Sustainability at Sun Chemical
Located in New Jersey, USA: Sun Chemical is the world’s largest producer of printing inks and pigments.
Sun Chemical creates products that:
- Have high levels of bio-derived or recycled content
- Improve the shelf life of packaged products
- Make printed products easier to recycle
To accomplish this recycling goal, Sun Chemical procures bio-renewable or recycled raw materials and makes regular improvements in their manufacturing processes. They also work to develop solutions that keep food fresh, use less energy and reduce waste:
“Considerations also have to be taken for the end of life of the packaging, such as recyclability, repulpability, compostability, and de-inkability.”
Sun Chemical have pledged to increase the company’s overall commitment to developing sustainable solutions for customers, like:
- A long-term strategic target to reduce CO2levels by at least 30% by 2030
- The reduction of water usage beyond the 32% achieved in 2018
- The identification of areas to improve in driving innovation of sustainable procurements, as highlighted by EcoVadis, a leading provider of business sustainability ratings.
- The company’s connection to CEFLEX to promote a circular economy for flexible packaging
- Greater levels of biorenewable content in Sun Chemical products
Sun Chemical are always looking for ways to improve their processes. They do this through the ongoing monitoring of metrics to understand and observe their environmental impact.
Breaking goals into segments, Sun Chemical are using a phased approach in their sustainability efforts, they have implemented a ‘roadmap’ system to improve the eco-efficiency of both their products and their services.
For our products, we have:
- A structured and robust approach to product development that includes risk management and eco-efficiency improvements as key criteria.
- An infrastructure for product stewardship that leads the industry.
- Proactive approach in working with suppliers, customers, and industry trade groups to promote best practices.
For our processes, we will:
- Set improvement targets for energy and water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and solid waste emissions.
- Measure and report these parameters, regularly, by site and by product.
- Establish actions to improve, then re-check and re-measure.
Through key partnerships, Sun Chemical is committed to collaboration to improve sustainability. The company joined CEFLEX to further enhance the performance of flexible packaging in the circular economy by designing and advancing sustainable solutions for the market.
They’re also members of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and Association of Plastic Recyclers. This partnership allows Sun Chemical to collaborate with other packaging sustainability stakeholders to identify actionable improvements to existing packaging systems that would ultimately benefit people and the environment – here at Random Acts of Green we love this community approach. We all go further, together, after all!
Accountability is key at Sun Chemical: The team publish a corporate sustainability report every year. A hot takeaway this year: this business member has aligned their own sustainability goals with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development!
In addition to an environmental commitment, Sun Chemical have acknowledged a corporate social responsibility:
– Sun Chemical collaborated with 33 companies to help found the Responsible Mica Initiative, which enables a responsible and sustainable mica supply chain in India free of child labor.
They also encourage employees at all locations to interact with and support their local communities.
Employees have done so in a variety of ways, including:
Visit sunchemical.com/sustainability for more information or follow #SunSustainability on both LinkedIn and Twitter.
