Biodiversity

Biodiversity in own operations

Biodiversity in own operations: Land use and key biodiversity areas
The land use of a paints and coatings factory is relatively small when compared with the footprint of other industries, such as extractives industries or the broader chemicals industry. Additionally, based on the IUCN’s Key biodiversity areas, none of our production sites are located in areas of significant biodiversity value.

Biodiversity in own operations: Waste and water management
We continue to promote a circular economy as part of our focus on reducing waste in our manufacturing processes, and we’re committed to reusing and recycling 100% of obsolete materials. In addition, we have an ambition of zero waste to landfill.
For water, our ambition is to reuse water at all our most water intensive sites. We mainly use water for cooling at a handful of our production locations in low water risk areas. Water is also used as a raw material in production and for cleaning. We’re improving by focusing on recycling and reusing process water by treating our wastewater on-site, or via third parties.
Our objective is to ensure that as we conduct our business activities, we prevent or minimize negative impacts to the environment. This is driven through the implementation of rigorous targets and programs using our ISO certified HSE&S management system. 
Within our own operations, we therefore seek to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions through dedicated programs, with the key underlying ambitions of moving to 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and reducing our energy consumption by 30%

Biodiversity in our upstream value chain: Suppliers
We additionally assess our relevant suppliers through our Supplier Sustainability Balanced Scorecard, which we use to review the eco-efficiency performance of our suppliers on several KPIs, such as waste, energy and greenhouse gases.  We invite our top suppliers who contribute to our Scope 3 upstream emissions to collaborate on our goals, in line with our science-based targets.

Biodiversity in our downstream value chain: Product portfolio
For a large part, our sustainable product portfolio is aimed at reducing carbon footprint and waste, both of which have an indirect impact on biodiversity.
Through our priority substance management program, our R&D focuses on minimizing the impact of our products on the environment, as well as adverse health effects. This includes substituting substances that have, or are suspected to have, a negative impact on the environment or on human health.
An example is our high-performing antifouling paint, essential in helping to reduce the fuel consumption of ships, preventing translocation of non-indigenous species and minimizing underwater hull cleaning. Increasingly, the direction for our marine fouling control coatings is towards biocide-free, low VOC and longer lasting, adding to the sustainability benefits of these products.
At the same time, we’re actively monitoring the current debate around microplastics in the (marine) environment. Together with our industry partners, we participate in studies, as there’s a need for more research about the origin of microplastics and how we can best address concerns about the emission of microplastics to the environment. We continue to invest in developing longer lasting coatings and recycling programs, as well as educating our customers and the users of our products to minimize the impact of our products.