Grade summary

With 23 points and a C+ grade, Yara is ranked number five in this year’s ChemScore. Seven additional points is a significant increase in comparison with last year’s ranking. The company produces two hazardous substances, of which none are persistent. Yara has a substitution program in place but does not clearly design out hazardous substances from the start. The company gets extra points for its nutrient extraction by algae, which can be used to produce bio-fertilizers and other products from wastewater. The ambition of using more circular materials in its raw material portfolio might reward the company with additional points in the future. Yara already reports in alignment with EU taxonomy.

How did we come to this score?

Opportunities for improvement

1. Market safer alternatives
   We did identify safer alternatives in Yara’s product portfolio, but these are not marketed on any independent third-party platform. They are therefore hard to find for downstream users looking to substitute hazardous chemicals. A good place to advertise is ChemSec’s Marketplace, where buyers and suppliers can find and market safer alternatives.
2. Reduce hazardous portfolio
   Scientists agree that chemical pollution has crossed a planetary boundary and become an urgent global problem. This threatens the stability of global ecosystems upon which humanity depends. Since Yara has two hazardous chemicals in its product portfolio, a paramount improvement point for the company is to reduce this number. Yara should make sure to identify all uses and publish volumes and percentages of the total revenue of its hazardous substances. It should also publish a reduction road map of each hazardous chemical and an annual progression report. If the company continues to produce any hazardous substances, it needs to present a rationale for its essential use, motivate the production volume, and state how much money it spends on research and development to find a safer alternative.
3. Increase circularity
   The chemical industry finds itself at the beginning of the value chain. Therefore, it has a responsibility to act fast and ambitiously against the ever-growing scarcity of our planet’s resources. For this reason, it is important that Yara develops and presents a strategy, which includes an activity plan, with clear indicators for how to expand the area of circular products and processes. At the moment circular and time-bound key performance indicators are missing.

Category breakdown