Chemicals
The chemical industry has a pivotal role to play in addressing the environmental challenges facing society by driving innovation in key technologies, materials and processes. As a foundational sector, it provides essential inputs to a broad range of industries — from manufacturing and agriculture to industrial / consumer goods and packaging.
By prioritizing its own transformation, the chemical sector can enable sustainability to take root throughout global value chains
We understand key industry challenges
Chemicals are essential to our daily lives, present in nearly every product, process and industry. Yet the sector faces significant sustainability challenges due to its dependence on fossil fuels, resource-intensive production and waste generation. The chemical industry is already embracing sustainable practices by assessing its environmental impacts and prioritizing human, animal and planetary health and safety. With growing pressure to operate within planetary boundaries, the opportunity for the sector to drive transformational change is endless. The levers for sustainable innovation are vast, and now is the time for the chemical industry to accelerate change.
De-fossilization
The chemical sector faces the massive challenge of reducing its reliance on fossil fuels, both as a feedstock and source of energy. Transitioning from fossil resources to renewable alternatives like biofuels, biopolymers and recycled and sustainably sourced materials will enable the industry to significantly cut its emissions.
Mitigating Business risk from Nature losses
As climate change, water scarcity and biodiversity loss intensify, businesses that depend on natural resources and energy face significant risks. Chemical companies must assess both their vulnerabilities and impacts to develop effective mitigation and adaptation strategies, to secure business to thrive in line with the holistic view provided by planetary boundaries’ framework, ensuring long-term business resilience.
Holistic health + safety
The safe management of chemicals, which pose risks through both acute and chronic exposures, is crucial for safeguarding human, animal and environmental health. Limiting and controlling the release of chemicals, promoting research and use of safer and more sustainable chemicals, promoting research into safer and more sustainable alternatives, enforcing stringent standards and raising awareness are all essential to achieving this goal.
Circularity and waste
As the chemicals sector evolves toward greater circularity, there’s an increasing need to collaborate with downstream players who manage the end-of-life of materials. By transforming waste into new feedstock through chemical and mechanical recycling, and fostering reusability through smaller, closed loops, chemical companies can embed sustainability across the industry, playing a crucial role in driving circularity for consumer and industrial goods.
Supply Chain
The chemical industry operates with complex and extensive supply chains, which present challenges for procurement teams and collaboration efforts. Inconsistent sustainability maturity, limited data, lifecycle performance management and transparency challenges hinder the industry’s ability to achieve seamless sustainable practices across the value chain.
Stakeholders engagement
The chemical industry, which is integral to numerous other sectors’ value chains, has launched global precompetitive initiatives to address shared challenges. By engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, from governments and NGOs to downstream industries, the chemical sector can more effectively drive progress toward global sustainability goals and reinforce its role as a key enabler of the sustainability transformation and systemic change.
3 key priorities for the sustainable transformation of the chemical sector
Chemicals are an integral part of nearly every industry, from consumer goods and cosmetics to pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. With such broad influence, the chemical sector holds immense potential to help bring society into alignment with planetary boundaries.
As environmental challenges such as climate change, nature loss and resource depletion intensify, the chemical industry must undergo a transformative shift.
Here are three priorities to accelerate the sustainability transformation of the chemical sector.
How we can help
For more than a decade, leading chemical companies have chosen Quantis to guide them on their journey toward sustainable business transformation and operating within planetary boundaries.
Our experts support businesses to create and capture value in new and innovative ways, accelerating the transformation of the industries you serve.
Together, we set ambitious goals, deploy meaningful strategies and continuously measure and monitor progress.
Quantis Chemicals experts can help you to:
- Derisking the Business from Nature losses
- Develop integrated, science-driven strategies and roadmaps to expand ambitions beyond climate
- Accelerate and institutionalize sustainable innovation
- Support end-to-end and value chain engagement to go together toward full transformation
- Promote circular thinking
- ESG strategy and reporting
