Nutrien

Sprung from a merger between Potash and Agrium, Nutrien is now the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services. The company is a global player and produces and distributes potash, nitrogen, and phosphate products for agricultural, industrial and feed customers. Nutrien is the biggest producer of potash globally and operates some of the world’s largest potash mines.

Total score

15 / 48

Grade Summary

Nutrien scores ten points out of 18 in the Product Portfolio category, which is the highest score in the ranking and on par with Air Products. This is because the company “only” produces two hazardous chemicals, and the…

Product Portfolio

10 / 18

Nutrien produces/uses 2 highly hazardous substances – 2 SIN List chemicals, no PICs, and 1 HHP – none of which are included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List. None of these highly hazardous substances are either banned or severely restricted (no Authorisation List substances, and no POPs). The company produces no persistent chemicals.

Please note that there is no available data for the 40 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.

Development of Safer Chemicals

2 / 12

Nutrien has a method in place to screen and assess the sustainability of its products but does not include the intrinsic hazards of ingredients in the screening process. Neither does it exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Nutrien actively markets safer alternatives on its own website, but not on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has not any true circular products, processes or innovations. Nutrien 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. Nutrien is not actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

Management & Transparency

3 / 12

The Canadian 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. However, it shares chemical safety information on its website and is following a credible code of conduct standard. Nutrien responded to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking. However, the company does not share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia). Nutrien does not have a circular economy program in place, and it is lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.