SINGAPORE — September 9, 2016 — The DyStar Group has released its 2015 Sustainability Performance Report. This is the sixth year of reporting for the company that aspires to become the world’s most sustainable and responsible supplier of colors, chemicals and services to the global textile industry. The latest report is their first to be aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G4 reporting guidelines. Building on more than half a decade of focused commitment by teams across 23 countries, the report reviews the company’s environmental, social and economic performance over the 2015 fiscal year.

2015 marks the halfway point toward DyStar’s environmental target, which aims to reduce resource consumption and waste production intensities by 20 percent by 2020. Results across all key performance indicators were positive, with energy intensity, in particular, showing a 16 percent reduction compared to 2011, despite production volumes going up by 14 percent over that same period. These achievements have triggered new impetus across DyStar. Inspired by the triple bottom line principles, they identify, in this latest report, four key aspects that constitute the company’s commitment to sustainability.

• Creating Responsible Products and Services;
• Conserving Planetary Resources;
• Caring for People; and
• Communicating with Stakeholders.

DyStar’s approach to product stewardship is to get it right from the start. They recognize that the choices made as early as design and sourcing have an impact on people and the planet long after the product is sold. The 2015 report provides new insight into the company’s precautionary stance. Most notably, it touches on their approach to research and development, giving readers an understanding of how their focused application of green chemistry principles affects stakeholders across the textile value chain.

Readers will also be interested to learn how much effort has been invested by DyStar into the development of its services division. The latest report explores how their teams work to deliver a range of specialized tools and services that enable customers to act more responsibly at every stage of the textile production process. eliot® is the newest addition to DyStar’s extensive collection of internet-based tools helping customers make informed product selection and process optimization choices. The system is free to use, making it accessible to all stakeholders that can benefit from its four unique modules.

DyStar strives to be the environmental and innovation global leader in its chosen industries. With the building of their new Global Innovation Center underway, they are undoubtedly poised to play an increasing role in advancing sustainability for what is one of the most polluting industries in the world.

Posted September 9, 2016

Source: The DyStar Group

MUTTENZ, Switzerland — September 8, 2016 — Clariant today was listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2016, recognizing it as one of the most sustainable chemical companies for the fourth consecutive year. The world renowned sustainability index has ranked Clariant among the top three percent of companies in its sector in both the DJSI Europe and the DJSI World.

The analysts at RobecoSAM confirmed Clariant as best in class in the following categories: Innovation Management, Materiality, Environmental Reporting and Operational Eco-efficiency, where Clariant achieved 100 points and is the top ranked company in its industry.

Hariolf Kottmann, CEO Clariant comments: “Clariant’s continued presence in the DJSI is a great achievement that recognizes our ongoing efforts regarding the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. Sustainability is an integral part of our corporate strategy and strongly embedded in our processes and product development. It is fundamental to our business success and to creating added value for our immediate customers and across the value chains of the extensive industries we support.”

Clariant commits itself to ethical and sustainable operation and development in all business activities according to the Responsible Care® Global Charter as well as its own Sustainability Policy. The company is driving sustainability in its product portfolio through the Portfolio Value Program and reviews the properties and potential impacts of its products, already at product development phases. The existing product portfolio is continuously reviewed and refined according to sustainability criteria. The company has set ambitious environmental targets for 2025 to continuously improve its operations and reduce environmental impacts. Clariant focus on the continuous development of its employees. Its occupational safety culture and preventive progams have led to an all-time low number of occupational accidents in 2015. The company also supports numerous activities around the globe, fostering mutual rewarding relationships with the communities the company is active in. By joining Together for Sustainability Clariant has efficiently improved its practices and processes for assessing and driving the sustainabiltiy performance of its suppliers.

