Environmental protection is a critical movement globally, and companies are focusing on sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) measures to operate responsibly and have a positive impact on society and the planet. At Trinseo, sustainability has long been intrinsic to our core values, and we recently solidified that commitment with our 2030 Sustainability Goals — many of which are focused on helping the environment and addressing climate change. These goals help us identify what and how we can contribute to lowering our environmental impact and clearly lay out our sustainability initiatives to employees, customers, and stakeholders.
Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) Strategy
Our EH&S strategy helps guide and enforce our sustainability goals and initiatives by putting environmental protection at the center of everything we do. We are committed to the continuous and measurable implementation of environmental initiatives, including reducing waste and promoting resource conservation at every stage of our products’ life cycles. This strategy is bolstered by internal and external stakeholder engagement to promote our climate efforts and ensure it is a priority at every level, paired with our compliance with all external laws and regulations and internal policies and standards to protect the environment.
Trinseo also supports the expansion and design of our operations facilities in an environmentally friendly manner to prevent hazardous emissions. For example, Trinseo’s Zhangjiagang site in China implemented Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology, which is designed to reduce NOx emissions as part of an air pollution control system, resulting in a 60% decrease in emissions compared to 2018.
Setting These Goals into Action
An important early step in our sustainability journey and the development of our goals was creating EH&S committees and infrastructure dedicated to sustainability and public policy. The governance committee is comprised of top-level management overseeing all sustainability activity and is responsible for implementing sustainability efforts directed toward our climate change strategy and setting our sustainability goals.
One example of these efforts is facilitating workshops with an external consulting company to determine themes for our climate change initiatives. The workshops helped to evaluate and provide insights into market and technology shifts, stakeholder expectations, policy and legal developments, and physical risks. The committee also helps integrate Trinseo’s climate change strategy into every part of company policy, programs, and processes. An example of this is that sustainability and climate change are included in the scorecards for supplier assessment and R&D project evaluation.
An important part of our sustainability efforts is creating company-wide, cross-business research capabilities and technology programs to establish a greenhouse gas reduction plan for each business segment, which includes product development to support our customers’ sustainability efforts. And each business segment in Trinseo has a sustainability development plan to cover carbon footprint, recycled materials, and these sustainability themes.
Contributing positively to the environment and being sustainable citizens of the world will ensure a healthy future for our planet. That’s why, at Trinseo, our goals, strategies, and policies ladder up to our commitment to the environment and are focused on helping our customers realize their own sustainability goals.