Chemical Industry Players Jointly Pursue Supply Chain Sustainability Program
by Dinah Wisenberg Brin
Several major chemical companies have come together in an effort to improve their supply chains’ environmental and social effects.
The companies — BASF, Bayer, Evonik Industries, Henkel, LANXESS and Solvay – recently completed a one-year pilot of their Together for Sustainability initiative, which involves shared, independent global-supply-chain sustainability assessments and audits.
Together for Sustainability seeks to develop and put in place a “global supplier engagement program” to evaluate and improve sustainability sourcing practices, LANXESS said in an Oct. 8 announcement. Participating suppliers will submit one sustainability form, to be provided to all purchasers, rather than providing separate questionnaires to the companies, the press release said.
“What counts for us at LANXESS is the responsibility throughout the entire value chain. Therefore, we choose suppliers, carriers and service providers not only according to economic terms but also with regard to the fact how they meet their environmental and social responsibility. In order to keep efficiency matters in mind, we created this initiative with the motto, ‘An audit for one is an audit for all,’” Holger Hüppeler, head of the company’s global procurement and logistics group function, said.
The initiative builds on established principles and standards from the United Nations Global Compact, the Responsible Care Global Charter, the International Labor Organization, the International Organization for Standardization, Social Accountability International and others, LANXESS said.
The program has selected EcoVadis, a Paris-based rating company in sustainable supply management, as its partner in developing supplier sustainability scorecards. It’s working separately with independent audit firms to measure supplier sustainability performance against a pre-defined set of audit criteria tailored to the requirements of the chemical industry, in areas such as management, environment, health and safety, labor and human rights, and governance. Audits include on-site examination of production facilities, warehouses and office buildings.
During the project’s pilot phase, the participating chemical companies initiated about 2,000 assessments and audits, according to LANXESS. In the next phase, the program will expand to further procurement markets and will seek new members.
LANXESS, a German specialty chemicals company with 52 production sites worldwide, says on its website that it integrates corporate responsibility toward the environment and society into its strategy.
