Month: March 2024

International Olympic Committee News

Next week marks 100 years since the first Olympic Winter Games took place in Chamonix, France. Ahead of the 100th anniversary, we look into the legacies of the various Olympic Winter Games editions since.

The Olympic Winter Games have created lasting benefits for winter sport, and transformative legacies for their hosts since the first Games in 1924.

The Games have propelled their hosts – often little-known mountain destinations – onto the world map, bringing tourism and economic benefits.For example, Innsbruck 1964 boosted tourism and improved infrastructure in Innsbruck and the Tyrol region. In 2022, Tyrol’s tourism industry directly and indirectly employed 60,000 people and generated around EUR 8.4 billion in turnover. With 32.7 per cent of overnight stays in 2022, Tyrol is the most visited region of the country, according to Austria’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs.Olympic Winter hosts have used the benefits from the Games as catalysts to transform themselves into four-season resorts.For example, Salt Lake City 2002 served as a springboard to establish Utah as one of the world’s premier high-performance and recreational sports destinations. Since 2002, Utah has staged more than 175 international winter sports events. It is now a year-round recreational sports hub and an established training hub for world-class athletes, home to three US sports governing bodies.The hosts have also used the Games to create a variety of community benefits for their local inhabitants, such as a more active population and improved social cohesion.For example, Vancouver 2010 helped improve education, health and social inclusion. The Games also promoted Indigenous culture, enhanced literacy programmes and inspired sustainable infrastructure. These legacies continue to benefit communities in the region and contribute to the well-being of the population.The Olympic Winter Games have contributed to development of winter sports at the national, regional and global level.For example, more than 346 million people in China engaged in winter sports as a result of Beijing 2022, which created lasting, wide-ranging social and economic benefits for local people. According to the China Tourism Academy, the country’s winter leisure tourism sector is expected to welcome more than 520 million visitors and earn revenue of more than CNY 720 billion (approx. USD 107 billion) during the 2024-2025 season.

Viatris’ Indore manufacturing site has received certification for International Sustainability Rating System (ISRS), 9th Edition – Process Safety, from DNV, a global service provider for managing risk and supporting safe and responsible business performance.

The independent endorsement places the India facility alongside the highest rated facilities in the global pharmaceutical industry who have adopted this certification system.

This milestone reinforces our ongoing commitment to protecting the health and safety of our people and the environment, as part of working to advance responsible and sustainable operations. Process safety systems are an integral part of Viatris’ overarching safety management control program.

Congratulations to the team at Indore and all who supported this thorough assessment and implementation of best practices as we continue to deliver on our mission of empowering people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life.

Soap For Hope™ (S4H) program recycles discarded soap bars from local hotels helping underserved communities around the worldThe Pebbles Project has created a partnership to support sustainable sanitation and engage, train, and empower unemployed young adults and women to implement S4H as a small business

JOHANNESBURG, March 26, 2024 /3BL/ – Dow (NYSE: DOW), Diversey – a Solenis company and Pebbles Project launched today the Soap For Hope™ program in Cape Town, South Africa. This initiative was one of the seven awarded by Dow within its Business Impact Fund. The annual fund brings together NGOs, nonprofit organizations, and Dow customers to help solve global issues using Dow technology and employees’ expertise.

The Soap For Hope™ program, initiated by Diversey in 2013, has expanded to more than 50 countries globally. Through the recycling of discarded hotel guest soap, this program not only supports local communities by offering livelihood opportunities but also contributes to mitigating infant mortality rates associated with insufficient access to proper sanitation conditions.

Through its extensive network of local farm operations, the South African NGO Pebbles Project, will launch the Soap For Hope™ program in Cape Town with these goals:

Divert 10,000 kg of soap bar waste annually away from landfills and incineration towards recycling.Distribute recycled soap bars in communities with a need for hygiene resources and provide training on sanitation best practices.Train and empower young adults to manage the recycling operation as a small business.

“As a materials science company and supplier of raw materials that serve the cleaning market, Dow is proud to be a key collaborator of Soap For Hope that enables sustainable cleaning solutions whilst helping the local communities,” said Kevin Pillay, Dow´s country leader Southern Africa.

“Soap For Hope is a program that directly engages the local people in helping their own community. At the same time, it helps our hotel customers with diverting tons of solid soap waste to the local landfill. This will contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment in South Africa and create shared value for everyone involved – our company, our customers, and our communities,” said Mariette Van Vuuren, sales director South Africa, Diversey, a Solenis Company.

“The recycled soap will be made available to communities that do not have access to proper hygiene tools today,” said Sophie Warner, founder & CEO, Pebbles Project. “We will train unemployed young adults and women on entrepreneurship to upskill and empower them to run the recycling project as a small business.”

“Premier Hotels & Resorts are proud to partner with Dow, Diversey and The Pebbles Project for the Soap For Hope initiative. Recycling and green initiatives along with building the communities in which we operate is extremely important to us. We are proud to join the Soap For Hope Project and look forward to helping this initiative take flight in making a difference in the local community”, said Richard Bray, Group Operations manager at Premier Hotels & Resorts.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) is one of the world’s leading materials science companies, serving customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Our global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation, leading business positions and commitment to sustainability enable us to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. We operate manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employ approximately 35,900 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $45 billion in 2023. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. Learn more about us and our ambition to be the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world by visiting www.dow.com.

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For further information, please contact:

Mary Fournier 
+1 989-636-7475 
mkfournier@dow.com

Claudia Granadeiro Tagliavini 
Phone +34 91.7407845 
cgtagliavini@dow.com