Sustainable sourcing

Driving Sustainability Together

Partners and suppliers

We actively encourage our suppliers to join us in our journey towards a sustainable future, ensuring they evolve in sustainability alongside Nouryon and our customers. Every business partner, including suppliers and customers, must comply with our Business Partner Code of Conduct, which outlines our expectations regarding compliance, safety, ethics, human rights, fraud prevention, and sustainability support.

Our membership in Together for Sustainability (TfS) has strengthened our supplier audit capabilities and provides access to industry best practices. This membership benefits our customers and business partners by enhancing sustainability throughout our supply chain. Founded in 2011, TfS unites more than 50 member companies dedicated to raising sustainability standards in the chemical industry.
TfS-Logo.svg

Examples of renewable sources we use include plants, trees, animals, algae, marine organisms, and microorganisms. We also use waste materials as inputs for higher value products, including used cooking oil, cotton linters, and others

93% of suppliers

assessed for CSR riskusing EcoVadis’ Risk IQ tool (% of spend)

74% of suppliers

measured on their CSR performance by EcoVadis score

23% of organic raw materials

from renewable sources

Supporter of UN Global Compact

Together for Sustainability (TfS) supports the principles of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact and Responsible Care®, and partners with several industry councils.

Membership provides access to TfS Assessments and Audits, allowing companies to evaluate and improve sustainability performance. These tools assess supplier performance in environmental, labor, human rights, ethical, and sustainable procurement areas, driving change beyond the chemical industry. The TfS Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions program aids members in reducing emissions, offering tools to calculate and share high-quality product carbon footprints of chemical materials.

UN Global Compact logo

Driving Sustainability with Our Suppliers

Risk assessment

We utilize EcoVadis and EcoVadis Risk IQ to evaluate and monitor the sustainability performance and risk of our suppliers across multiple categories, including environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and
sustainable procurement. EcoVadis scores are based on supplier policies, actions, and results. If a supplier fails to meet specific performance criteria, we implement a corrective action process to drive improvement or explore alternative sourcing if necessary. In 2024, our global procurement team added 368 suppliers to our EcoVadis network and engaged 67 suppliers to implement a corrective action plan, fostering positive conversations and engagement to advance their sustainability journeys.

As stated in our Sustainable Procurement Policy, Nouryon may audit business partners to verify compliance with it as a condition to working with Nouryon. Business partners that are not compliant may be required to engage in corrective action to continue working with Nouryon. This approach allows us to engage suppliers on sustainability matters and encourage improvement.

We assessed 93% of our suppliers for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) risk using the EcoVadis Risk IQ tool (% of external spend). This is up 3% from the previous year. Additionally, 74% of suppliers, versus 66% in 2023, were
evaluated on their CSR performance by an EcoVadis score (% of external spend). This practice enables us to promote sustainability within our supply chain and serve our customers with credibility and confidence.

 

Two men discussing ethical business behavior and sourcing
We employ EcoVadis and EcoVadis Risk IQ to evaluate and monitor the sustainability performance and risk of our suppliers.

Bio-based raw materials

In 2024, we continued to educate Nouryon category managers about sustainable sourcing and supplier requirements, including our sustainability approach and goals, with plans for new training opportunities. The goals and metrics supporting our EcoVadis sustainability assessment and rating are integrated into the individual performance objectives of our Procurement team.

Through this supplier assessment, we can also reward compliance with our sustainability standards, considering their EcoVadis raw materials score along with exceptional partnership in sustainability, reliability, and strategic
collaboration.

We continue to explore market availability of lower-carbon alternative raw materials prioritizing materials that contribute the highest emissions in our production processes. By prioritizing our top emission contributing raw materials, we are able to make the largest positive impact as we look at reducing the product carbon footprint of our customers and lowering our upstream Scope 3 GHG emissions. We will continue this practice as we progress our Carbon Business Strategy and explore how these initiatives can contribute to improvements in our Scope 3 carbon footprint.

Share of raw minerals from bio-based sources

Supporting Responsible Palm Oil

Palm oil is a key bio-based feedstock in our operations. We support the industry benchmark for sustainable palm oil, represented by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and have secured RSPO Mass Balance (MB) certification at five of our facilities. While we use processed palm oil products and do not directly interact with palm mills or plantations, we actively check and engage with our suppliers on the topic of the No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation commitment. We believe in the responsible cultivation of palm oil and are committed to sourcing options that do not pose environmental or social issues within the supply chain.

In line with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) [regulation (EU) 2023/1115], Nouryon is preparing the necessary due diligence for any imported product listed in Annex I of the regulation to ensure compliance with all regional and global legislations. EUDR is expected to take effect December 2025, after a previous one year postponement.

Learn more about the importance of responsible use of palm oil in our Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil Statement

Download now

Nouryon's responsible usage of palm oil

Our Conflict Minerals Policy

In 2024, we repeated our risk assessment regarding conflict minerals for all our suppliers and identified those that could pose risks. Conflict minerals are tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold (commonly referred to as 3TG), which are used in Central Africa to finance armed conflict, often fought with child soldiers.

We currently only leverage tin and have a very limited number of suppliers, allowing for increased due diligence and limited risk exposure. For any sourced materials containing 3TG, we ask our suppliers to complete the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template as part of our due diligence to ensure that conflict zones and groups are avoided, so that in turn, we can be sure that Nouryon is not inadvertently contributing to such conflict and practices.

Read our Conflict Minerals Policy

Minerals conflicting

 

Reforestation collaboration with Tree-Nation

Through our collaboration with Tree-Nation, a non-profit entity enabling individuals and corporations to plant trees globally and neutralize CO2 emissions, we have successfully planted 7,462 trees.

This initiative led to the reforestation of six hectares and the capture of a total of 2,298 tonnes of CO2 .

Individuals planting trees

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Nouryon does not produce Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Our products do not rely on GMOs for their functionality, nor do we use GMOs in our manufacturing processes to introduce variability. Certain raw materials we utilize, such as soybean oil and cotton linter cellulose, may originate from GMO crops before we incorporate them into our production.

Learn more

Did you know?

You can learn more about Nouryon's position on a number of key topics

We are a global specialty chemicals leader and have earned a place among the best performing companies in our industry in terms of safety, sustainability, and reliability. We are an industry leader, trusted partner, respected employer, and responsible member of the communities in which we operate.

Partners and suppliers

Sustainable palm oil documents

More on sustainable sourcing

Learn more - Nouryon's sustainability pillars

Windmills improving the environmental footprint

Improving our safety performance and environmental footprint

We continuously work to improve our safety performance and environmental footprint for the benefit of our employees, contractors, customers, neighbors, and the environment
Green field with tractor

Grow and innovate

We provide solutions that are essential in applications ranging from pharmaceuticals and farming to electric cars and building insulation. Our goal is to deliver not just the desired functionality but improved sustainability performance as well.

Employees at Nouryon in labcoats

Engaging and partnering with employees, customers, and suppliers

At Nouryon, we aim to achieve sustainable business growth and have a positive impact on people’s everyday lives through our essential solutions as well as our actions.

We respect your privacy.

We use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our services. Click 'Agree' to accept or learn more about our Cookie Policy and edit your preferences. 

You can change settings at any time.

Edit