While the chemical industry continues to make progress to advance sustainability, ACC and its members recognize that the world’s need for more sustainable solutions will continue to grow.
Next Steps for Sustainability
ACC's 2024 Sustainability Report
Jenny Heumann Godes
Table of Contents
We all have a lot to do.
Looking toward the future, several priorities are likely to draw increasing attention, including:
- With a growing global population, increasing affluence and a burgeoning middle class around the world, a greater number of consumers will have increased purchasing power and will seek to acquire more products – appliances, vehicle, housing, packaging food – and you need chemistry and plastics for all these products. At the same time, with increasing global consumption levels, waste reduction and minimization efforts will need to expand.
- Fighting climate change and its impacts will remain a global priority. ACC members already track Scope 1 and 2 emissions through Responsible Care®, and market demands for transparency on the carbon footprints of industry products will increase. It will be important that companies are able to measure their carbon footprints the same way, so data can be compared consistently.
- Governments around the world are working under the United Nations to develop an international, legally binding instrument to curb plastics waste in the environment. As a key party in these discussions, the chemical industry is supporting an agreement that will help accelerate progress toward a circular economy, prioritizing advanced recycling technologies and improving universal access to waste collection.
- With the recognition that climate, water and nature are inextricably linked, the chemical industry’s focus on water stewardship will continue to grow. To build an even better future, ACC members are working to enhance manufacturing processes, while conserving energy and water resources, and protecting water quality and availability near their facilities.
While these are some of our primary priorities, sustainability – and chemistry – is a constantly changing field, and additional priorities will arise over the next few years. The chemical industry will be there to address them.
This is our Call to Action:
ACC and its member companies call upon all involved parties – legislators and regulators, value chain partners, customers and brand owners, consumers, advocacy organizations and other key stakeholders:
Do whatever is within your power to accelerate the deployment of
sustainable products and technologies in order to advance national
and global priorities and build a better future for us all.
As the world’s needs continue to grow, demand for the products and innovations of chemistry will continue to grow as well. We will continue to innovate and deploy solutions that can protect our environment and improve quality of life for people around the world.