Sustainable sourcing

Driving Sustainability Together

Partners and suppliers

We only do business with suppliers, customers and business partners who share and support our standards. Our relations are required to comply with our Business Partner Code of Conduct, which sets out expectations for suppliers regarding:

Compliance | Safety | Ethics | Human rights | Fraud prevention | Support for sustainability |

This requirement is included in all new contracts and in all purchase order terms and conditions.

By the end of 2021, 96% of suppliers were assessed for CSR risk using the EcoVadis Risk IQ tool (% of external spend), and 50% of suppliers were measured on their CSR performance by EcoVadis score (% of external spend) – a significant increase over the year prior.

Compliant suppliers were eligible for our first-ever Supplier of the Year Awards for sustainability, which was based on their EcoVadis raw materials score in addition to exceptional partnership in sustainability, reliability and special event support.

Learn more: Sustainable procurement statement

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

96%

of suppliers assessed for CSR risk using EcoVadis’ Risk IQ tool  (% of spend)

96%

assessed for CSR risk using the EcoVadis Risk IQ tool (% of external spend)

22%

of organic raw materials are from renewable sources

100%

of sites leveraging some renewable energy sources

6

of our sites, representing 11% of our global facilities, are now carbon neutral

Bio-based raw materials purchased

To help meet the growing demands of our customers for more sustainable products, we develop products using bio-based raw materials partly or fully derived from natural sources. Sustainably produced bio-based sources enable a
more circular economy and can also have a lower carbon footprint versus alternatives across their life cycle, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We also use waste materials as inputs for higher value products, including tallow, used cooking oil, cotton linters, and others. For example, we make rheology modifiers for the paint industry, based on cellulose made from cotton linters. We use bio-based steam where possible. In Örnsköldsvik, we use steam delivered by our neighboring pulp mill that incinerates bio-mass to generate steam.

Share of raw minerals from bio-based sources

Sourcing low-carbon energy

In 2020, 56% of our energy came from low-carbon and renewable sources, such as hydro, wind, solar, biomass for power, and steam from bio-waste. This was a slight increase from the year prior. We have set the goal to further increase the share of our purchased low-carbon and renewable energy to more than 60% by 2025.

At Nouryon, we source renewable energy using trusted approaches, such as assets owned by Nouryon, Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with third parties, or energy attribute certificates backed by recognized industry standards and documentation.

To strengthen our sustainable energy sourcing capabilities, in 2020 we established the Nouryon Energy Team (NET). The NET brings together cross-functional expertise in Energy, Procurement, Operations, and Sustainability to further optimize and develop a comprehensive Energy Management Plan of sustainable and low-carbon energy solutions across the company.

Case: Adding sources of low-carbon energy

To reach our targets, we constantly look for ways to increase our share of renewable energy. For example, we installed solar panels at our organic peroxide site in Mahad, India. The panels will generate approx. 30% of the site’s power needs in a sustainable way, regardless of the local power supply mix, saving around 250,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Roundtable on sustainable palm oil

Palm oil is a key bio-based feedstock in our operations. We use processed palm oil products, which means we do not have direct contact with palm mills or plantations. However, we endeavor to use palm oil that comes from sources that do not contribute to further deforestation or infringe on the rights of workers and local communities through ongoing interaction with our supply base. We welcome a world in which palm oil can be cultivated in a responsible way and will continue to focus on the use of responsible palm oil not linked to environmental or social issues in the supply chain.

We endorse the industry standard for palm oil sustainability, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO38), and four of our sites hold RSPO Mass Balance (MB) certification.

Download now - RSPO Statement

Read more on Sustainable Palm Oil

Learn more about the importance of responsible use of palm oil

Download now

Partners and suppliers

Sustainable palm oil documents

More on sustainable sourcing

Learn more - Nouryon's sustainability pillars

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

Growing our sustainable solutions

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.

Engaging people, partners, and society

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.

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