The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) has established an official partnership with the Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative, aimed at supporting improvement of sustainability along the entire chemical supply chain.

Rüdiger Eberhard, president of TfS and chief procurement officer of German chemical producer Evonik, said the initiative is joining forces with Cefic to establish benchmarks for sustainable supply chains and implement the Responsible Care program in the global chemical industry.

“We have already begun to engage with other partners to achieve mutual recognition with comparable protocols, further reducing the number of audits for suppliers,” Eberhard added.

Cefic general manager Hubert Mandery said the council “welcomes this partnership to help make chemicals supply chains more sustainable.”

Founded in 2011 to develop and implement a global program to assess, audit and improve sustainability practices within the supply chains of the chemical industry, TfS currently has 13 member companies worldwide, most of them internationally active chemical producers.

Germany’s Brenntag recently became the first chemical distributor to join the initiative.