Sustainability for a chemical company should be about much more than its future aspirations. It is about what that company is doing today, not just for its own business but also for what sustainable practices it is driving and supporting from its suppliers and customers along the value chain.   

In the case of sourcing raw materials, that means promoting sustainable practices and sourcing sustainable raw materials from suppliers. In the case of product offering to customers, it is about offering products that enable your customers and their customers to do things more sustainably.   

For raw material sourcing, it is essential to have a robust process in place for tracking, monitoring, and reporting on the proportion of biobased, circular, renewable, and recycled raw materials being used.  

Steps to Promote the Use of Renewable or Bio-based Feedstocks  

Engagement along the Value Chain 

Chemical producers need to have a full engagement along the value chain. That means promoting the renewable and bio-based aspect of your product offering not just to your customers but also to the customers of your customers. You need to engage right through to the product producer for the end consumer. 

Understand the Formulation Addition levels along the value chain 

They must understand the formulation addition levels along the value chain. The higher the addition level is, the greater the impact will be from their product offering. 

Provide a mass-balance approach to your customers 

In the chemical industry, renewable or recycled feedstock is added at the beginning of the production process and allocated to the end product in accordance with the associated demand. This calculation-based principle offers multiple advantages: It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and fossil feedstock inputs while the quality and properties of a product remain the same.  

Challenges in using bio-based organic raw materials 

Keep in mind that using bio-based organic raw materials also entails challenges and potential conflicts. For example, the production of food must always take priority over the use of biomass to manufacture chemical products.  

This article was contributed by our expert Philip Marsh

Frequently Asked Questions Answered by Philip Marsh

Q1. What strategies does the chemical industry employ to reduce the environmental impact associated with the extraction and processing of raw materials?

(i) Work with suppliers and relevant stakeholders to improve labor and environmental conditions in the various global supply chains. 

(ii) Establish and operate measures to ensure sustainable behavior from suppliers. This is supported by a requirement for suppliers to sign a code of conduct in this regard. 

(iii) Mass balance approach is a way to significantly reduce indirect emissions in the supply chain and offer products with a reduced carbon footprint.   

(iv) Some raw materials are renewable in principle but not necessarily sustainable, as their extraction requires high energy usage in the form of electricity. More renewable energies will have to be used for their extraction to reduce their carbon footprint. It is essential to engage in strategic partnerships with suppliers to achieve this. 

Q2. What measures does the chemical industry take to promote circular economy principles in relation to raw materials, such as recycling and reuse?

(i) Investment in mechanical recycling and molecular recycling where waste products are converted back to its molecular building blocks for use repeatedly.  

(ii) Transparency and working with companies along the value chain to support and invest in Make, Use & Return initiatives. 

(ii) Fewer materials being used in a single finished product can make recycling easier and more viable, thus avoiding landfill. 

Q3. What challenges or limitations does the chemical industry face in adopting and scaling the use of biobased raw materials?

(i) Essential that food production must always take priority over using biomass to manufacture chemical products.  

(ii) Essential to fully understand the consequences (Positive, negative, or neutral) and engage with customers along the value chain on this   

(iii) Sometimes, there can be too much of a disconnect between the producers of the consumer goods and the raw material suppliers at the start of the value chain 

(IV) When sourcing a biobased raw material, a chemical manufacturer needs to understand what effect this will have on the biobased content of their products and how much impact it will have on the biobased content of its customer's formulations. 

Q4. How does the circular economy approach contribute to the overall sustainability goals of the chemical industry, including waste reduction, resource conservation, and carbon emissions reduction?

Tracking chemicals along the value chain is essential to ensure recyclability is a reality and not just a theory. Recycling as part of the circular economy not only cuts down waste in the chemical industry but also ensures that less energy (meaning less carbon emissions) is required replacing what would otherwise be wasted.