Climate change

At ZOMAX, we’re aware that climate change could affect our operations, our supply chain and our customers. Now we’re turning this ambition into reality by setting aspirational, science-based targets. This means we’ll increasingly deliver sustainable solutions to our customers. 

Ambitious mitigation plans in place
Reducing carbon emissions by 50% throughout our whole value chain
Climate change mitigation is an integral part of our approach to sustainable business and plays an important role in our company strategy. It brings risks, but also creates opportunities. 

Sustainable solutions – how we’re helping our customers
We’re directly engaging with our key customers to align on potential carbon reduction in their processes, for example, during coating application. An example is approaching customers using gas to cure our coatings and offering them products that require lower curing temperatures – which can help lower their carbon footprint and save energy costs. With this approach, we aim to become the partner of choice for carbon-conscious customers.

Helping buildings fight the heat island effect
As an industry leader developing products and technologies that help create more green buildings, our product innovations play a vital role in making cities and communities more sustainable.
Overall, building and construction are responsible for around 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions. If no action is taken to improve energy efficiency in the building sector, demand is expected to rise by 50% by 2050. We supply this industry with our “Cool Chemistry” technology. As well as providing the ultimate protection outside, it can also cut inside temperatures by up to 5°C, reducing energy consumption and lowering the carbon footprint.

Carbon savings in the production process
Our RUBBOL 100% UV cured exterior range of Sikkens wood coatings can cut drying time by up to 16 hours. This system helps save on production time and energy costs, while providing outstanding performance. In addition, because the range produces zero emissions and needs no mixing, the production process is more sustainable – another important factor for many of our customers.

Low-E energy efficient range: lower costs, lower carbon footprint
The Low-E collection from Powder Coatings is designed to reduce the curing temperature or curing time without sacrificing quality or performance. By using this range, our customers can cut their energy consumption and/or increase application productivity. This contributes to lowering costs, as well as improving their carbon footprint.
In addition, we provide customers with environmental footprint information (including carbon emission data) which they can use for their own climate action plans. This is achieved by using lifecycle assessment (LCA) methodology and providing environmental product declarations (EPDs).

Climate change adaptation
As recommended by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), we continue to monitor our risks and opportunities related to climate change. As a company, we’re exposed to physical risks – such as those associated with water scarcity, flooding and weather events. We also consider transitional risks that can lead to changes in technology, market dynamics and regulations.
We’re also exposed to other transitional risks, such as market and technology shifts, reputational risks and policy and legal changes. Identifying and addressing risks, including transitional risks related to climate change, is part of our regular risk management process.

Transition risks: Carbon pricing
For the last seven years, we’ve implemented an internal carbon price for investment decisions, anticipating the impact of any future carbon pricing. We have sustainability assessments in place for all material investment projects, including water risk assessment for new locations. Annually, we also quantify the potential transitional risk impact of any global carbon taxation by multiplying our carbon footprint with the internal carbon price. The financial impact is well below 1% of revenues.

Physical risks: Natural catastrophes
As climate change will most likely increase the frequency of natural hazards, during 2022 we’ve further analyzed the natural hazards our operations are exposed to.
As part of our risk and insurance process, we collect information about our sites by conducting risk engineering site surveys. Risk engineering is a methodology for mapping hazard risks – to evaluate the frequency and the consequences of potential hazards related to the production process – and natural hazards.
Annually, around 20% of sites are assessed following a materiality-based approach. The scope and frequency are based on the replacement value of the site, in a cycle of three to five years.
Natural hazards taken into account during this process are: earthquakes, floods, drought, hailstorms, lightning, wind, tornados, subsidence, landslides and active volcanos.
Based on these assessments, several sites are in scope with increased risk, due mainly to the potential for natural catastrophes. Based on the individual risk assessments, we put measures in place to mitigate the risks to an acceptable level.
We’re currently studying what additional temperature changes (climate scenarios) would mean for our current risk profile. 

Physical risks: Water
Climate change has rapidly impacted the earth’s most precious resource: water. Many regions have no access to clean water, so we’ve committed to sustainable water stewardship; we endorse the United Nations CEO Water Mandate and set clear goals on water consumption and reuse.

Physical risks: Suppliers
We continued to assess our suppliers and take steps to better understand and manage risks around the globe from a supply perspective. We implemented a new early warning process using the “riskmethods” tool, which immediately informs us if one of our critical supply chains is potentially under risk. We also proactively map supplier locations against natural catastrophes and work with suppliers on risk mitigation plans.