Sustainability in the chemical industry grows more and more important each day. As the world faces the challenge of climate change, many companies are making commitments to do their part to grow towards sustainable models of business and production. Osama M. Musa, Ph.D., is the editor of the recently published, six-volume Handbook of Pyrrolidone and Caprolactam Based Materials and is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Ashland Global Holdings. He explains below how Ashland is implementing important, concrete sustainability measures to meet this global challenge.

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1. Why is sustainability such a catch phrase in the 21st century? What does the concept of sustainability mean to you as the CTO for Ashland?

If you think of it, sustainability is not a new concept at all. The Germans started using this word in the early 18th century in the context of forestry. To them, this term meant “never harvest more than what the forest yields in new growth.” This concept was quite perceptive, especially given that time period, a century when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, D.G. Fahrenheit invented the alcohol thermometer, and Musschenbroek and Kleist invented the Leyden jar.

Sustainability has also been a preferred topic of economic research. For example, Thomas Malthus, an English economist, published his famous 1798 theory. His theory was that the human population will always outpace the capacity of the agricultural land to feed and sustain this ever-growing population. In 1987, the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, better known as the Brundtland Report, adopted a new concept: sustainable development. Where development is sustainable when it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

To me, sustainability must be a shared vision that can be achieved with equitable participation by all participants involved in commerce, working together to shape the future of nations and humanity. Companies that compete globally are increasingly required to commit to and report on overall sustainability performance criteria.

Ashland is driving a sustainability agenda with a sense of purpose and urgency and with a conscious and proactive mindset. We’ve committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and we’re a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact. Through sourcing, operations and solutions, we focus on the environment, social aspects of our manufacturing value chain and ethical governance (ESG). We are striving to conserve our natural resources at sustainable levels through innovation for future generations while highlighting an appreciation of the beauty and importance of our planet.   

2. Why do you think it is important for the chemical industry to embrace sustainability as a part of the business strategy?

The chemical industry enables modern lifestyles by transforming raw materials into commercial goods striving to process waste into harmless effluents and valuable byproducts. On the other hand, the industry accounts for approximately seven percent of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable performance is a necessity in operations, and it makes for good business.

Industrial systems are comprised of complex arrangements that can vary from system’s boundary, production phase, management level, and sustainability dimensions. Understanding the interplay of such concepts is essential for implementing sustainable development. It is heartening to note that in the more recent years, industrial production has been driven to comply with environmentally safe operations and technologies. Progressing from plain end-of-the-pipe solutions and on-site pollution prevention strategies towards reducing impacts along the entire product life cycle. Forward-looking actions such as less waste, less energy consumption, renewable and biodegradable materials benefit everyone.

3. What has been Ashland’s commitments towards sustainability?

Ashland is intensifying our environment, social and governance (ESG) agenda. We have joined the global movement of leading companies and we’re aligning operations with the ambitious aim of the Paris Climate Accord to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. We have also committed to making the UN Global Compact and its principles part our ESG and business strategy, culture and day-to-day operations, and we will engage in collaborative projects which advance the broader development goals of the United Nations, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals.

More than 1,000 businesses are working with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to reduce their emissions in line with climate science. Ashland has committed to set science-based emissions reduction targets across all relevant scopes, in line with 1.5°C emissions scenarios to ensure the strongest ambition in the short-to -medium term. The campaign is led by the SBTi and backed by a global coalition of UN leaders, business organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

4. What are the most important sustainability measures adopted by Ashland in the recent past?

As mentioned, Ashland has committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), we’re a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and we have integrated sustainability into our core business strategy. This includes measuring and monitoring the environmental, social and ethical performances of our suppliers; maintaining a Responsible Care® management system to ensure that all operations achieve and maintain a high level of environmental, health, safety and security performance; and rethinking chemistry to help our customers formulate more sustainably, with future generations in mind. For sustainability to be an effective part of innovation strategy it must be integrated into the process, part of the business plan and not a separate or add on process.

We have instituted critical checkpoints within our innovation process to drive sustainable solutions. To provide comprehensive and concise reporting, we prepare separate indexes for sustainability disclosures under the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) frameworks.

For several years, Ashland has been recognized by the American Chemistry Council, the Society of Chemical Manufacturing Association, the European Sustainable Cosmetics Summit and more, for safe and sustainable initiatives. In 2020 the American Chemistry Council recognized Ashland with a sustainability leadership award for environmental protection and circularity.

To learn more about Ashland and our sustainability initiatives, visit:

https://www.ashland.com/sustainability/sustainability-overview

Photo: courtesy Ashland

From clean beauty to ethical consumerism, living sustainably is imperative to our planet and for the health and wellbeing of future generations. Consumers are increasingly choosing products that originate in nature from renewable resources. They seek planet-friendly and biodegradable labels and want assurance that ingredients are ethically sourced from farm to finished product.

Ashland solvers are passionate about innovation, rethinking chemistry to help customers formulate more sustainably, with future generations in mind. Many of Ashland’s personal care ingredients are characterized by four criteria: naturality (ISO 16128), key raw material source, COSMOS* standard validation, biodegradability (OECD) and likelihood of environmental persistence.

Photo: courtesy Ashland

Plants have been used for centuries for their healing and soothing properties. The knowledge and discovery of these beneficial properties are the basis of some traditional medicines still practiced today.

Ashland biofunctional and cosmetic science platforms have identified a wide range of molecules in plants that can be added to skin and hair formulations. New technologies allow our scientists to better identify the molecular composition and understand plant biology. These discoveries, many of which relate to modern improvements to extraction technologies, enable our scientists to concentrate the best components from plants into innovative solutions. The natural ingredients in this photo (and many more not depicted here) are used by Ashland in personal care formulations.