EVONIK announced they’ve published life cycle assessment data for over one hundred of their advanced polymers.
What is a “life cycle assessment”? An “LCA” is an assessment of environmental impacts of a product, and it includes all stages of the lifecycle of the product. That includes everything from raw material extraction to disposal. LCAs are becoming a standard for companies to present the sustainability of their products.
EVONIK wrote:
“Evonik is now publishing life cycle assessment (LCA) information for its VESTAMID polyamide and TROGAMID transparent polyamide products in its High Performance Polymers Plastics Database. The strategic move further demonstrates the business line’s commitment to transparency and accountability to customers, regarding the circularity and sustainability of its products and services. At the moment, there is LCA data published for over 100 products, and data expected for more products in the future.”
This is commendable, as producing LCAs is quite an intensive process. It requires a detailed investigation of the energy and materials required at each stage of the product’s lifecycle. LCAs are produced by certified organizations that follow a very specific assessment standard, meaning it is therefore feasible to compare the LCA results between products.
Why is EVONIK doing this? It’s because manufacturers are slowly becoming more aware of environmental concerns. Their customers are starting to have increased interested in buying sustainable products, and LCA information is one way to certify the sustainability. While a manufacturer would need to produce an LCA for their own product made from EVONIK materials, that assessment would be built on top of EVONIK’s materials LCA.
Interestingly, EVONIK has a goal to make the majority of their revenue from sustainable products. Director of Sustainable Business Solutions at EVONIK, Florian Hermes explained:
“At Evonik, contributing to a more sustainable future is part of the way we operate. We have a goal to generate more than 50% of our sales by 2030 from our ‘Next Generation Solutions.’ These are products and solutions with a positive sustainability profile that is clearly above the market reference level.”
EVONIK is ahead of the game here, as this trend is certain to continue. The fact that they have exposed their materials with LCAs will become a competitive advantage as more companies demand environmental transparency.
This could become quite interesting in the future, as low cost overseas producers without LCAs may see decreases in sales due to this effect. Ultimately, they may have to produce LCAs themselves, which could result in changes to their production processes.
Via EVONIK
