Industry News

American Chemistry Council Touts Industry Sustainability Progress in Inaugural Report

May 7, 2024

Report highlights the industry's progress in reducing emissions and developing sustainable products, while calling for policy support to accelerate the transition.

Jonathan Katz

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) released its first-ever sustainability report May 7, highlighting the chemical industry's efforts to reduce its environmental footprint.

The report notes that companies participating in the industry’s Responsible Care program have reduced their greenhouse-gas intensity 8%, cut sulfur dioxide emissions 43% and reduced their energy intensity 18% between 2017 and 2022.

ACC members also invested $13 billion in research and development efforts in 2022, according to the report.

Responsible Care is a safety and sustainability reporting program required for all ACC members. The figures in the report are either self-reported, audited numbers from ACC members or data taken directly from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said Mitch Toomey, the vice president of sustainability and Responsible Care at ACC.

The launch of the report coincides with ACC’s annual Responsible Care and Sustainability conference taking place this week in Miami. The report's publication also comes at a point where ACC feels that overregulation is obstructing the industry’s ability to deliver sustainable solutions, Toomey said.

There’s an underlying “underappreciation of all the work industry has done and an assumption that the industry has done nothing,” said Toomey, speaking from the Responsible Care conference in Miami.

The report includes a call to action for all partners, including government, the value chain and advocacy organizations to accelerate access to feedstocks, energy and other critical resources to enable the transition toward sustainable solutions.

Recent EPA regulations targeting the chemical industry have not been consistent with government programs, like the Inflation Reduction Act, aimed at incentivizing sustainable investment, Toomey said.

“The fact is, you can’t fight climate change without chemistry,” said ACC President Chris Jahn in the report summary.

He noted that chemistry is critical in the development of renewable energy solutions like solar panels and wind turbines and advanced battery storage.

“These are the products that will build our future, and you need chemistry for every one of them,” Jahn said. “And we also need the right policies and the right infrastructure in place to make this possible.”

About the Author

Jonathan Katz | Executive Editor

Jonathan Katz, executive editor, brings nearly two decades of experience as a B2B journalist to Chemical Processing magazine. He has expertise on a wide range of industrial topics. Jon previously served as the managing editor for IndustryWeek magazine and, most recently, as a freelance writer specializing in content marketing for the manufacturing sector.

His knowledge areas include industrial safety, environmental compliance/sustainability, lean manufacturing/continuous improvement, Industry 4.0/automation and many other topics of interest to the Chemical Processing audience.

When he’s not working, Jon enjoys fishing, hiking and music, including a small but growing vinyl collection.

Jon resides in the Cleveland, Ohio, area.