As the transition to a net zero carbon economy accelerates, we continue to challenge ourselves to reduce impacts, mitigate risks, and harness growth opportunities related to climate change. 

Targets and milestones

Our goal is to continuously improve our performance, with the ambition to mitigating climate change, reach zero injuries, waste, and harm focusing  people safetyprocess safety and product safety. 

We have set targets for 2030: a 40% reduction in absolute GHG emissions (Scopes 1 and 2), a 10% decrease in total waste intensity, and a 10% decrease in freshwater consumption intensity, all versus a 2019 base year. We aspire to become a net-zero organization by 2050.

Eco-efficiency tracking in place at 100% of manufacturing sites.

34% of our energy comes from renewable sources such as hydro, wind, solar,
biomass for power, and steam from waste biomass

Carbon neutrality in Scopes 1 and 2 achieved at five manufacturing sites

22% of organic raw materials are from renewable sources

Our Carbon Business Strategy and Roadmap to Reduce GHG emissions

Our Carbon Business Strategy has a long-term horizon and aims to reduce GHG emissions while growing the Company. It is guided by the following strategic pillars:

  1. Carbon operational excellence in own operations
  2. Energy Transition to Renewable Energy
  3. Innovation
  4. Value Chain Collaboration focusing indirect GHG emission

We achieved a 14% reduction in our absolute Scopes 1 and 2 emissions versus 2019 driven by the successful implementation of projects from our carbon roadmap, lower production activity versus previous years and
changes in our production mix. A notable contributor was our shift towards renewable energy, with 42% of our total electricity consumption now being derived from renewable sources (compared to 36% in 2019), and 33% of total energy, including steam, coming from renewable sources (compared to 30% in 2019). 

25 locations at our 60 manufacturing sites are being sourced with 100% renewable and/or low carbon electricity

The pathway to achieving our 2030  GHG targets.

Achieving our net-zero aspiration depends on several factors, including site evaluations, increased use of renewable energy, the pace of innovation, developments in our value chain, and regulatory requirements. 

Scope 1 includes enhancing the efficiency of our operations and optimize our fuel mix. Achievements include the partnership with Adven, a company that specializes in industrial energy transitions, to source steam for our Kvarntorp site by installing a new, innovative steam boiler that relies primarily on locally
sourced residual products from the forestry industry, such as chipped branches and tops, to generate the heat required for our production processes. The new steam boiler replaces liquefied petroleum gas with biofuel, resulting in a 38% decrease in Scope 1 emissions in 2023 compared to 2022, and an anticipated 90% eventual reduction in Scope 1 emissions at this site. 

Scope 2 includes increasing our use of renewable energy through power purchase agreements (PPA), on-site renewables, and green energy programs. 2023 achievements include that 25 out of 60 manufacturing sites operated by Nouryon are now sourced with renewable and/or low carbon electricity,  comprising 54% of the total electricity we use globally. Our site in Guangzhou, China runs on 100% electricity from renewable energy and, all nine sites we operate in Brazil used electricity from renewable sources. All sites in Belgium, Sweden and Finland use 100% electricity from renewable and/or low carbon sources. In addition, Cologne and Greiz in Germany, and Deventer and Herkenbosch in the Netherlands, are also using 100% renewable or low carbon electricity.

We are currently analyzing indirect GHG emissions from activities across our value chains. Achievements includes evaluating potential lower-carbon raw materials with suppliers. 

In 2023, Nouryon joined Together for Sustainability (TfS), a global initiative of 51 chemical companies committed to raising sustainability standards throughout the chemical industry. As part of this initiative, members pledge to make sustainability improvements within their own – and their suppliers’ – operations. TfS is also advancing methodologies and standardization in calculating Scope 3 (upstream) GHG emissions, which constitute a significant
share of the chemical industry’s carbon footprint. As of last year, we are also certified to the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification standard ISCC PLUS to produce green monochloroacetic acid (MCA) at our site in Delfzijl, the Netherlands as the first and only producer of green MCA that is derived from sustainably sourced raw materials.

As we continue to develop new and innovative products using more sustainable raw materials, we will further explore how these initiatives can contribute to improvements in our Scope 3 carbon footprint.

As part of our Carbon Business Strategy, we are looking to collaborate with our suppliers as we tackle the challenge of climate change together. As we pursue opportunities to develop additional low carbon and sustainable solutions, we are requesting from suppliers lifecycle assessment (LCA) data.

In 2023, we launched an initiative to request product carbon footprint (PCF) data from suppliers of our top raw materials on products they provide, which we use as raw materials. These will improve the accuracy of our data and can help us identify potential opportunities to reduce emissions and meet the growing needs of our customers for low carbon solutions and it will be an ongoing process. 

In addition, across all scopes we are:

  • Exploring collaboration opportunities with our customers and suppliers as well as evaluating and deploying new innovation technologies such as those in the ICOS Capital Fund III, where we are a strategic investor.
  • Integrating net zero and climate change considerations into our strategy and planning.
  • Alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
  • Running several projects in the pipeline across all regions, including:
    • Signing the first on-site PPA in North America
    • Transitioning to renewable electricity in China
    • More solar panels and a wind turbine at our site in Mons.

Our plan to achieve our waste and freshwater targets

From 2019 to 2023, our freshwater consumption intensity increased by 1%. Our total waste intensity decreased by 1% between 2019 and 2023. For example, our Ningbo site implemented a sludge dryer project that is estimated to avoid approximately 1,500 tons of waste in 2024. We remain committed to achieving our 2030 water and waste targets and are developing a plan to ensure these targets are met.

More

Nine locations in Brazil are now using 100% electricity from renewable sources

This achievement supports the company’s sustainability agenda, ‘Commitment to a Sustainable Future’:

Download infograph

Our plans align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals:

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Enjoy our Sustainability Report 2023

We invite you to read more about all of the progress we are making in this report. And, as in previous years, we transparently report relevant data, including a clear overview of our annual sustainability data reporting.

Thank you for your interest in our contribution to a sustainable future and do not miss our Sustainability Report online report experience
 

Download      Flipbook 

 

You can also download our Sustainability Fact sheet (PDF, 1Mb)

Nouryon's 2023 Sustainability Report is available now.

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