Air Products & Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. is an American international corporation whose principal business is selling gases and chemicals for industrial uses. The company serves customers in technology, energy, healthcare, food and industrial markets worldwide with atmospheric industrial gases – mainly oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen and carbon dioxide – process and specialty gases, performance materials and chemical intermediates. Air Products produces refinery hydrogen, natural gas liquefaction (LNG) technology and equipment, epoxy additives, gas cabinets, advanced coatings and adhesives. It also addresses the hydrogen fuel cell economy through hydrogen fueling stations, and has a personal care chemicals business.

Total score

25 / 48

Grade Summary

Air Products scores ten points out of 18 in the Product Portfolio category, which is the highest score in the ranking and on par with Nutrien. This is because the company “only” produces one hazardous chemical, and the…

Product Portfolio

10 / 18

Air Products produces/uses 1 highly hazardous substance – 1 SIN List chemical, no PICs, and no HHP – none of which are included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List. None of these highly hazardous substances is banned or severely restricted (no Authorisation List substances, and no POPs). The company produces no persistent chemicals.

Please note that there is no available data for the 35 percent of the company’s production that takes place outside of the EU and US. Lower EU/US production means higher uncertainty with regard to the total production of hazardous chemicals, which will have a negative impact on the company’s score in this category.

Development of Safer Chemicals

6 / 12

Air Products has a method in place to screen and assess the sustainability of its products and includes the intrinsic hazards of ingredients in the screening process. It does not, however, exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Air Products actively markets safer alternatives on its own website, as well as on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has no true circular product, process or innovation. Air Products uses renewable resources without occupying extra land or competing with food production. However, the company does not source and treat recycled materials in a sustainable way, which is one of the key elements of a circular economy. Air Products is not actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

Management & Transparency

3 / 12

The American company does not produce only sustainable products. Nor does it have a phase-out strategy for hazardous substances that go beyond regulatory compliance. It shares chemical safety information on its website, and follows a credible code of conduct standard. Air Products responded to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking. The company does not, however, share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia). Air Products has no circular economy program in place, thus lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.