Arkema

Grade Summary

Arkema has a large production of hazardous chemicals and data tells us that it is producing 40 highly hazardous chemicals, including six persistent chemicals, leaving the company without a single point in the first category. Another poor area…

Arkema produces/uses 40 highly hazardous substances – 35 SIN List chemicals, 7 PICs, and 6 HHPs – 6 of which are included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List. 1 of these highly hazardous substances is either banned or severely restricted, with set dates when production needs to cease (1 Authorisation List substances, and no POPs). The company produces 6 persistent chemicals. Persistent chemicals are particularly problematic, since they do not break down, but instead accumulate in humans and the environment. Because of this, persistent chemicals should be of extra concern for investors; substances that are not considered a problem today could become huge liabilities in the future.

Please note that there is no available data for the 53 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.

Arkema has a method in place to screen and assess the sustainability of its products, but it does not include the intrinsic hazards of ingredients in the screening process. Neither does it exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Arkema actively markets safer alternatives on its own website, but not on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has at least one product, process or innovation that enables production of circular products. Arkema uses biobased resources without occupying extra land or competing with food production. It does not source and treat recycled materials in a sustainable way, which is one of the key elements of a circular economy. Arkema is not actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

The French company does not produce only sustainable products, and it does not have a timed phase-out strategy for hazardous substances that go beyond regulatory compliance. It shares, however, chemical safety information on its website and is following a credible code of conduct standard. Arkema responded to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking. However, the company does not share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia). Arkema has a circular economy program in place, but it is lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.