Responsibility - As the chemical industry evolves into the world's solution providers for modern global challenges, its obligation to adhere to sustainable principles and practices becomes more and more important. The phase "sustainable chemistry" is an elastic term and can mean different things for different companies. Brandi Schuster spoke to chemical companies based in Germany, the U.S. and Switzerland to find out what their definition is - and what it explicitly means for their businesses.

CHEManager Europe: What does "sustainable chemistry" mean for your company?

Joachim Krueger (Clariant): For Clariant, sustainable chemistry is the design of chemical products, applications and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of substances with hazardous potential and limited socio-economic benefit. Sustainable chemistry applies across the life cycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, use and final disposal. This may involve reduced waste products, non-toxic components and improved efficiency.

Sustainable chemistry is a highly-effective approach to pollution prevention while delivering on societal needs because it applies innovative scientific solutions to real-world environmental and demand situations. Sustainable chemistry is not limited to the use of renewable raw materials; likewise the production and processing of bio-based raw materials must not necessarily follow the principles of sustainable chemistry. The whole lifecycle of the product or application must be considered.

Dirk Voeste (BASF): At BASF, we look how chemistry can contribute to sustainable development. Sustainable development means the combination of long-term oriented economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. We have set ourselves ambitious goals in all three areas for years. For example, we want to increase the energy efficiency of our company - defined as the amount of sales products in relation to the primary energy demand - worldwide by 35% by 2020.
Of utmost importance for us is the reduction of work-related accidents by 80% by 2020 (baseline 2002). The contribution of chemistry to sustainable development also means for us that we look at the entire value chain for example in our corporate carbon footprint. Additionally, the use of our products avoids greenhouse gas emissions. In this way, we enable our customers to further reduce their carbon footprint. Examples are insulation materials, fuel additives, industrial catalysts and many other products.

Key to succeed is the open dialog with stakeholders and business partners - transparency is essential for our business. This is why we have published an integrated corporate report since 2003 and participate in various networks like econsence, CSR Europe or Global Compact.

Werner Breuers (Lanxess): At Lanxess, we believe that growth and entrepreneurial responsibility go hand in hand. Our approach to sustainable chemistry is simple: What's good for business is good for society.
As an international specialty chemicals group, we bear a major responsibility toward people and the environment. Our entrepreneurial activities reflect this sense of responsibility. Safety, environmental protection, social responsibility, quality and commercial efficiency are all key corporate goals at Lanxess.

We use our know-how and experience to develop sustainable products and technologies that are friendly to the climate and the environment in the long term, increase value-added and at the same time improve people's quality of life. Corporate responsibility is a central element of our core business. Our goal is to bring in line economic, ecological and social aspects within our corporate strategy.

Robert Dahinden (CABB): For us, it means following three guidelines: efficient, safe and environmentally benign production processes; protection of humans and environment; and the reduction and minimization of waste. The protection of human health and of the environment is of highest priority, together with the prevention of accidents.

This is important for all areas within CABB and not only where hazardous chemicals are applied.
The efficient and safe production processes as well as the reduction of waste can be realized in many areas by our Verbund and recycling system. This is a vertically integrated production system where key raw materials are produced on-site and used for further downstream chemistry and where side streams can be efficiently recycled or converted into sales products. This leads to a very efficient use of materials and, in addition, the transport of materials is done in a hermetically sealed way without exposure to humans or the environment.

Not only the manufacturing of our own products benefits from a sustainable production but also our custom and toll manufacturing business. The customer profits directly from efficient and safe production processes, especially for chlorination and sulfonation reactions, which can be carried out with the production of nearly no waste in a highly efficient way.
Moreover, many of our core technologies can be performed as continuous processes, which save energy and reduce waste, but is also safer and often leads to higher quality products.

The reduction of solvents is another important topic and in our continuous processes we operate with a minimum of solvents. In other reactions, we recycle large volumes of solvents, avoid chlorinated solvents and try to change from organic solvents to water where ever this is possible.

Peter Seufer-Wasserthal (Codexis): Sustainable chemistry isn't just about minimizing the use and production of hazardous materials; it is looking at the whole process, the use of materials, the generation of waste, etc. As the only organization to win three Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Codexis leads the way in developing enzymes with the ability to catalyze reactions under mild, neutral conditions, avoiding use of many organic solvents and with only little generation of by-products and waste.

Through biocatalysis, we develop more sustainable chemistries that offer new or improved drug development and accelerated manufacturing processes, resulting in higher purity products, better yield and more efficient and cost-effective solutions.

Thomas Jostmann (Evonik): Sustainable chemistry means making an essential contribution to sustainable development with our products and customer solutions - with responsibility, foresight and pragmatism. Evonik's specialty chemicals are "enablers," meaning that our products are necessary factor for sustainable development. To give a few examples, our amino acids make the production of meat and fish more efficient and environmentally friendly. At the same time, our high-performance polymers reduce fuel consumption by decreasing the weight of cars and planes, while also opening up new application areas, such as uses in medical technology.

