The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic, Brussels / Belgium; www.cefic.org) has launched a campaign to demonstrate the industry’s commitment to sustainable development. In its first ever sustainability report, it says the European chemicals industry has the capability and the responsibility to address societal challenges of sustainability such us energy, water and raw materials.

The 70-page report serves as a starting point to develop a sustainable framework for the European chemicals industry, which Cefic intends to put forward this year. “Sustainability is about a mindset change in the way we work and high-tech products the chemicals industry makes,” said Cefic president Giorgio Squinzi. “We can help ensure a sustainable future by working with stakeholders, having a well-trained workforce in place, and through strong business performance that attracts further investments.”

Developments in the plastics sector, such as lightweight materials for cars, improved building insulation, advanced food packaging materials and bio-based products, are expected to play a key role in improving the chemical industry’s sustainability.

Cefic stresses the importance of food packaging in reducing food waste. About one third of the world’s food is lost in the supply chain or wasted, with Europe accounting for about 18% of this loss, it says. In Europe, packaging helps ensure spoilage during transportation affects just 3% of all products delivered to customers, compared with up to 50% in developing countries, it adds.

Packaging also extends the shelf life. Meat, for example, benefits from an extended shelf life of five to ten days, or even longer using the most advanced plastic packaging solutions. “Producing one kilo of beef leads to emissions equivalent to three hours of driving and requires 15,500 litres of water. Thanks to the prevented food loss, using a few grams of plastic packaging means saving at least 13 times the emissions caused during production of the packaging itself,” Cefic says.

Innovations and collaborations are central to sustainable development. One collaboration resulted in a combination of renewable energy generation and efficient thermal insulation to create a solar air collector roof insulation system, made possible by a newly developed sheet technology based on a PC and rigid PU foam. The air collector roof insulation system is laid like a roof and performs five functions at once, acting as a vapour barrier, thermal insulator, rainproof roof substructure, cladding and solar collector. As a result, the solar collector produces usable energy in the form of hot air that can be used directly for heating. The report also cites a partnership between a biotechnology company and an oil and gas firm to develop manufacturing technology for a transparent, printable plastic suitable for food packaging using PLA derived from sugar beets.

At the same time, the chemicals sector is taking steps to reduce waste, implement technologies that use less raw materials and re-use or recycle products in closed loop systems. Down-gauging is helping the industry reduce waste as well as optimise resources, Cefic says. “Just a couple of grams saved in the weight of packaging, for example, can have a significant impact on the environment when multiplied millions of times.”

Thanks to continuous improvement in end-of-life management options and growing public awareness, the amount of industry’s products – mainly plastics – ending up in landfills is decreasing, despite a 2.5% rise in post-consumer plastic waste to 24.7m in 2010, Cefic adds. Action on sustainability is needed at all levels: Europe-wide, national and within individual companies, the report says. At the Europe-wide level, the VinylPlus commitment by the European PVC industry to collect and recycle PVC waste is an example of a “bottom up” approach through the entire industry value chain with an open process of stakeholder dialogue, it adds – see Plasteurope.com of 09.05.2012.

The report provides 17 key performance indicators that serves as a benchmark of industry sustainability efforts to date that the sector plans to measure itself against in the future.

e-Service:
Cefic sustainability report, “The chemical industry in Europe: Towards Sustainability”, as a PDF document