“Clariant’s position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index reflects the integrated approach we are taking across the entire company to anchor sustainability. It is an excellent recognition on the way we operate and the efforts we employ. This is credit to the diligent and ambitious work we have carried out in ensuring that people, planet and performance are considered across our business and integrated in our processes. Being included in DJSI shows that we are meeting expectations on sustainable value creation and that we are equipped for catering and delivering on the societal challenges of today and tomorrow”, comments Joachim F. Krüger, Senior Vice President, Corporate Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs.

The DJSI is regarded as one of the world’s most foremost sustainability indices. It benchmarks the sustainability performance of leading companies based on environmental, social and economic performance, including forward-looking indicators based on a best-in-class approach. The DJSI assesses various criteria, including risk and supply chain management, operational eco-efficiency, product stewardship, human capital development and occupational health and safety.

Posted September 8, 2016

Source: Clariant

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — September 7, 2016 — Industrial surfactants scattered among a number of applications, such as food, paints and coatings, crop protection, and oil and gas, take up an important one-third of the global surfactants market, but have been lacking comprehensive coverage up until now. Spanning multiple regions, Kline’s imminent Industrial Surfactants: Multi-regional Market Analysis and Opportunities report finds that these industrial applications driven by complex drivers respective to each application offer myriad of growth opportunities.

From the two just-published reports on Europe and the United States, alkyl aryl sulphonates and fatty alcohol ethoxylates are the most commonly used surfactants. However, alkyl aryl sulphonates are mainly consumed in lubricants whereas fatty alcohol ethoxylates consumption is fairly even across various applications. Fatty alcohol ethoxylates are considered ecofriendly compared to surfactants like alkyl phenol ethoxylates/nonyl phenol ethoxylates (APE/NPE) and are currently reasonably priced due to which they are used in large quantities in all industrial applications.
The usage of APE/NPE has been banned in Europe due to ecotoxicological concerns. Furthermore, in some European countries, like Germany, usage of polyethoxylated tallow amine is restricted due to its toxicity. Similarly, in the United States, fatty alcohol ethoxylates are increasingly replacing APE/NPE in the crop protection, construction, and textile industries.

Environmental concerns, such as an increased focus on fuel economy and emissions reductions, are driving growth of dispersants in lubricants. In paints and coatings applications, the market continues to shift towards water-based paints and coatings that require a higher amount of dispersing agent and thus consume more surfactants.

“Another trend seen in Europe and the United States is the shift towards higher quality products,” comments Kunal Mahajan, the project’s manager. “For example, textile manufacturers are increasingly focusing on producing high performance textiles, such as nonwovens. This provides an opportunity to surfactants suppliers to focus on offering differentiated technical solutions to such manufacturers.”

In 2015, the European market (EU-28, Norway, and Switzerland) consumes nearly a billion tonnes of surfactants. While mono-and diglycerides remain the leading surfactants in volume terms, fatty alcohol ethoxylates are leading in terms of value. In the United States, which consumes approximately 1,200 million tonnes, alkyl aryl sulphonates remain the leading surfactants in terms of value.

Large global multinational companies, such as BASF, Clariant, Huntsman, Stepan, and AkzoNobel, are the top five leading suppliers in Europe, together accounting for close to half of the total market value. In addition, many regional companies, such as Leuna Tenside, Bozzetto, and Erca, among others, have a strong presence in one or a few European countries. Huntsman, BASF, and Stepan are the three leading suppliers in the United States.

In the following five years, alkyl polyglucosides are expected to be the fastest growing surfactant due to their characteristics and favorable environmental profile. Food and crop protection applications are expected to be the fastest growing applications for surfactants consumption in the next five years.

To learn more about these two markets, Register for a complimentary webinar on September 20, 2016.

Industrial Surfactants: Multi-regional Market Analysis and Opportunities provides a detailed independent appraisal of the three key markets — China, Europe, and the United States — including current and forecast demand by major product and end-use industry, product grades and prices, applications, distribution channels, supplier sales, and technical and market trends. This program comes as two key deliverables: a detailed report for each of the regions and a fully interactive database.

Posted September 7, 2016

Source: Kline Group