As part of Sun Chemical’s process to achieve its targets to reduce CO₂ levels by at least 50% by 2030 and to become net carbon neutral by 2050, the company’s latest sustainability report highlights initiatives and results based on three pillars of its business: operations, products and services, and collaborations. To guide its sustainability practices in each of the three pillars, Sun Chemical follows a strategic framework called the “five Rs”— Reuse, Reduce, Renew, Recycle and Redesign—supporting a circular economy and reductions in carbon footprint.

The operations section shows how Sun Chemical’s recent acquisitions and additional manufacturing facilities affected overall energy and water consumption. The data indicates that despite the acquisitions, the quantities of waste incinerated without energy recovery and landfill waste continued to decrease since the last report.

“Sun Chemical’s ongoing efforts to strive for continuously improving results in waste, water, and energy reduction drive decisions and actions throughout our operations,” said Gary Andrzejewski, corporate vice president, environmental affairs. “Our focus on decreasing energy usage, which last year included investing in solar arrays and heat recovery systems, is a key sustainable strategy that is especially important as we integrate acquisitions into our operations.”

The products and services section describes the design of products or processes that reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to climate change, conserve virgin resources and/or lower the accumulation of waste compared to conventional products or processes they replace.

“Sustainability is top-of-mind for many converters and brand owners and they’re looking for products that enable them to achieve sustainability goals,” said Michael Simoni, director, global sustainability. “Because Sun Chemical’s sustainability efforts in research and product development are rooted in our ‘5Rs’ framework, we develop a wide variety of bio-renewable, compost-compliant and recycle-friendly product lines across our portfolio.”

Collaborations and partnerships play an essential role in the shift towards a circular economy. To measure the sustainability performance of its suppliers, Sun Chemical utilizes the EcoVadis scoring platform. The report shows that more than 85% of its suppliers that participate in the EcoVadis system have achieved a Corporate Social Responsibility score greater than Sun Chemical’s acceptable threshold.

For every sustainability report that is downloaded, Sun Chemical will plant a tree through the established nongovernmental organization, One Tree Planted. To download Sun Chemical’s latest sustainability report, visit www.sunchemical.com/sustainability.

To learn more about Sun Chemical, visit https://www.sunchemical.com/.