The Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE has decided as a first step to contribute €500,000 to the Central Community Chest of Japan as immediate aid to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. This donation will be provided by the BASF Social Foundation.

Additionally, the company will start a global donation campaign among its employees and will fully match each euro contributed by the employees one-to-one.

Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, said, “The deepest sympathy of the entire BASF team worldwide is with the people of Japan. This is why we are making an immediate donation and also ask all BASF employees to do their part in donating to the victims of this unprecedented disaster. We will double this amount.”

All of the approximately 1,700 BASF employees in Japan are safe and taken care of, including local employees, international delegates and business travelers. BASF has recommended that employees in strongly affected areas move to less affected regions, and is providing logistical support. The company will continue to provide assistance to employees whose housing was destroyed or damaged by the earthquake or tsunami. Especially for BASF sites in the northeast of Japan, the company is helping to provide basic temporary support such as food, water, batteries, and lodging to those with damaged homes.

Immediately after the earthquake, BASF set up Country and Regional Incident Management Teams to support employees as well as assess and manage the situation from an operational and business perspective. BASF has 35 operations sites (including 27 production sites and 8 R&D and technical centers) and 49 sales offices in Japan.

The Central Community Chest of Japan has been active in Japan since 1947. Its programs are comprehensive and include donations to children, old and disabled people as well as assistance for victims of disasters.

Nalco, providing essential expertise for water, energy and air, and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have reached a licensing agreement for Argonne's resin wafer electrodeionization (RW-EDI) technology. This separation-based technology is in early development and has the potential to create significant value in clean energy, chemical process and water treatment.

Argonne and Nalco have been involved in two DOE-funded research projects jointly developing this versatile RW-EDI technology. These projects have already demonstrated advantages in impaired water purification and in capture of CO2 from air.

"We are excited to pursue the further development and commercial fit of the RW-EDI technology in a variety of potential applications that will help Nalco customers meet their quality, financial and environmental targets," said Cathy Doucette, Nalco Global Technology Leader. "We started our RW-EDI technology partnership with Argonne by advancing the use of this technology to allow impaired water to be used as cooling water in coal-based power plants. We expanded this collaboration through our ongoing ARPA-E funded effort to evaluate the technology for the energy efficient removal of CO2 from coal flue gas. We look forward to extending this partnership into many other areas of importance to our customers."

Argonne's resin wafer technology is made from commercially available materials which by controlling dimensions, composition, porosity and conductivity, can be easily adapted to a targeted product and application need.

One application for Argonne's patented technology is bioprocessing. Conventional bioprocessing technologies, such as those used to produce organic acids, require significant capital expenditures on energy-intensive steps to recover these products and generate large waste streams. Argonne's technology allows for the continuous removal of charged products like organic acids from aqueous process streams and eliminates the requirement to continuously add neutralizing agents, avoiding resulting waste stream.

"The implications of this resin wafer electrodeionization technology are both positive and exciting," said Argonne biochemical engineer Seth Snyder, whose group developed the technology. "Bio-based chemicals and fuels are a clean and sustainable alternative to oil and gas consumption. Increasing their usage would help provide a home grown energy source, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and overall energy costs. Our technology could help make affordable clean and bio-based products that are not currently economically competitive."

With the license in place, Nalco and Argonne will pursue the design and development of commercial platforms to help customers integrate the clean technology into their manufacturing and air and water treatment processes.

"Nalco is constantly seeking partnerships like the one we share with Argonne," said Manian Ramesh, Nalco's Chief Technology Officer. "Working with national laboratories, universities, suppliers and customers around the world combines the extensive intellectual talent available outside Nalco with the hundreds of researchers at our global R&D centers. This open innovation develops technologies that help customers reduce their operating expenses, increase productivity and minimize environmental impacts. That helps us provide them an environmental return on investment, what we call eROI."

DOE's offices of Fossil Energy and Biomass provided funding for the RW-EDI research and development.

SOURCE Nalco

The Group also included in the list of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world

Stora Enso has been named by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 2011. Ethisphere’s WME list recognises companies’ ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility. Stora Enso has now been selected for the list for the fourth time running, out of a record number of nominee companies.

