its global manufacturing operations by 50 percent by 2025 compared to its 2018 baseline. Also, to support a goal of achieving Zero Waste to Landfill by 2025 within all global manufacturing operations, the company conducted six waste audits across three countries. 

The audits revealed that the various sites achieved an average landfill diversion rate of more than 85 percent and diverted more than 40,000 metric tons of waste last year.

The Social element pertains to how a company interacts with employees, vendors, suppliers, customers, and people in surrounding communities, including employee treatment, company ethics and values, human rights, and customer protection. 

Advancing the adoption of sustainable heating, cooling and water heating products and practices is critical for protecting the environment, and Rheem’s partners in the industry play a pivotal role. Plumbers, contractors and key influencers worldwide are trained on the sustainable products Rheem sells, and on practices that make a difference for the planet. The training elevates sustainability in HVAC, water heating and refrigeration and helps prepare the industry’s workforce for the future. 

Rheem’s efforts to educate consumers and employees about water usage go back decades and took various forms, such as this free, publicly issued comic book from 1970. Courtesy Rheem Manufacturing

In 2022, Rheem brought sustainability training to more than 160,000 people—more than the prior three years combined. The company also achieved, years ahead of schedule, its goal to train 250,000 plumbers, contractors and key influencers on sustainable products or sustainable installation, and recycling best practices by 2025. 

Governance defines how a company’s leadership is structured, political affiliations, stakeholder incentives, executive compensation, success metrics, and levels of transparency. Rheem is committed to good governance, including the highest standards of ethics and compliance, and prioritizes sustainability in its business strategy, stakeholder engagement, government affairs and communications. The company shares its progress against goals in its annual Sustainability Progress Report.

An example of Rheem’s addressing is its investment in onsite solar at its Mexicali, Mexico water heater manufacturing plant, which offset nearly 800,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in 2022. Courtesy Rheem Manufacturing

“We are committed to driving change in the industry to make a lasting impact on our environment, both for this generation and those to come,” the company notes. “Making sustainability a cornerstone of our government affairs efforts is one of our best opportunities to do so. We work with governments in the U.S. and around the world to achieve positive long-term sustainability outcomes.