Evonik's special additive technology significantly increases the efficiency of hydraulic oils, and our expertise in silica silanes makes an important contribution to today's fuel-efficient tires. There are many more examples, and they all show that sustainable chemistry is the key to a livable world for everyone.

Michael Blanc (Novasep): The key to sustainable chemistry is to adapt manufacturing processes to limit as much as possible their impact on the environment while keeping them safe and efficient. We consider it our responsibility is to promote sustainable processes as much as possible. Several aspects come in consideration in this domain but the main framework for good practices to implement is given by regulations, such as Reach or the local regulations where our production sites are located. We are strongly committed to comply with existing regulation, as illustrated by our excellent inspection track-records.

Andreas Maier (WeylChem): As a modern custom manufacturing organization and fine chemicals producer, the initiative towards sustainable chemistry is a prerequisite for the successful application of our business model. As all resources are limited, the intelligent use of these is very important for us and our customers. We, as engineers and chemists, have to develop new techniques and reactions that allow the use of resources in the most efficient way. Not only do our customers expect this, but it is also part of our professional approach.

The term sustainable chemistry is used in many ways to describe the efforts of the industry to develop and apply chemistry that uses fewer raw materials while producing better and more affordable products and services. It also includes the use of safer and less hazardous reagents. For us at WeylChem, it's important to transform this concept into practical measures and projects. The most recent example is the conversion of the Chloroalkaline plant in Thann, Potasse et Produits Chimiques SAS (PPC), to a membrane unit. PPC is the first producer of potassium that started such a project in Europe, and it will ensure the longevity of the production of potassium products.

We have also started to put emphasis on the reuse of materials and provide such services to our customers. For instance PPC offers Bromine recycling; for this purpose there is also a project in the make. But not only in Thann is recycling an integral part of our offer, other companies in our group have developed services around the concept of reuse of valuable materials. We have several new projects at Miteni´s Trissino plant that will allow our customers to reuse valuable perfluorinated materials.

Together with our customers we have developed recycling procedures and will provide services based on those processes via long term contracts. Beside the careful and intelligent use of raw materials, the efficient use of energy is the main focus of our efforts. For example we are about to install a Cogeneration power plant in one of our European companies.

At WeylChem Frankfurt energy savings are also the focus. The company was the first one in our team to achieve the ISO 50001 certification last year. This new ISO standard sets a framework for an efficient energy management and most important the improvement i.e. reduction of energy use in general. We will continue to increase our efforts in this field to provide sustainable products and services to our customers.

What drives your company's sustainable chemistry endeavors?

Joachim Krueger (Clariant): Sustainability is deeply anchored in Clariant's business strategy and goes far beyond legal compliance. Our sustainability strategy and policy are closely linked to our commitment to the Responsible Care Global Charter. Our management system that complies with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, and ISO 50001 supports the implementation of our sustainability strategy.

With our recently launched EcoTain approach, we have developed a holistic process that honors Clariant's innovative products that meet sustainability criteria over their whole life cycle. This concept includes four steps from Sustainable Design to Responsible Process, Safe & Efficient use and Eco Integration, assessing the social, economic and environmental impact of our products.

In addition, we have initiated our "Sustainability@Clariant Portfolio Value Program" with an external partner. This tailored program involves all relevant stakeholders - customers and employees alike. It addresses the issue of sustainability in a comprehensive and forward-looking way. The program will further improve Clariant's sustainability efforts and raise it to the next level in areas such as product development, innovation and investment decisions and will influence our overall sustainability strategy. With the development of key performance indicators, we will set the basis to measure our sustainability performance.

Dirk Voeste (BASF): The Earth's resources are limited, so the growing world population and its rising needs are and will continue to be a global challenge. At the same time, these challenges open up many opportunities for the chemical industry. We see three areas in which innovations based on chemistry play a key role: resources, environment and climate, food as well as nutrition and quality of life.

One example of how chemical innovations contribute to meeting the society's need is battery materials. As the population grows, so does the number of cars, especially in cities. Electric vehicles will play an important role in future mobility concepts. Today, we are researching new battery technologies that will be able to reduce costs considerably and increase the range of electric vehicles. We aim to take a leading provider of system solutions on the market for battery materials and thereby act as an enabler for innovation and sustainability.

Werner Breuers (Lanxess): We have established a globally integrated management system to breathe life into the concept of sustainable development in our everyday business. In addition to internal directives and operating procedures, strict quality ad environmental standards in line with ISO 9001 and ISO 1401 apply worldwide. Our central management system provides the necessary global structures to ensure responsible commercial practices. With this toolbox, we have created a transparent framework of values and rules that unites management and employees worldwide.

Our integrated management system is built on clearly defined responsibilities. We have established various committees to ensure compliance with and the ongoing development of our corporate responsibility strategy and the rules and standards defined in our management systems. In addition, all management systems are based on values and guidelines that provide a clear frame work for the company's management and employees.

We are committed to the established principles of the world's largest corporate social responsibility initiative, the United Nations Global Compact. Since we signed up in 2011, we have continued to raise our sustainability profile.

