Clean Production Action releases the 5th Annual Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) Report analyzing the results of the CFP 2020 Survey. The survey evaluates and benchmarks participating companies on their progress to best practices in proactive chemicals management. The 33 companies participating in the 2020 survey come from seven industry sectors and range in size from small privately-owned companies to large publicly traded multinational corporations. For the first time in five years of the CFP Survey, seven companies scored over 80% of possible points. These front runners were far more likely than other participants in the survey to:
· Have senior management leadership and board level engagement in chemicals management—support at the highest levels is critical to sustained attention to and progress in reducing chemical footprints in the face of competing corporate demands.
· Publicly disclose their restricted substances list (RSL), manufacturing RSL (MRSL) and CFP 2020 Survey responses and score.
· Measure their chemical footprint using the CFP chemicals of high concern (CoHC) reference list of over 2200 chemicals—100% of the front-runners calculate their footprint by mass and many had no chemicals of high concern in their reported products.
· Invest in safer alternatives to CoHCs—front runners explicitly include preferences for safer alternatives in their corporate policies and business strategy and reward suppliers for using safer alternatives. These measures are essential to preventing the use of regrettable substitutes.
Investors, retailers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) want to know where companies are on their chemicals management journey. CFP signatories include investors with over $2 trillion in assets under management and retailers and health care organizations with over $800 billion in purchasing power. First Affirmative Financial Network (FAFN)—a pioneer in sustainable, responsible and impact investing—“is a long time signatory to the Chemical Footprint Project because it provides investors with the necessary framework for companies and their investors to measure, manage and reduce these chemical risks while enhancing quality of life for people and planet,” says Holly Testa, director, shareowner engagement at FAFN.
“This past year’s COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that things we cannot see can hurt us very badly and that the single most effective strategy for safeguarding health and preventing disease is to prevent exposure. These lessons underscore the importance of reducing exposures to hazardous chemicals in the economy,” explains Philip Landrigan, MD, pediatrician epidemiologist and director of the Program Global Public Health and the Global Observatory on Pollution and Health at Boston College. “A large and growing body of evidence shows beyond any shadow of a doubt that toxic chemicals can cause a range of diseases that include cancer, diseases of the heart and lungs and reproductive impairment. Prevention of these impacts is most effectively achieved by phasing out the use of toxic chemicals.”
For more information, visit: www.chemicalfootprint.org
