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PTT Global Chemical
About the company
Grade Summary
One of ChemScore’s worst performers, PTT Global Chemical, produces four hazardous chemicals. Despite this relatively low number, the company is not awarded a single point in the Product Portfolio category. This is because there is no available data for the whopping 99 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. Another poor area for PTT Global Chemical is the Lack of Controversies category, where the Thai company scores zero points due to several pollution scandals and huge penalty fines. In the remaining categories, PTT Global Chemical’s performance is weak across the board.
Opportunities for improvement
- PTT Global Chemical should reduce its hazardous portfolio, which currently consists of four banned, severely restricted or SIN-listed substances. Quite many, considering we only have data for 1% of the company’s total production. Chemical pollution has a harmful impact on human health and the environment, and poses a growing threat. Two million people died due to exposure to hazardous chemicals in 2019, compared to 1.56 million in 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Hazardous chemicals are also key drivers of biodiversity loss, putting entire ecosystems in jeopardy.
- The company’s circular strategy includes optimising resource use, as well as reduce waste and environmental impact, but we would like to see clear KPIs and SMART targets. Even if re-using and segregating waste is a step in the right direction, it is not ambitious and clear enough to receive the points for a truly circular product or process.
- PTT Global Chemical informs about its eco-design principles and environmental- and health-friendly products. It also lists greener products. In addition to this, we would like the company to market products where hazardous substances have been substituted.
Category breakdown
PTT produces/uses 4 highly hazardous substances – 4 SIN List chemicals, no PICs, and 1 HHP – 3 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 99 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.
PTT Global 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. PTT Global Chemical actively markets safer alternatives on its own website, but not on ChemSec Marketplace. The company does not have any true circular products, processes or innovations. PTT Global Chemical 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. PTT Global Chemical does not actively reduce the hazardous waste it generates.
The Thai 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 chemical safety information on its website and is following a credible code of conduct standard. PTT Global Chemical 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). PTT Global Chemical does have a circular economy program in place, but it is lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.
In May 2017, PTT Global Chemical was sued for 2 billion USD for the restauration of mangrove forests, coral reefs and sea grass fields in the East Nusa Tenggara province. In July 2013, an oil spill occurred with more than 50 tons of crude oil being leaked into the Gulf of Thailand. The clean-up operations from the company were then criticized because of the use of chemical dispersant Slickgone NS that could have caused long-term negative impacts.
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