Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical

Grade summary

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical came in last in the previous ranking and continues this year in the same fashion, albeit sharing the lowest score (4 points in total) with Formosa. The company produces 10 highly hazardous chemicals. The production…

Sinopec produces/uses 10 highly hazardous substances –10 SIN List chemicals, no PICs, and 1 HHP – 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 91 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.

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical 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. Nor does it exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical does not actively market safer alternatives on its own website or on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has no true circular product, process or innovation. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical does not use biobased resources. Nor does it source and treat recycled materials in a sustainable way, which is one of the key elements of a circular economy. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical is not actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

The Chinese company does not produce only sustainable products. Nor does it have a 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. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical did not respond to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking. Nor does it share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia).

 

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical does not have a circular economy program in place, thus lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.