This week, I’m at ACC’s annual Responsible Care® & Sustainability Conference, where ACC member companies and their Partners along the supply chain come together to share insights and strategies for advancing safety and sustainability in chemical manufacturing.
When we talk about our sustainability priorities, the focus often centers on environmental and societal benefits – reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting air and water quality, manufacturing safer products and minimizing waste.
These are critical goals. But sustainability is not just about protecting human health and the environment. Sustainability is a smart business strategy – a key component of a company’s gameplan for business resilience and financial success.
Sustainable practices can create real, measurable value for chemical companies. By slashing energy consumption, curbing emissions, and streamlining operations to conserve water and reduce waste, companies can drive efficiency, reduce costs and strengthen their competitive edge.
Aligning environmental responsibility and business performance
Every day, companies are making strategic decisions that align environmental responsibility with business performance. For example, companies are:
- Investing in advanced recycling technologies that transform used plastics into new materials – keeping materials out of landfills and creating valuable new feedstocks.
- Developing and deploying innovative technologies, like carbon capture, lower-emissions hydrogen, electrification and alternative feedstocks, to help reduce GHG emissions.
- Conducting Water Body Risk Assessments to identify local water challenges, build community trust and guide site-specific water stewardship efforts.
- Evaluating product portfolios to prioritize safer, cleaner, innovative products that also align with customer demand.
Innovating and adopting new, advanced technologies can help ACC member companies meet growing expectations of the marketplace. A company’s environmental performance and actions can demonstrate resilience and responsible management. Companies can mitigate risk by minimizing liabilities related to environmental damage or legal penalties. Further, reducing waste and energy consumption can lower a company’s operational costs and enhance long-term profitability.
What the customer wants
Increasingly, customers are seeking products that deliver both performance and sustainability. Recent consumer research from leading firms McKinsey and Nielsen IQ shows a clear link between a company’s sustainability claims and consumer spending. Consumers aren’t just saying they want more sustainable products – they’re buying them.
Sustainability also plays a growing role in attracting a company’s workforce. Surveys show that Millennials and Gen-Zers want to work for companies that are making a positive impact on society. Embracing sustainable practices can help attract the next generation that will be the future of the chemical industry.
Making America a manufacturing superpower
Sustainable innovations in chemistry also help make the U.S. chemical manufacturing industry more competitive globally. Innovations in manufacturing processes mean that U.S. chemical manufacturing is cleaner, safer and more efficient than ever before. We’re positioned to drive the next wave of innovation, growth and global competitiveness right here in the U.S., which is essential to creating high-quality jobs and growing our economy.
Sustainability is strategy
We can’t say it too often – American success relies on American chemistry. As the world’s needs continue to grow, there will continue to be a growing need for the products and innovations of chemistry.
As former Philips CEO Frans van Houten put it, "Sustainability is not a choice between growth and responsibility. It is a precondition for both."
The chemical industry has a vital role to play in solving global challenges. By embedding sustainability into core business strategies, companies are not only helping to build a better world—they’re building stronger, more resilient businesses.
Because what’s good for the environment is good for the bottom line—and for the future of American industry.
