Page 15 - Respond 2020 Magazine

RESPOND
AkzoNobel

• 11-year member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index SUSTAINABILITY
• First-place ranking four of the five past years
• 50% of products now deliver sustainability benefits to
customers IS BUSINESS
• 20% or more of our products deliver industry-leading
sustainability benefits
• 40% renewable energy used
• 100% carbon-neutral target set for 2050

ities across the world face new, interlinked committed to applying these lessons throughout the supply
sustainability challenges that are redefining chain to address both energy use and air quality.
“
Cthe role of private-sector business, but We have made an ongoing commitment to invest in
progress is being made in cleansing urban sustainability, innovation and society as part of our vision for
environments and supporting international a cleaner and healthier world. The foundations of our work Our renewable energy supply strategy
collaboration on pressing environmental issues, are built on a review of the risks and opportunities within the has three focus areas: to protect our current
writes Pamela Phua, general director of Vietnam, context of our key market segments to 2050. renewable share; support cost-effective, large
decorative paints South Asia, AkzoNobel. This has demonstrated to us the need to leverage the latest

knowledge across science and society, identify and mitigate energy ventures; and explore commercially
According to the UN Chronicle, energy consumption and air
our challenges, and develop strategies to make the future feasible on-site renewable energy generation.
pollution are two of the most critical issues for the 3.5 billion ”
better.
people who live in urban communities. The World Health
Organization calculates that nine out of 10 people around the For example, Southeast Asia is a market experiencing robust
world currently breathe unhealthy air, leading to pollution- economic and population growth, which requires high levels
related diseases that cause seven million deaths every year. of construction to meet the demands of a new middle class
and rapid urbanisation. However, as our research identified, coatings more than 98% of our carbon footprint comes from Adding renewables to our profile also improves the
When it comes to energy – most of which is still generated
this also means that there is vast opportunity to pioneer new upstream (supplier) and downstream (customer) activities. sustainability of our products, helping us retain and acquire
from non-renewable sources – our cities are using more than
solutions. customers and find new ways of creating value for them.
ever before, with urban demand accounting for as much as Upstream, we know that the emissions from raw materials
80% of global production. At AkzoNobel, sustainability is such as pigments, resins and solvents are our greatest In cases of oversupply, we can use existing facilities to turn
business and business is sustainability. Environmental targets impact, so we have joined forces with suppliers to drive the electricity into green hydrogen, which can be sold to produce
• Environmental: Achieve zero carbon emissions in our own use of bio-based materials, recycled content, or raw materials chemicals or as a new product. The Dutch city of Groningen
We take our responsibility to depollute the paints and
operations; source 100% renewable energy produced with renewable energy. We closely monitor the is already running a pilot with two hydrogen buses, supplied
coatings in our urban environment seriously, and we are
• Social: Reduce use of volatile organic compounds and cradle-to-grave life cycle of our raw materials and finished by AkzoNobel.
products to reduce Volatile Organic Compounds, the impact
substances Renewable energy is characterised by variation in supply. As
of transportation and other environmental fallout.
• Economic: Achieve zero waste and 100% resource we connect more wind parks and solar panels to our national
productivity in our operations Creating better energy grids, these swings will only become more severe and occur
Energy is one of our single biggest expenditures – in some more often. Companies like AkzoNobel can play an important
products it accounts for as much as 80% of our variable cost role in balancing these swings, and can even use them to
A strategy for cleaner air
and such overheads directly affect our bottom line. create mutual benefits.
In all industries, environmental impact occurs throughout the
manufacturing process, from R&D to the ultimate application Our renewable energy supply strategy has three focus Invested in tomorrow
of products. areas: to protect our current renewable share; support cost- Sustainability is not an afterthought, it is our way of doing
effective, large energy ventures; and explore commercially business. It is woven into our DNA and is a powerful means of
When you look at the total carbon emissions in the supply
feasible on-site renewable energy generation. attracting customers.
chain, it becomes clear that the key to reducing our
environmental impact is to work collaboratively. By investing in these areas, we are securing profitability in the To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, economic,
long term. However, in finding cost-effective solutions, we environmental and social factors are accounted for in
To lead the change, we have assembled a cohort of 4,000
need to identify those that can withstand the test of time. our daily work with customers, throughout the product
scientists who will work closely with our global customer
development lifecycle and across our operations, and we
base to push for new, suitable and sustainable solutions. We have leveraged the power of energy to support our
Further, we are undertaking trials of our depolluting paint sustainability programme and renewables now power 45% have three specific targets in place (see previous page).
for launch in three megacities in India and Indonesia that of our requirements, meeting our 2020 target ahead of More than half our products provide sustainability benefits to
struggle with severe pollution issues. schedule. We found that in doing this we have created direct those who use them, but often we must also engage
benefits for our business by lowering costs and risk, and in leading work beyond our own organisation. We have
In our work to depollute air, we can now use photocatalysis
creating new value chains. allocated significant sums to the paints and coatings open
to trigger chemical reactions. In this process, photoactive
innovation platform and a small yet innovative manufacturing
titanium dioxide absorbs sunlight and reacts with oxygen and We draw power from solar, wind, natural gas and biomass,
acquisition in the UK. To drive the next wave of sustainable
moisture to generate highly reactive free radicals, which in through multiple suppliers, meaning we can depend on an
solutions, we will make a further investment in our innovation
turn can contribute to the abatement of noxious emissions extremely reliable supply with low risk exposure to power
from motor vehicles, and decompose harmful gases such as shortages, rising oil prices or changes in carbon pricing. activities before the end of the current decade.
nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and VOCs. By 2020, we are targeting 20% of revenue from products
For example, we are sourcing power directly from newly
that are more sustainable than those of our competitors, and
Some impacts occur beyond the scope of our processes, developed wind farms, together with Google, Philips and
with our suppliers and customers. For example, in paints and DSM in the Netherlands. up to 30% more efficient in resource and energy use across
12 13