Continuing in its mission of manufacturing while protecting the global environment, it was announced on March 15 thatChroma Technology Corp.of Bellows Falls, Vermont has been certified a Green Partner by Sony Corporation.
"Sony is looking at the environmental impact of the product we're sending out the door," said Chroma's Health, Safety and Environmental Manager Chip Siler. "They want to know what chemicals, if any, are contained in these products and whether or not they are hazardous. They want to know how these chemicals are controlled through their lifetime - from the production of the part all the way through its disposal at the end of its life. European laws are much more strict about this than the U.S., and we market to Europe. But we're doing this - and Sony's doing this - because we'd like to make the world a better place."
Being green is nothing new for Chroma. It made certain that its manufacturing processes and support equipment were consistent with its strong conservation principles when it built a new, energy-efficient plant in 2003. And most of the procedures Sony requires from its Green Partners are already in effect.
"When I looked over the requirements, we were probably doing 90 percent of what they wanted or more," Siler said. "But when I had to find test data and lab reports that confirmed and certified what we're putting in our filters, I found it scattered. Sony allowed me to organize what we do in a manner that anybody can follow."
Chroma manufactures precisionoptical microscope filters and coatingsfor biomedical research laboratories all over the world. An employee-owned company, it has satellite sales offices in Germany and China. It employs 99 people and in 2011 saw sales of $24 million. For the past three years, it has been on Inc. Magazine's 500/5000 list of the country's fastest-growing private companies as well as on WorldBlu's global "List of Most Democratic Workplaces."
Sony is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.
Learn more about Chroma Technology atwww.chroma.comand the Sony Green Partner Environmental Quality Approval Program at http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/procurementinfo/green.html.
Bellows Falls. 3.28.2012.