CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, June 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Essilor announced today that it was ranked N(o). 5 in the 2016 Newsweek Green Rankings, created in partnership with Corporate Knights and HIP Investor. Since 2009, the Newsweek Green Rankings have been one of the world's foremost corporate environmental rankings which assess the overall environmental performance of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States and the 500 largest publicly traded companies globally.

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With 61,000 employees in 63 countries, nearly 540 production sites on five continents and more than $2.4 billion (EUR2 billion) in purchasing, Essilor's "footprint" is larger and more diverse than ever. The company's significant growth in recent years, along with changes in regulations and stakeholder expectations, has led Essilor to raise the bar in terms of its environmental sustainability responsibilities.

"For nearly 170 years, Essilor has demonstrated that a commitment to sustainable development is part of our DNA," said Jayanth Bhuvaraghan, chief Mission Officer at Essilor International. "We are honored to be recognized by the Newsweek Green Rankings for our accomplishments. These clearly support what we believe to be our fundamental contribution to achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, namely our mission to improve lives by improving sight."

All over the world, each Essilor entity is engaged in a continuous improvement approach and contributes at its own level to the main drivers of the company's sustainable and responsible development: reducing water and energy consumption; innovating; promoting diversity; ensuring quality working conditions; and connecting suppliers and customers to its mission. Concerning the optimization of natural resources management, the company has reduced water consumption by 40% and energy consumption by 22% in its mass production plants over the last 7 years.

In 2015, the company was ranked, for the fourth consecutive year, among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (Global 100) Index by Corporate Knights. US magazine Forbes also ranked the Group amongst the World's Most Innovative Companies for the fifth year running. Lastly, Essilor was selected as one of 50 companies that are changing the world in the first edition of Fortune magazine's "Change the World" list.

For more information about the 2016 Newsweek Green Rankings, visit http://www.newsweek.com/green-2016.

Newsweek Green Rankings Methodology:
The U.S. 500 consists of the 500 largest publicly traded companies headquartered in the U.S. by market capitalization as of December 31, 2015. The Global 500 consists of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the world by market capitalization as of December 31, 2015.

Data is obtained from HIP Investor, Bloomberg and the CDP (via Bloomberg). All companies are contacted for data verification whenever possible once all available items of data have been obtained.

The 2016 Newsweek Green Rankings measures the environmental performance of large public companies using eight clearly defined key performance indicators. The methodology is clear and rules-based, and the process meets the test of being replicable by a third party. A company's overall score is a weighted average of their eight KPI scores: Combined Energy Productivity Score, Combined GHG Productivity Score, Combined Water Productivity Score, Combined Waste Productivity Score, Green Revenue Score, Sustainability Pay Link, Sustainability Board Committee, and Audited Environmental Metrics.

About Essilor
The world's leading ophthalmic optics company, Essilor designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of lenses to improve and protect eyesight. Its mission is to improve lives by improving sight. To support this mission, Essilor allocates more than EUR200 million to research and innovation every year, in a commitment to continuously bring new, more effective products to market. Its flagship brands are Varilux(®), Crizal(®), Transitions(®), Eyezen(TM), Xperio(®), Optifog(®), Foster Grant(®), Bolon(TM) and Costa(®). It also develops and markets equipment, instruments and services for eyecare professionals.
Essilor reported consolidated revenue of more than EUR6.7 billion in 2015 and employs 61,000 people worldwide. It markets its products in more than 100 countries and has 32 plants, 490 prescription laboratories and edging facilities, as well as five research and development centers around the world. For more information, please visit www.essilor.com.
The Essilor share trades on the Euronext Paris market and is included in the Euro Stoxx 50 and CAC 40 indices.
Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EI:FP.

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SOURCE Essilor