The Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI) has updated its mission statement to recognize the critical and growing importance of environmental sustainability in the products its members produce.

In the new mission statement language, PMI pledges to “promote the environmental sustainability of plumbing products, as well as water efficiency, health, safety and quality” and to “represent openly the members’ interests and advocate for sound environmental policies in the regulatory/legislative processes.”

The update represents the first significant change to PMI’s mission statement since its adoption in 2006. At the recent annual Fall Meeting, held April 5-8 in Asheville, N.C., “the PMI board voted unanimously to elevate the issues of water efficiency and sound environmental policy to the highest level of visibility,” says PMI executive director Barbara C. Higgens. “Product sustainability and the improved efficiency it provides are central not only to the mission of the association, but also to the missions of all PMI member-companies.”

Within the past 12 months, PMI has helped to pass California’s new law mandating high-efficiency toilets by 2010. Also in 2008, PMI launched a new microsite, www.SafePlumbing.org, designed to help educate legislators, journalists and the general public about water efficiency, clean water, and public health and safety.

The full PMI Mission Statement follows:

        * To promote the water efficiency, health, safety, quality and environmental sustainability of plumbing products, while maximizing consumer choice and value in a fair and open marketplace.

        * To provide a forum for the exchange of information and industry education.

        * To represent openly the members’ interests and advocate for sound environmental and public health policies in the regulatory/legislative processes.

       * To enhance the plumbing industry’s growth and expansion.