Cabot Corporation

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Cabot Corporation
Type Public
Founded 1882
Headquarters Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Key people Godfrey Lowell Cabot: Founder
Products Aerogel, Carbon Black, Caesium Formate Fluids, Conductive Compounds, Elastomer Composites, Fine Caesium Chemicals, Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts, Fumed Metal Oxides, Inkjet Colorants, Masterbatch, Mined Minerals, Niobium, Tantalum
Revenue USD$2.5 billion (2006)
Employees 4,400
Website Cabot Corporation

Cabot Corporation is a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. It operates in four segments: the Carbon Black Business, the Metal Oxides Business, the Supermetals Business, and the Specialty Fluids Business. Cabot's headquarters is located in Boston, Massachusetts. The company's slogan is "Creating What Matters".

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[edit] History

The Cabot Corporation was founded in 1882 by Boston entrepreneur Godfrey Lowell Cabot. The company started by focusing on certain metalloids and pharmaceuticals in the 20th century and continued into the 21st century by creating small electronic devices.

[edit] Products

Some of the products produced at Cabot Corporation are:

  • Aerogel
  • Carbon Black
  • Caesium Formate Fluids
  • Conductive Compounds
  • Elastomer Composites
  • Fine Caesium Chemicals
  • Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts
  • Fumed Metal Oxides
  • Inkjet Colorants
  • Masterbatch
  • Mined Minerals
  • Niobium
  • Tantalum

[edit] Criticisms

[edit] Pollution

Sam Bodman, CEO of Cabot during the coltan boom, was appointed in December 2004 to serve as President Bush’s Secretary of Energy. Under Bodman’s leadership from 1987 to 2000, Cabot was one of the U.S.’s largest polluters, accounting for 60,000 tons of airborne toxic emissions annually.[1]

[edit] Activities in the Congo

The Cabot Corporation has been involved in the mining of coltran in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Involvement of Cabot in this region has led to a United Nations Panel of Experts have accused corporations (Cabot among them) of being involved in the support of atrocities in this region. Accusations have included bribery of officials, in a business that extracts more than $6million in raw cobalt from the DRC per day.[2] Specifically, the UN panel accused Cabot Corporation of being involved in "unethical business practices."[3] The UN report further alleges that Cabot purchased coltan from the DRC during the war. While Cabot has denied these allegations, a report by the Belgian Senate states that Eagle Wings Resources International had a long‑term contract to supply Cabot with coltan.[4] These actions taken by Cabot were said to be against the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) “Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises,” a set of international standards for responsible corporate behavior. [5] The conflict in the DRC, in which warlords and militias have funded themselves by control of the mining industry, has led to the deaths of more than 5 million individuals.[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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