Mitsubishi Chemical

Grade summary

Mitsubishi Chemical has climbed considerably in the ChemScore ranking this year – from 22^nd place to ninth. This is due to the company’s newly established Circular Economy Department, and also the fact that it now has a top…

Mitsubishi Chem produces/uses 6 highly hazardous substances –6 SIN List chemicals, 1 PIC, and 2 HHPs – 1 of which is included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List. None of these highly hazardous substances are either banned or severely restricted, with set dates when production needs to cease (no Authorisation List substances, and no POPs). The company produces no persistent chemicals.

Please note that there is no available data for the 76 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.

Mitsubishi Chemical has a method in place to screen and assess the sustainability of its products and includes the intrinsic hazards of ingredients in the screening process. It does not, however, exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Mitsubishi Chemical actively markets safer alternatives on its own website, but not on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has no true circular product, process or innovation. Mitsubishi uses bio-based resources, but at the expense of occupying extra land or in competition 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. Mitsubishi Chemical is not actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

The Japanese company does not produce only sustainable products and has no 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. Mitsubishi Chemical responded to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking, but it does not share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia). Mitsubishi Chemical does have a circular economy program in place, but it is lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.