“As companies strive to maintain a competitive advantage, good ethics translate into better business, and better business means better bottom lines. Stora Enso recognises the important role that principled practices play in brand reputation, which ultimately is the most valuable asset for a corporation,” said Alex Brigham, Executive Director of the Ethisphere Institute. “Each year the competition gets more intense for the World’s Most Ethical Companies, and this year was no exception with a record number of organisations vying for this distinguished honour. Ethisphere congratulates Stora Enso on being one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 2011.”

The WME ranking process involves reviewing ethical codes, litigations and regulatory infraction histories; evaluating investments in innovation and sustainable business practices; assessing activities designed to improve corporate citizenship; and studying nominations made by senior executives, industry peers, suppliers and customers.

Ethisphere has been working for five years as a think-tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability. Other listed companies include American Express, eBay, Ford Motor Company, Adidas, Starbucks, PepsiCo and the Xerox Corporation.

Read more about the methodology behind this scheme and view the complete list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 2011 at http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical-companies-rankings/.

Stora Enso’s responsibility work widely recognised in 2011

Stora Enso’s corporate responsibility work has already received several external recognitions this year. In February Stora Enso was selected for the SAM Sustainability Yearbook, the most comprehensive global publication on corporate sustainability. On the basis of our environmental, social and financial performance, Stora Enso has also been included in the Global 100 list of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world, announced at the 2011 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

AbitibiBowater Inc. Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer William Harvey will speak at the Barclays Capital 2011 High Yield Bond and Syndicated Loan Conference in Orlando, Florida on Thursday, March 24, 2011, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.

A copy of the presentation and a link to a live audio webcast will be available on the Company's website. Interested parties are invited to use the link provided under "Presentations and Webcasts" on the Investors page of www.abitibibowater.com.

AbitibiBowater is a global leader in the forest products industry, producing a diverse range of products, including newsprint, commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products. The Company owns or operates 18 pulp and paper mills and 24 wood products facilities located in the United States, Canada and South Korea. Marketing its products in more than 70 countries, AbitibiBowater is also among the largest recyclers of old newspapers and magazines in North America, and has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to sustainable forest management standards. AbitibiBowater's shares trade under the stock symbol ABH on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

NewPage Corporation, the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America, announced today that its subsidiary, Rumford Paper Company, based in Rumford, Maine, has signed an agreement to sell its cogeneration energy assets to a unit of ReEnergy Holdings LLC, a company which specializes in integrated biomass waste fuel renewable energy.  The purchase price for the assets is $61,000,000.

The transaction contemplates a long-term, symbiotic relationship between Rumford and ReEnergy. Following the closing, ReEnergy will operate the acquired assets to provide energy to the Rumford mill in the form of electricity and thermal energy. In turn, Rumford's pulp and papermaking process will supply ReEnergy with the sustainable biomass fuel supply needed to operate the cogeneration assets.

"The transaction represents an opportunity for the Rumford mill to realize value from its green energy assets and to focus on its core business of making high quality paper," said George Martin, president and chief executive officer of NewPage Corporation. "We are looking forward to working closely with ReEnergy in this new endeavor," stated Gerald LeClaire, mill manager, Rumford Operations.

Larry Richardson, Chief Executive Officer of ReEnergy, said, "This exciting, new relationship with the Rumford mill is consistent with our business strategy of owning and managing solid fuel renewable energy facilities.  We look forward to providing mission-critical, cost effective electricity and thermal energy to the Rumford mill."  Tom Beck, ReEnergy's chief commercial officer added, "This partnership promises to support Maine's vital paper industry, and ReEnergy looks forward to providing green energy to both the Rumford mill and the New England region."

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in mid 2011

Chempolis Ltd and Henan Yinge Industrial Investment Co., Ltd signed a frame agreement on 21 January 2011 on establishing a joint venture in Luohe, Henan province. The proposed JV company will build a biorefinery based on Chempolis formicofib™ technology using wheat straw as raw material. Biorefinery will produce annually 160 000 tons of non-wood papermaking fibres and biochemicals. Registered capital of the joint venture is planned to be 30 million Euros, of which Yinge invests 22.5 million Euros and Chempolis invests 7.5 million Euros.

