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Diebold strengthens global environmental performance; names environmental stewardship director

April 14, 2009

NORTH CANTON, Ohio — Diebold Inc. is stepping up efforts to strengthen its environmental performance on a broader scale to positively align conservation strategies with customers around the world. 

According to a news release, Diebold has named James N. Merrell to lead its environmental stewardship initiative by leveraging Merrell's experience across numerous Diebold operational areas and his strong personal dedication to environmental improvement.

"Climate change is very real and natural resources are actively diminishing," said Thomas W. Swidarski, president and chief executive of Diebold. "The time is now to take responsibility for the impact our operations may have on the environment and to serve as active participants in the global recovery effort. Diebold's commitment to environmental stewardship will be clearly evident through the leadership of Jim Merrell. Aligning with our customers and partners around the world also underscores our dedication to providing the highest quality products and services, which can enhance our customers' business processes without causing residual damage to the environment.  Beyond our sustainability efforts' positive impact on the environment, the resulting efficiencies and long-term cost-savings make good business sense."

For the past 25 years, Diebold has experienced high environmental performance at its manufacturing facilities by proactively monitoring and managing air and water discharges to minimize the impact on the environment.

The company's manufacturing teams also have worked to reduce energy consumption through higher efficiency lighting and, in the case of Diebold's Lexington, N.C., facility, have reduced the water used in paint preparation by 40 percent.

As director of environmental stewardship, Merrell's initial priority has been to define an all-encompassing strategy and establish environmental policies upon which to build. This includes the development of a performance baseline for resource consumption as well as other strategies to establish where the company stands today to more accurately measure the success of upcoming initiatives. Merrell also formed a global advisory board comprising Diebold representatives from every region of the world, who work to implement policies, collect data, evaluate performance, share information with associates in their respective regions and identify examples of best practices by Diebold associates.

The company also is focused on products and services and is in the evaluation phase of a comprehensive product and service delivery review to find new ways to improve the efficiency of its many solutions.

"An important goal of this initiative is to significantly reduce Diebold's carbon footprint at our locations around the world," Merrell said. "To that end, we've elected to participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project, a nonprofit organization that facilitates dialogue between institutional investors, purchasing organizations and senior corporate management from the world's largest companies. By participating, Diebold contributes to CDP's global gas-emissions database, helping formulate information that will motivate governments and corporations to take the appropriate actions to work toward preventing dangerous climate change."

One example of sustainability is the Greensboro, N.C., warehouse, which was designed for silver certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System. To qualify for LEED certification, a building must meet the highest green building and performance measures, and be deemed an environmentally responsible, healthy place to live or work.

In addition to Diebold's broader efforts to achieve sustainability, on a local level the company is retrofitting existing buildings in Northeast Ohio for more effective control of the HVAC systems, which will be linked to a single network for enhanced energy efficiency.

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