Foreword for Sustainability in Chemical Value Chain

Decarbonising the chemical industry is a crucial step in the global effort to combat climate change and build a more sustainable future. As one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, the chemical industry must take bold action to reduce its carbon footprint and transition to more sustainable practices.

This opportunity arises from the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. Chemical companies can achieve this by embracing new technologies, getting closer to end markets, and working within and across value chains to deliver lower-carbon products and solutions. By doing so, they can capture additional value, create new business models, and potentially form entirely new markets in a more circular, lower-emissions economy.

Achieving net-zero emissions across the chemical value chain will require significant capital investment and business transformation, as well as new types of partnerships with key stakeholder groups. Chemical companies can make great strides in developing a circular economy by aggregating demand and supply for post consumer waste, alternative fuels, and advanced recycled materials, among others, thereby eliminating fossil-based inputs and reducing emissions. Some of the other areas for chemistry-induced decarbonization are:

• Chemistry will help us transform coal and water to hydrogen.
• Hydrogen and oxygen after extraction will permit carbon to be safely sequestered
• Complete hydrogen, nuclear and geothermal transition will eliminate emission in energy generation altogether and we will draw down over half the carbon.
• We can also unravel dumps and fills and release energy.
• Recycling plastic in multiple cycles will eliminate need for new production.
• Burning pelletised plastic in kilns will be highly recommended.

There are great opportunities for chemical and materials companies to become sustainability leaders and innovation leaders, creating low- and no-carbon products and helping ecosystem partners transition to lower emission solutions while driving long-term growth.

Ultimately, the chemical industry has a three-pronged opportunity to lower its own emissions and downstream endmarket emissions, support sustainability targets, and create new value in a more sustainable global economy.

Research conducted by our firm - DialESG is summarized as below:

1. Figure 1 indicates the priority of actions to decarbonize the chemicals industry. These actions present an opportunity to optimize profits, driving value while lowering carbon footprint and enabling a circular economy.

2. There are various sustainable chemicals that are helping several large end-markets to get on the path of a decarbonized transformation. Innovation-led “responsible chemistry” is addressing opportunities in several sectors, some of which include consumer, construction, transport, and electronics. Some of the end uses within these industries include sustainable packaging, end-of-life battery recycling, and robotics. Leading companies in the consumer goods industry target to cut emissions by 50% across operations by 2030.

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