NOT CURRENT YEAR

Grade C-
ChemScore report card 2021

Nan Ya Plastics

About the company

Nan Ya Plastics Corporation is part of the Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group. The company manufactures and markets plastic and chemical fibre products, more specifically polyester filament yarns, flexible PVC (polyvinyl chloride) film products, plastic leather products and rigid film products. Nan Ya also manufactures printed circuit boards.
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Total score
15 / 48

Grade Summary

We have no knowledge about any hazardous chemicals in Nan Ya Plastics’ product portfolio. However, the company is only awarded two points in the first category, due to the fact that there is no available data for the 89 percent of the company’s production that takes place outside of the EU and US. This low transparency is a big issue for investors, as it makes it hard to do a proper evaluation of the risks connected to the product portfolio. In the other categories, Nan Ya Plastics places itself pretty much in the middle. It doesn’t really excel in anything, but it is not among the worst performers either. There is no record of the company being involved in any major controversies, rendering it all six points in the Lack of Controversies category.

How did we come to this score?

Opportunities for improvement

  1. We can only rank 11 percent of Nan Ya Plastics’ overall production, since the rest takes place outside the EU and US, where there are no reliable and publicly available sources for identifying producers of hazardous chemicals. Informing ChemSec about hazardous chemical production outside the EU and US could raise the company’s score considerably.
  2. Nan Ya has a Hazardous Substance Free (HSF) management in place. However, we would like to see the company strengthen its chemical management through clear plans for phasing and designing out hazardous substances from all product categories, not just the environmentally friendly ones.
  3. So far, Nan Ya hasn’t caught on to the concept of circular economy. As a large plastic producer, we recommend the company to dedicate time and effort to develop a circular strategy with clear KPIs and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) targets, to be able to contribute to the circular economy with its own products and concepts.

Category breakdown

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Product Portfolio
2 / 18

Nan Ya produces/uses no highly hazardous substances. However, much about the company’s product portfolio is unknown due to the its large production that takes place outside of the EU and US.

Please note that there is no available data for the 89 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.

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Development of Safer Chemicals
5 / 12

Nan Ya Plastics 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. However, it does not exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Nan Ya Plastics actively markets safer alternatives both on its own website as well as on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has no true circular products, processes or innovations. Nan Ya Plastics does not use bio-based resources. Nor does it source or treat recycled materials in a sustainable way, which is one of the key elements of a circular economy. Nan Ya Plastics is not actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

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Management & Transparency
2 / 12

The Taiwanese 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, however, chemical safety information on its website and is following a credible code of conduct standard. Nan Ya Plastics 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). Nan Ya Plastics does not have a circular economy program in place, and it is lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.

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Lack of Controversies
6 / 6

In 2016, a Nan Ya Plastics facility was one of the five Formosa facilities forced to shut down operations following two fires in the Formosa Plastics naphtha cracking complex. Over the past ten years, Nan Ya Plastics has paid 19,000 USD in fines for 2 environmental violations.

Download Controversies Nan Ya Plastics (PDF, 101 KB)

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
17 / 50
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Total score
15 / 48
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Product Portfolio
2 / 18
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Development of Safer Chemicals
5 / 12
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Management & Transparency
2 / 12
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Lack of Controversies
6 / 6
Documents
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Other years
Year Rank Total score
2024 13 / 51 18 / 48
2023 22 / 50 14 / 48
2022 25 / 54 14 / 48
2021 17 / 50 15 / 48
2020 8 / 35 18 / 48