Oekom report ensures that the responsibility of the chemical industry on products can be improved

A new report by the German Institute Oekom shows that the chemical companies value more the social risks to the environmental, but stresses that in the environmental sense "progress has been to reduce the risks of chemical substances".

Photo courtesy of Basf

Imperial chemical industries (United Kingdom) and German chemicals groups Degussa and Basf have an undeniable advantage to their competitors in the chemical industry with regard to act responsibly with the society and the environment. This is one of the conclusions of the last "oekom research" study on the industry. This agency rating analyzed thoroughly 23 companies from nine countries, according to nearly 200 criteria, to assess how to respond to social challenges and environmental risks.

On average, companies obtained better qualifications than social issues in the environmental. Analysts criticize above all efforts considered inadequate by catalog and assess the substances of concern, and to develop sustainable substitutes from an environmental point of view. On the other hand, "oekom research" recognizes that the industry as a whole has made significant progress in areas which, for many years, have been constant source of public concern, for example occupational safety or security in plants and in transport.

Today more than ever, the chemical industry is subjected to contradictory forces: on the one hand, the modern style of life demand new products constantly, but on the other, not even the experts know what answer when asked about the environmental effects in the long term of more than 100,000 chemical products which are manufactured today. Therefore the objective of this study was to analyse to what extent responding companies to their responsibilities, i.e., to what extent is firm willingness to assess and minimize the risks associated with their products and to find new solutions.

"As a rule, companies provide little or no information about the substances reviewed and evaluated," says Oliver Ruedel, "oekom research" analyst and author of the industrial report, summing up the situation in a nutshell. The lack of transparency is only an indication of a fact: the industry is still far to manage chemicals in a manner consistent with the health requirements and that is environmentally sustainable. The attitude essentially critique of the industry towards the programme of the European Union for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach) is further proof that the industry is poorly prepared to take responsibility for their products in a more committed manner.

23 Analyzed companies, the Oekom Institute can only recommend to seven

The study shows clearly what companies have taken the first steps in the direction to a greater responsibility for their products. For example, for some years the chemical group Basf (Germany) submitted to new substances which develops a special eco-efficiency analysis before introducing them in the market. Thus analyzes carefully and early environmental and health risks. Other companies, such as the producer of specialty chemicals Rohm & Haas or multinational chemical DuPont's (both USA) complement conventional methods with the notion of "Green Chemistry". In these cases, the objective is to minimize the impact of the substances that occur, for example, to improve their biological biodegradability or replacing the harmful components.

Only a small number of pioneering companies have undertaken the effort to find compatible with environmentally friendly substitutes

Only a small number of pioneering companies have taken the effort to find replacements compatible with the environment to approximately 90,000 chemicals that are currently produced from crude oil. Imperial chemical industries (United Kingdom) and DuPont (USA.)(UU.) they can cause good impression materials produced from renewable raw materials. Its efforts seem especially well designed, because in addition these companies are also developing programmes for the sustainable cultivation.

Ruedel summarizes the results of the analysis of the industry: "in an industry as complex and fraught with risks as the chemistry, would expect overall much greater transparency in the treatment of the information and data." This was an opportunity for companies improve its credibility and, at the same time, increase the degree of confidence in their products. Of the 23 companies that we have analyzed, we can only recommend seven to our customers that invest in them"."

The important differences in the social and environmental behaviour of companies is also reflected in the ratings. On a scale from A + to D-, the best placed company got a B + and the worst a D. The chemical industry received an overall rating of C. In comparison with the previous edition of this study on the industry, in which the average was C +, the characterization of the chemical industry has fallen slightly.

Oekom research offers its results in a comprehensive Industrial report, drawn up in English. The report entitled "corporate responsibility industry report chemicals" develops the results of 23 companies analysed in detail, and provides valuable and up-to-date information on the activities of the chemical industry.