Enabling Sustainability is a pillar of ESI’s strategy. It is both good business and good for the world in the context of global environmental protection and the United Nations’ SDGs. The market leading and innovative solutions we offer reduce our health & safety and environmental impacts while supporting our sustainability and profitability goals as well as those of our customers. We are also aware and commercially mindful of the increasing expectations relating to sustainability from our employees, our customers, our end-market users and the communities in which we work and live. We view our sustainable offerings as our responsibility as a good corporate citizen but also as opportunities to create new revenue streams.
In 2023, we continued our focus on sustainable chemistry by engaging with customers, staying up to date with regulatory requirements and changes, and continuing to drive innovation and discipline in our product development processes. Our dedication to sustainable chemistry resulted in net sales of approximately $720 million from sustainable products over the year.
We focus on sustainable chemistry in three key opportunity areas:
From Idea to Sustainable Solution: How We Innovate
Our R&D teams collaborate with our product marketing, regulatory and safety teams to lead the development of our sustainable chemistry and processes. When designing new products, we consider many features and functions, usually beginning with specifications from our customers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). We are also mindful of regulatory requirements in the markets we serve while always aiming for best-in-class quality and safety. In many cases, we go beyond meeting legislative requirements and industry standards using a “sustainability scorecard” methodology. In this R&D process, we consider the use of bio-based materials, the reduction of hazardous materials and the full lifecycle impact of our new solutions (including disposal and recycling).
Reducing Hazardous Chemicals Through Green Chemistry
We are committed to ensuring the safety of our workers and the safe use of our chemical solutions throughout our value chain – meaning our employees, our customers, our OEMs, the end markets we serve and the communities in which we operate. As such, we strive to reduce or, where feasible, eliminate a wide range of materials classified as SVHCs in our products. We aim to provide our customers with solutions that are safe, less hazardous and that remain high-performance options for their businesses.
Reducing Environmental Impact with Innovation
We design and develop sustainable, innovative solutions that enable our customers and end-users to reduce their water withdrawal and waste generation and optimize their energy usage. Many of our innovative products are sold to end markets that support cleantech industries, such as electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels. Through these chemical technologies, we partner with our customers to assist them on their own sustainability journeys.
Enabling the Circular Economy
When we design new products, we consider their entire lifecycle in our value chain. Supporting the circular economy is important for our business, driving us to create products and services that help our customers recover, reuse and safely utilize chemical products, water, metals and energy. Many of our solutions also prolong the life of our customers’ resources and equipment.