Dow

Grade Summary

Dow has a very large production of hazardous chemicals and data tells us that it is producing 71 highly hazardous chemicals this year, compared to 63 last year. Fortunately, the production of persistent chemicals has decreased, but only…

DOW produces/uses 71 highly hazardous substances – 67 SIN List chemicals, 7 PICs, and 10 HHPs – 15 of which are included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List. 4 of these highly hazardous substances are either banned or severely restricted, with set dates when production needs to cease (4 Authorisation List substances, and 1 POPs). The company produces 5 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 51 % 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.

Dow has a method in place to screen and assess the sustainability of its products and includes intrinsic hazards of ingredients in the screening. It does not, however, exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Dow actively markets safer alternatives both on its own website as well as on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has no true circular product, process or innovation. Dow 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. Dow is actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

The American 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 chemical safety information on its website and is following a credible code of conduct standard.

Dow did not respond to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking and it does not share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia).

Dow does have a circular economy program in place, but it is lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.