Grade summary

Air Water, one of this year’s newcomers, ends up in the bottom five of ChemScore 2022, scoring a mere seven points. A big reason for this is its product portfolio. Even though no hazardous chemicals from Air Water could be found on the EU and the US markets, these sales only account for four percent of the company’s total revenue. And since the details surrounding the business outside of these regions are not known, the lack of transparency becomes a real issue for Air Water. The company has an environmental risk management system in place, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use, but lacks a hazard screening process. In addition, there are no outspoken policies or strategies for a circular economy, and the amount of hazardous waste has actually gone up instead of down. When it comes to controversies, Air Water scores zero points due to a fire that occurred ten years ago at one of its plants, causing two deaths.

How did we come to this score?

Opportunities for improvement

1. Increase transparency
   Although Air Water has responded to our request for more information regarding the company’s chemicals management, much is still unknown about Air Water’s production of hazardous chemicals. At least when it comes to public information. In order to allow a comprehensive global evaluation, Air Water should therefore make this information public – especially details regarding the revenue generated outside of EU and US markets. Generally speaking, information about chemicals sold in the EU and the US is available through public records, which is not the case in other parts of the world.

2. Market safer alternatives
   We did identify safer alternatives in Air Waters product portfolio, but these are not marketed on any independent third-party platform. Therefore, they are hard to find for downstream users looking to substitute hazardous chemicals. A good place to market these is ChemSec’s Marketplace, where buyers and suppliers can find and market safer alternatives.

3. Prevent further controversies
   Air Water has been involved in incidents leading to fatalities and should re-design or dramatically improve its Environment, Health and Safety strategy. This would help the company to better avoid incidents and make sure that controls – functioning even when human errors occur – are in place. If an accident or spill should happen, it is important that Air Water identifies the cause and publishes a document on strategies that will be implemented to avoid similar occurrences in the future. It is possible to prevent human suffering and environmental pollution when producing chemicals, but it requires a thorough Environment, Health and Safety system.

Category breakdown