There’s an adage that you shouldn’t just talk about it, you should be about it too. When it comes to sustainability, Clariant International is doing both.

The chemical company, a supplier to the personal and household care marketplace, recently brought together executive staff, suppliers, customers, third party players and members of the media to its innovation center in Höchst, a district of Frankfurt, Germany, for a day-long discussion devoted to sustainability. 

With an annual turnover of approximately 6.1 billion Swiss francs ($6.2 billion) in 2014 and employing some 17,000 people, the company has become a key player in the chemical industry, a sector that Clariant CEO Hariolf Kottmann sees as a major force behind creating a more sustainable future for the entire planet.

“We not only provide our customers with products and services they request today. We are also tackling future challenges, which derive from global megatrends: scarcity of resources, alternative energies, mobility and nutrition…These challenges demand sustainable solutions. And these solutions could be delivered by the chemical industry. Only the chemical industry will be able to find new ways into a sustainable future,” Kottmann told attendees during his opening keynote address at last month’s event.
In fact, according to Kottmann, sustainability will play a pivotal role in how successful Clariant is moving forward.

“It is a key factor for our success as well as for the success of our customers—and in many cases for their customers too. In other words, sustainability is not only our license to operate in the future, it is even more an important element in creating added value for all stakeholders.”

To Whom Do You Answer?
The world’s entire population are stakeholders, according to professor Klaus Töpfer, executive director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies and former director of the United Nations Environment Program, who put the importance of sustainability within the chemical sector into greater social context.

During the morning session at the Clariant Sustainability Dialogue, he spoke about the pressures of a population that will reach 9 billion people by 2050, closing vast economic gaps, and other issues affecting life in an increasingly interconnected world, where buying power and wealth in the emerging countries is growing, demand is increasing for resources and environmental issues are becoming more evident.

“Can we handle peacefully a world with a population of 9 billion people? We need economic development in the world,” Professor Töpfer relayed to the audience.

And that’s where efforts by companies such as Clariant, which is part of the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index, will factor in. The firm’s objective is to provide innovative, sustainable solutions for its customers who manufacture the basic necessities that play an integral part of everyday life in both established and growing economies—think cleansers for hair or dishes or wood stains to protect buildings and houses, to name just a couple.

Clariant first pinpointed sustainability as a means for future growth in 2012 when it repositioned its brand around the values of performance, people and planet, and sustainability is now part of the company’s five-pillar strategy that includes: increase profitability; reposition portfolio; add value with sustainability; foster innovation and R&D; and intensify growth.

“With the new brand, we have sent a clear signal that striving for sustainability is a matter of a new culture. We have mobilized our staff with various activities and encouraged them to contribute their own ideas more intensively than before, to network, and to collaborate, reinforcing the triple-bottom line approach we take,” said Kottmann.

That shift, according to Clariant, is demonstrated in operations and risk management, product portfolio and innovation. For example, the company has implemented a program for continuous improvement that enables a more efficient use of resources in order to reduce energy consumption as well as water usage and waste, while at the same time creating significant cost savings.

“We can say that sustainability has now been established and has become part of our value story…but we won’t stop here. At the moment we are further integrating sustainability into the strategy of each of our businesses and we are committed to a clear sustainability roadmap for the future,” noted Kottmann.

But as consequence, some products may not be part of the firm’s portfolio moving forward. In fact, Clariant used the Sept. 2 event to announce that it will phase out heavy metal-based pigments in masterbatches as well as catalysts containing chromium VI.

Instead, the company is zeroing in on the products that do meet its sustainability goals as outlined by its Portfolio Value Program, which was developed with the assistance of the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production. With a focus on holistic and lifecycle thinking, it supports continuous improvement of the company’s full portfolio, and helps identify what products can meet its own internal EcoTain standard.

To date, Clariant has screened 84% of the turnover of its portfolio against the criteria in order to steer future portfolio improvements. From this, 76% of its product portfolio already fulfills the firm’s sustainability definition, according to the company.

Even so, achieving EcoTain status is a higher hurdle. Only 60 products in total have achieved the EcoTain certification since it was formally rolled out in 2012. The products must, according to Clariant, significantly exceed market standards in general, have best-in-class performance in one or several criteria, and make overall sustainability contributions. 

Specifically, to earn an EcoTain label, products undergo a systematic, in-depth screening process that covers 36 criteria in three sustainability dimensions—social, environmental and economic, according to Clariant. 

New EcoTain Surfactants
Clariant’s ICS business unit, which encompasses its personal care and home care products, used the forum to announce that its GlucoTain range of sugar-based surfactants had recently earned the EcoTain label.

The range, first presented at In-Cosmetics 2015, allows formulating of more ecological products: they are based on 95% natural, renewable resources of vegetable origin. The EO-free and sulfate-free ingredients are readily biodegradable with 94-95% RCI (Renewable Carbon Index) and a good eco-tox profile, enabling EU Ecolabel and Nordic Swan certification.

There are four GlucoTain products:

• GlucoTain Clear, an EO- and polyethylene glycol-free (PEG-free) option for a fresh and light solubilizer for fragrances for all kinds of products. It offers formulations a boost through light and fluffy foam, easy rinse-off and a squeaky-clean skin feel.
• GlucoTain Clean, a deep cleanser with an emphasis on mildness. It works best in facial cleansers and makeup removers and anti-oil and anti-dandruff scalp care shampoo.
• GlucoTain Care, billed as the most gentle surfactant in Clariant’s surfactant range. It is excellent for use on dry, damaged and sensitive hair and skin. Due to its sensory profile it is recommended for conditioning, repair and baby shampoos and pampering facial cleansers.
• GlucoTain Flex, a versatile solution that supports the development of sulfate-free and CAPB-free formulations. Especially suitable for fine, damaged hair, it is recommended for anti-aging shampoos, according to Clariant.

There are now 22 ICS products for personal and home care with the EcoTain label. But expect more to folllow as Clariant says there are 40 nominations in the pipeline, including ingredients for personal care.

Give and Take
Clariant’s Sustainability Dialog lived up to its name by offering attendees opportunities to engage during informal gatherings such as  lunch and coffee breaks as well as in six parallel special sessions that covered topics such as regional perspectives regarding sustainability, value chain collaboration, supply chain management and portfolio screening.

Sessions involved presentations from Clariant and customers and suppliers added to the discussion. For example, in the value chain session, attendees heard from Martina Beitke, Clariant’s sustainability manager, BU, industrial and consumer specialties, as well as from Nisrine Zaaraoui a representative with L’Oréal, as they discussed palm oil, a major topic in sustainability.

In fact, Clariant is looking to move the needle when it comes to sustainable sourcing of palm oil. The company, which has been a member of RSPO since 2011, achieved RSPO Mass Balance supply chain certification for its plant in Gendorf, Germany and is currently working to achieve the status for additional key sites. By 2020, the company intends to achieve RSPO segregated supply chain certification.

Plus, Clariant wants to go further, as noted by Christian Vang, head of business unit, industrial and consumer specialties.
“Clariant recognizes that RSPO supply chain certification roll out is not enough and commits to address traceability of palm-based ingredients in parallel,” he said.

To that end, the company announced that it is setting up a zero-deforestation policy with focus on traceability across the value chain.

Continuing the Conversation
Followed the breakout parallel sessions, Christian Kohlpaintner, member of the executive committee at Clariant, provided his own reflections to close out the day.

He said, “Our aim is to continue the dialog initiated today and foster collaboration among our stakeholders and across the value chain to ensure we continue to add value with sustainability.”