Ecolab Inc. has been named to Forbes magazine's list of "The World's Most Innovative Companies" for the second consecutive year. Ecolab ranks 31st out of 100 companies on the global list that appeared in the Sept. 5 issue of Forbes.

"Our purpose to make the world cleaner, safer and healthier drives our commitment to innovation," said Douglas M. Baker Jr., Ecolab chairman and CEO. "Ecolab's innovation has spanned eight decades, and we are committed to carrying on this tradition with future generations of customer solutions."

Ecolab's more than 1,300 scientists, including 500 Ph.D.s, work in a network of 15 facilities located around the world. These researchers develop solutions for a variety of industries including foodservice, retail, hospitality, healthcare, buildings and facilities, commercial laundries, food and beverage processing, pulp and paper, mining and mineral processing, and oil and gas.

Over the past five years, Ecolab has invested $750 million in research, development and engineering to develop solutions for these industries and currently holds more than 5,300 patents globally. Innovations are developed using a positive impact approach that leverages chemistry, equipment, packaging, dispensing and expertise to produce superior results while improving environmental benefits and cost savings.

"Our positive impact approach is essential to our innovation process," said Dr. Larry Berger, Ecolab chief technical officer and executive vice president, Research, Development & Engineering. "With this approach, we deliver effective, sustainable solutions that help our customers optimize their operations while minimizing environmental impact."

According to Forbes, the "innovation premium" used to rank the companies is a measure of how much investors have bid up the stock price of a company above the value of its existing business based on expectations of future innovative results in new products, services and markets. Additionally, members of the list must have $10 billion in market capitalization, spend at least 2.5 percent of revenue on R&D and have seven years of public data.