NOT CURRENT YEAR

Grade C
ChemScore report card 2022

Avery Dennison

About the company

Avery Dennison Corporation is a manufacturer of labelling and functional materials with locations in over 50 countries. Some of its products include pressure-sensitive adhesive materials and radio-frequency identification (RFID) inlays and tags. The company is headquartered in Ohio and supplies products to a wide range of industries such as home and personal care, apparel, logistics, pharmaceuticals and automotive.
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Total score
20 / 48

Grade summary

Avery Dennison ends up in the top ten of this year’s ChemScore, even though it is three points down compared to 2021. Three is also the number of hazardous substances in the company’s product portfolio. The company has a form of product sustainability assessment in place, but no hazard screening method. Neither does the company make any mention of designing or phasing out harmful chemicals from new or existing products. Although the company uses biobased and recycled content in its products, it does not state where it comes from or if it contains hazardous chemicals. The company does, however, seem to have circular economy in mind with a dedicated section for it on the company website. Over the last seven years, a couple of fires have been reported at various Avery Dennison plants. None of them have, however, resulted in any casualties.

How did we come to this score?

Opportunities for improvement

  1. Market sustainable products/safer alternatives
    We did identify self-proclaimed safer alternatives in Avery Dennison’s 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.
  2. Increase circularity
    The company’s circularity targets are not specific enough and the ambition is not clear since no baseline comparison is possible. Avery Dennison has, however, stated that it will clarify and share more details about its business in the 2023 sustainability report. Adding the source of biobased content and clearly stating that the recycled feedstock is free from harmful chemicals – as well as adding quantifiable indicators for the company’s circular economy business – could improve Avery Dennison’s score next year.
  3. Develop and clarify hazard and environmental assessments
    Another important improvement point for the company is to develop a method to assess the intrinsic hazards of its products. We would also like to better understand the company’s environmental assessment of products and how it is currently managing hazardous ingredients all the way from product development through production and use to waste management.

Category breakdown

Categories diagram

How did we come to this score?

Do you want to know more about our methodology and how we rank the companies at ChemScore?

Read more about our methodology
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Overall rank
8 / 54
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Total score
20 / 48
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Product Portfolio
6 / 18
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Development of Safer Chemicals
5 / 12
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Management & Transparency
3 / 12
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Lack of Controversies
6 / 6
Other years
Year Rank Total score
2024 9 / 51 20 / 48
2023 7 / 50 21 / 48
2022 8 / 54 20 / 48
2021 4 / 50 23 / 48