Grade summary

Hanwha Solutions gains five points in this year’s ChemScore, which gives it a D+ grade and puts it in 41^st place in the ranking. Even though its score has increased, the company is still a laggard. This is mostly due to a lack of information; 84 percent of the company’s revenue comes from markets outside of the EU and the US, where information is generally not available in public records, which creates a transparency problem. However, certain improvements are worth highlighting, such as the company’s “green analysis” – a method to assess the eco-friendliness and safety of its products. The company has safer alternatives in its portfolio and manufactures membranes for electrolysis to produce green hydrogen, which improves its score. However, the company has no clear phase-out plans for its hazardous substances. In addition, Hanwha Solutions has been involved in a number of controversies over the past ten years, which has a negative effect on its final score.

How did we come to this score?

Opportunities for improvement

1. Increase transparency
   Not much is known about Hanwha Solutions’ production of hazardous chemicals. We have requested that the company disclose information about its chemicals management, but it has not responded to that request. In order to be more transparent, the company should disclose the full list of hazardous chemicals that it produces, including the volume of each of these chemicals as well as its percentage of the total revenue. It would also be wise to specify which chemicals are intended for end products and for intermediate use. Generally speaking, information about chemicals sold in EU and US markets is available through public records, which is not the case in other parts of the world. For that reason, Hanwha Solutions should make the details of its revenue generated outside of these regions public to ensure chemical transparency and allow for a comprehensive global evaluation.
2. Market sustainable products/safer alternatives
   We did identify safer alternatives in Hanwha Solutions’ 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
   Hanwha Solutions has been involved in incidents leading to several 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 the company 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