Grade C-
ChemScore report card 2021

Westlake Corporation

Westlake Chemical is an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and fabricated building products, serving various consumer and industrial markets. The company is the largest producer of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the US and ranks among the Forbes Global 2000. Westlake Chemical operates in two segments: olefins and vinyls. It is also an integrated producer of vinyls, with substantial downstream integration into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) building products.
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Total score
13 / 48

Grade Summary

Westlake Chemical produces 5 highly hazardous chemicals. This may not seem so bad, compared to many of the other companies in the ranking, but it is still a portfolio full of problematic substances. On a positive note, 83…

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Product Portfolio
7 / 18

Westlake Chemicals produces/uses 5 highly hazardous substances –5 SIN List chemicals, 1 PIC, and 1 HHP – 1 of which is included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List. 1 of these highly hazardous substances is either banned or severely restricted, with set dates when production needs to cease (1 Authorisation Listsubstance, and no POPs). The company produces no persistent chemicals.

Please note that there is no available data for the 17 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
1 / 12

Westlake Chemical 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. Westlake Chemical does not actively market safer alternatives on its own website or on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has no true circular product, process or innovation. Westlake Chemical 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. Westlake Chemical is not actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

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Management & Transparency
2 / 12

The American 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 follows a credible code of conduct standard. Westlake Chemical 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). Westlake Chemical has no circular economy program in place, thus lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.

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Overall rank
23 / 50
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Total score
13 / 48
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Product Portfolio
- / 18
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Development of Safer Chemicals
- / 12
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Management & Transparency
- / 12
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