NOT CURRENT YEAR

Grade B

ChemScore report card 2022

Indorama Ventures

Indorama Ventures, headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, is a subsidiary of Indorama Resources Limited. The company has 147 manufacturing sites in 35 countries around the globe. Globally, one in five PET bottles is made from the company’s PET resin. Indorama Ventures is also a global manufacturer of wool yarns. In 2021, the company bought Oxiteno, a Brazilian manufacturer of surfactants and chemicals.

Total score

30 / 48

Grade summary

For the second year in a row, Indorama Ventures takes home the ChemScore title. This year’s top scorer receives 30 points, adding one point to the company’s 2021 score. It is the only company that uses the SIN list to proactively remove hazardous substances. Nevertheless, the number of hazardous substances being produced has increased to five, which is unfortunate. However, Indorama is actively marketing safer alternatives and has various circular products and processes, bio-based and hazard-free recycled raw materials. The company has publicly stated its ambition to phase-out hazardous substances, albeit without an end date. In addition, Indorama has started reporting in accordance with the EU taxonomy.

How did we come to this score?

Opportunities for improvement

Reduce hazardous portfolio
Scientists agree that chemical pollution has crossed a planetary boundary and become an urgent global problem. This threatens the stability of global ecosystems upon which humanity depends, by damaging the biological and physical processes that underpin all life. Since Indorama has five hazardous chemicals in its product portfolio, a paramount improvement point for the company is to reduce this number. The company should therefore have a clear strategy on how to tackle the prevalence of these substances, including a time-bound phase-out plan. Indorama should also publish an annual progression report about this. If the company continues to produce any hazardous substance, it needs to present a rationale for its essential use, motivate the production volume and state how much money it spends on research and development to find a safer alternative.
Skip the SIN substances in new products
The SIN list is a very useful tool for identifying and removing hazardous substances from the production portfolio. Indorama is already using it, but it has not led to a lower number of hazardous substances. An improvement for next year’s ChemScore ranking would be to make a clear commitment to not develop any new products containing SIN substances.
Increase transparency
Although Indorama has responded to our request for more information regarding the company’s chemicals management, there are still uncertainties regarding the company’s production of hazardous chemicals. At least when it comes to public information. In order to allow a comprehensive global evaluation, the company 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.