”For Chempolis co-operation with a top non-wood papermaking company in China is a desired foundation for the biorefining joint venture” states Pasi Rousu, President of Chempolis Asia Pacific.

Henan Yinge Industrial Investment Co., Ltd is a leading edge company producing top quality non-wood papers in China. It belongs to a conglomerate Yinge Group which is a publicly listed company. Henan Yinge Industrial Investment Co., Ltd produces fine papers, packaging papers and tissue with an annual papermaking capacity of 500 000 tons.

Chempolis Ltd. is a technology leader delivering innovative 3G formico^® biorefining technologies that provide profitable, sustainable and cost-effective solutions for the biomass, paper, biofuel, and chemical industries to refine biomass into high-quality products while minimizing environmental impact and maximizing social benefits. Chempolis’ formicofib™ converts non-wood raw materials into papermaking fibre for paper and board, packaging, and hygiene products; while formicobio™ processes non-food raw materials into cellulosic ethanol.

Xerium Technologies, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of industrial textiles and rolls used primarily in the paper production process, today announced the appointment of Clifford E. Pietrafitta to the position of Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Brian Fox, who has served as the Company's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer on an interim basis since August 13, 2010, has stepped down from those positions.

"We recruited Cliff for his extensive financial, operational, and strategic skills as we continue to drive innovation and position ourselves for the next stage of the company's growth," said Stephen R.Light, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. "I also offer my sincere gratitude to Brian for his hard work and dedication during such a critical time. He served our company very well and we owe him our thanks."

From 1999 to 2010, Mr. Pietrafitta, 49, served as Chief Financial Officer of CSS Industries, Inc., a consumer products company that designs, markets, and manufactures boxed Christmas cards, gift wrap and other seasonal products for customers ranging from mass merchandisers and chain drug stores to supermarket chains and party stores. Previously, Mr. Pietrafitta served CSS Industries as Vice President - Finance from 1995 to 1999, and as Treasurer from 1991 to 1995.

SOURCE: Xerium Technologies, Inc.

Ashland Inc.has announced that its board of directors approved a $400 million stock repurchase program. Under the program, the company's common shares will be purchased through a combination of a 10b5-1 automatic trading plan and discretionary purchases on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. The amount and timing of any purchases will depend on a number of factors, including trading price, trading volume and general market conditions.

In addition, the board intends to increase the annual dividend to 70 cents per share from its current annual rate of 60 cents per share, commencing with the June 15 dividend payment.

"The implementation of this stock repurchase program reflects our view that the market has not yet fully recognized the value of Ashland today," said James J. O'Brien, Ashland's chairman and chief executive officer. "This program and the contemplated dividend increase enable us to continue rewarding shareholders in a variety of ways, while retaining the financial flexibility to support our existing growth plans. These actions provide yet another indication of the board's confidence in Ashland's overall strategy and enhanced cash-generating capabilities."

As of Dec. 31, 2010, there were 79,040,152 shares of Ashland common stock outstanding.

In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, personal care, pharmaceutical, tissue and towel, and water treatment. Visit www.ashland.com to see the innovations we offer through our five commercial units — Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients, Ashland Hercules Water Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials, Ashland Consumer Markets (Valvoline) and Ashland Distribution.

For the fifth consecutive year, International Paper was recognized by The Ethisphere Institute as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. The designation recognizes companies that go beyond making statements about doing business "ethically" and instead, translate those words into action. According to the Institute, honorees demonstrate real and sustained ethical leadership within their industries, putting into business practice the Institute's credo of 'Good. Smart. Business. Profit.'

"Strong ethics provide the foundation for all that we do at International Paper," said John Faraci, chairman and chief executive officer. "Earning this recognition for the fifth year in a row is a reflection of doing things the right way, for the right reasons."

Sharon Ryan, vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer said, "Being named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies, for the fifth year running, is a validation of our Company's outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance and social responsibility. We should all be proud of this recognition as it affirms ethics is indeed at the core of our culture."

Ethisphere Institute researchers and editors reviewed thousands of companies to determine the finalists. Among other criteria, the process included examination of codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory infraction histories; evaluations of investment in innovation and sustainable business practices; and activities designed to improve corporate citizenship.

SOURCE International Paper