Ecolab Named One of World's Most Ethical Companies for Ninth Consecutive Year by the Ethisphere Institute

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ecolab Inc., the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services, has been recognized as a 2015 World's Most Ethical Company^® by the Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

This is the ninth consecutive year that Ecolab has received the World's Most Ethical Company distinction, which recognizes Ecolab's achievement in transparency, integrity, ethics and compliance. Ecolab has been named a World's Most Ethical Company every year since the honor's inception in 2007.

"This recognition is a testament to the integrity and high ethical standards our 47,000 Ecolab associates demonstrate every day as they work to make the world cleaner, safer and healthier," said Ecolab Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Douglas M. Baker, Jr. "Our long-term success is grounded in responsible and ethical business practices, and we are honored to be one of only 15 companies to be named to all nine World's Most Ethical Companies lists."

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient™ (EQ) framework. The EQ framework has been developed over years of research to provide a means to assess an organization's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics. The framework and methodology is determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere's network of thought leaders and from the World's Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel.

"The World's Most Ethical Companies embrace the correlation between ethical business practice and improved company performance," said Ethisphere Chief Executive Officer Timothy Erblich. "Earning this recognition involves the collective action of a global work force from the top down. We congratulate everyone at Ecolab for this extraordinary achievement."

Assessment scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance programme (35 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 percent), culture of ethics (20 percent), governance (15 percent) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10 percent). The full list of the 2015 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/.

About Ecolab

A trusted partner at more than one million customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital resources. With 2014 sales of $14 billion and 47,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions and on-site service to promote safe food, maintain clean environments, optimise water and energy use and improve operational efficiencies for customers in the food, healthcare, energy, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world. For more Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com.

About the Ethisphere Institute

The Ethisphere^® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies^® recognition programme, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the publication of Ethisphere Magazine and The World's Most Ethical Companies Executive Briefing. Ethisphere is also the leading provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com.

(ECL-C)

Ecolab Media Contact:
Roman Blahoski, 651-250-4385
MediaRelations@Ecolab.com
or
Ethisphere Media Contact:
Clea Nabozny, 480-397-2658
Clea.Nabozny@Ethisphere.com