INTERVIEW: Clariant to sharpen focus on raw materials to slash Scope 3 emissions – exec

NEW YORK (ICIS)–Clariant will sharpen its focus on carbon footprints of the raw materials it buys to slash Scope 3 emissions, its chief technology and sustainability officer said.

Clariant aims to cut Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40% and Scope 3 emissions by 14% by 2030 – targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). It is one of the few chemical companies that have outlined a Scope 3 emissions target.

Scope 1 emissions are those that come directly from operations, Scope 2 from energy purchased and Scope 3 from purchased raw materials, logistics upstream and downstream, waste management and other factors throughout the value chain.

Reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions are pretty clear cut, but Scope 3 emissions are far more challenging as they are out of a company’s direct control.

Plus, specific to the chemicals industry, downstream emissions resulting from the use of chemicals is exceedingly difficult to measure as they typically go into so many different applications, explained Richard Haldimann, chief technology and sustainability officer.

“So when we set a Scope 3 target, we decided we would focus on the parts we have the biggest chance of influencing, and that’s upstream. We actually set a target for Scope 3, Category 1 which is purchased raw materials,” said Haldimann in an interview with ICIS.

“That we can influence by decisions on what kinds of raw materials we buy to make our products,” he added.

Scope 3 emissions comprise just over 60% of Clariant’s total GHG emissions.

As Clariant expects volume growth in the years ahead, a 14% reduction in absolute Scope 3 emissions means a much more significant reduction in carbon intensity, he explained.

DIFFERENTIATING CARBON FOOTPRINTS OF SAME RAW MATERIALS
For its raw material purchases, the company is working on several levers. One is a drop-in of the same raw material but from a source that has a significantly lower carbon footprint.

“Depending on the regions you’re buying raw materials from, companies have a very different carbon profile. Some suppliers are going to have products that are made completely differently, and that’s actually a significant portion of the savings we identified,” said Haldimann.

For example, Clariant uses nitric acid as a raw material, the production of which generates nitrous oxide (N2O) – a powerful greenhouse gas with about 300 times the global warming intensity of carbon dioxide (CO2).

“You can identify the companies that have N2O abatement systems and can switch suppliers to buy nitric acid that has a much lower carbon footprint,” said Haldimann.

Clariant works with suppliers to calculate the carbon footprints of the raw materials it purchases as well as consulting databases that calculate supplier specific carbon footprints based on certain process technologies used.

Clariant is also part of the working group in Together for Sustainability (TfS), a chemical procurement organisation, which has come out with a criteria catalogue for calculating product carbon footprints, he noted.

USING RECYCLED MATERIALS
The second lever is working with suppliers to identify and source raw materials coming from a recycling stream which will also have lower carbon footprints.

With recycled material, the end of life of the waste material is the starting point. Thus the carbon footprint of originally making that material is skipped.

“An example is that we’re using recycled copper instead of virgin copper for some of our catalysts. We’re making sure the metals we’re using are coming from a recycled stream,” said Haldimann.

USING BIO-BASED MATERIALS
The third lever is the use of bio-based materials.

“We look to source bio-based materials that are coming primarily from waste streams or side streams so we’re not food competing. Here you have a lower carbon footprint to start out with,” said Haldimann.

For example, Clariant is using rice bran wax – a wax that comes out of the rice bran oil making process – to produce a range of coatings (for cans, fertilizer, paper), replacing petroleum-based wax raw material, he noted.

PROJECT CALCULATING CARBON FOOTPRINTS OF PRODUCTS
Clariant in April concluded a project to calculate its own product carbon footprints which includes Scope 3 plus its own Scope 1 and 2 emissions mapped onto the products. It is now working to make this information available to its customers to help them calculate their own Scope 3 emissions, the executive said.

The accuracy of the carbon footprints of the products naturally relies on the accuracy of the carbon footprints of the raw materials.

“As is the case for the whole chemicals industry, we still have a lot of gaps. The databases are only covering a fraction of the chemicals,” Haldimann pointed out.

Clariant has product specific carbon footprints for at least 97% by weight of all the raw materials included in its products, he noted.

“There are a significant number of challenges remaining for an accurate measurement of Scope 3 emissions, but it doesn’t mean that we should not work towards reducing our Scope 3 already with what we have,” said Haldimann.

“We are fully aware and are working to improve the quality of Scope 3 data, but we believe that it’s critical and mandatory that we work with what we have and start now rather than wait until we have the highest precision,” he added.

Thus far there is no common agreement on how to best measure Scope 3 emissions in the chemicals industry, he pointed out.

BROADENING OF CUSTOMER BASE SEEKING CARBON FOOTPRINTS
Clariant is seeing a broadening of its customer base seeking carbon footprints of the products they buy.

“Even six months ago I would have said consumer facing customers are more likely to be asking for product carbon footprints but we’re seeing it now across all industries,” said Haldimann.

“For tenders that are going into purely industrial applications and where you might think that the product carbon footprint is not going to play a significant role, we still have customers asking for this, for us to participate in a tender,” he added.

ACCELERATING SUSTAINABILITY DRIVEN INNOVATION
In February, Clariant introduced a new global operating model for its Innovation & Sustainability unit while appointing Haldimann as chief technology and sustainability officer to accelerate sustainability-driven innovation.

“We’ve hard-wired the sustainability criteria into the product development process and the key here is that at an early stage you actually do a screening for sustainability. In the design phase you’re already taking sustainability aspects into consideration,” said Haldimann.

“Sometimes these sustainability aspects are already coming as an explicit customer need but often it’s not evident or at the forefront,” he added.

Clariant uses a holistic sustainability assessment system called the Portfolio Value Program with 36 different criteria including performance and planet impacts such as on water, energy, carbon, recyclability or compatibility with the circular economy, along with social aspects.

“You can walk through that and identify where you have potential hotspots in your product and then develop them out,” said Haldimann.

One recent example is a new brake fluid called Safebrake Life which was developed to have leading performance but without borate esters which are toxic and require special handling, especially after use. In the process, the product was also made biodegradable and using raw materials with low carbon footprints.

“We were a step ahead because we expect legislation to come which is going to make it a requirement to have a warning label on braking fluid with borate esters,” said Haldimann.

“Basically you have this framework where you can orient yourself and find the opportunities along the way on how to create a really sustainable product,” said Haldimann.

Interview article by Joseph Chang