Robert Dahinden (CABB): CABB is eager to constantly improve its manufacturing processes, may it be for the safety of processes, to protect humans and the environment, to improve the quality of products or the efficiency of processes in order to save energy or to minimize waste and emissions. This also means to operate in a more environmental friendly way, to design safer processes and also to be more efficient.
Sustainability also means to maintain competitiveness as our customers are increasingly looking for a sustainable supply of their products. In operating in a sustainable way, we can offer solutions to our customers which convince and show the added value CABB can bring.

Sustainability drives innovation and vice versa: we have constructed a dedicated plant for Wolff-Kishner reactions, which has not at all been our core chemistry but which is a result of our broad experience with continuous processes. We are able to safely operate this reaction with this plant.

Peter Seufer-Wasserthal (Codexis): We are driven by our customers' needs to find new, economically viable and sustainable processes. That might mean developing enzymatic approaches to improve their existing processes for faster, greener manufacturing, including finding ways to increase productivity and quality, and reduce manufacturing costs and resources. Alternatively, it might mean helping customers screen and optimize candidate enzymes very rapidly for new drug development processes, using natural enzymes in place of non-renewable or harmful materials. Much of our own technology and product development has evolved through R&D that we've carried out for specific customer projects and can now be used for new projects, not just in the pharma and chemical industry, but also in other areas like food.

Thomas Jostmann (Evonik): We want to create value for our shareholders, our customers, our employees, and for society. Our products and solutions focus primarily on the megatrends of health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Our outlook and actions combine economic, ecological and social aspects as equivalent factors, which gradually brings us closer to our goals. Thus, we managed to reach our long-term environmental goals two years ahead of schedule. Our chemical business has reduced our specific energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, our specific drinking water consumption, and our specific product waste volume by 20% or more since 2004.

We can't stop there, however, if we want to be serious about responsibility and sustainability. Sustainability only works as a comprehensive approach that includes our contribution to the sustainability of our customers, but also a sustainable supply chain. In other words, we have to consider the entire value chain. We have already created life cycle assessments, or eco balances, for some of our products. They help us, our customers and end users to better understand the ecological benefits of our products.

When Evonik's carbon footprint was taken, it was shown that over 40% of our CO₂ emissions come from the "ecological backpack," that is, from precursor products that we purchase and process. Accordingly, procurement plays a special role in sustainability efforts and it is essential to improve transparency within the entire supply chain based on standardized criteria. We're therefore working to align our supply chain management even more with the concerns of safety and health, environmental protection, and anti-corruption, not to mention social aspects such as the labor conditions of our vendors.
Evonik is also actively addressing the question of raw materials that may form the basis of our products in the next twenty years, with consideration for social and economic aspects.

The renewable resources we currently purchase primarily include sugars, lipids and oils. The sugars in particular serve as the basis for biotechnology production. Biotechnology is one of the pioneering technologies we want to use for creating value - responsibly and sustainably.

Michael Blanc (Novasep): Sustainability arises from our consideration of processes as a whole, from the actual manufacturing steps all the way to the treatment of wastes and the optimization of energetic efficiency. In terms of manufacturing steps, process scale-up and optimization does a lot for sustainability. Indeed, it is essential to address environmental impact, safety or efficiency with care when a process is implemented at large scale. To be clear, the first driver for process optimization is the reduction of manufacturing costs but it mostly goes in the same direction as sustainability: maximizing efficiency, minimizing wastes and energy, shortening synthetic routes, etc.

In many aspects, hazardous chemistry can be sustainable and safe, provided the hazardous substance or reaction have been properly studied and appropriate measures are implemented. Since they are carried out with highly energetic intermediates, reaction times are usually shorter and reactions are often carried out at room or low temperature which maximizes energy efficiency (no heating required). Hazardous chemistry is often carried out with very small molecules such as BH3, N2H2 or O3 thereby promoting atom economy: in most cases, the major part of the reactant is incorporated in the desired molecule and sometimes shorter routes that standard chemistry would not allow become accessible.

Continuous chromatography is mainly used for the resolution of enantiomeric mixtures is another illustration of the use of innovative and sustainable technologies at Novasep. The optimal process is reached when the undesired enantiomer can be racemized and recycled in the separation process, leading to minimal waste and maximal atom economy.

Many other technologies are also being implemented at Novasep to optimize processes and promote sustainability. For instance, concentrations through membrane technologies save the energy required for distillation, a carefully chosen reaction medium and conditions can allow for several steps to be carried out without changing the solvent, once again minimizing wastes, raw material costs and energy consumption (evaporation is avoided). In a word, sustainability often results from a case by case study to find the most appropriate and optimized manufacturing route for a given molecule.

Andreas Maier (WeylChem): Sustainability is an integral part of WeylChem's offer to its customers; it's of increasing importance in our industry. Our management teams are committed to this approach as can be seen in the examples outlined above. WeylChem is a member of AIME (Agrochemical & Intermediates Manufacturers in Europe) and we are committed to the voluntary guidelines outlined by this industry association. We are convinced that this approach ensures the durability and dependability of the WeylChem companies in the market place.