Renowned chemicals specialists Clariant has now published its sustainability report for the 2013 financial year. The report focuses on long-term value creation for internal and external stakeholders and the progress made over the year in the sustainable development of the company.
"The strategic importance of sustainability is undisputed," says CEO Hariolf Kottmann. "As part of the global economy, society and environment, we want to generate long-term value and provide benefits for all our stakeholders."
The fact that the company was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index last year was one indicator of the continuous improvements made in the field of sustainability. Another milestone was the signing of the United Nations Global Compact. This UN initiative commits signatories to bringing their business activities in line with recognised principles covering human rights, employment standards, environmental protection and fighting corruption.
Clariant will continue to cut energy consumption (26% since 2005), CO2 emissions (53%), water consumption (28%), waste water (38%), waste (40%) and direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (23% since 2007) to achieve its overall environmental goals.
The sustainability report was written in line with the recently published global standard of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI 4). The new standard shifts the focus even further toward the major sustainability issues, to help further improve the transparency of sustainability reporting.
Numerous examples in the report highlight Clariant’s sustainable solutions, including products at all levels of sustainability to create long-term value and help achieve sustainable growth. In 2013, for example, 29 products, displaying sustainable characteristics over their life cycles, were labelled EcoTain®.
The program will contribute toward more products for global trends like environmental protection, urbanisation, resources and energy.
