Sustainability is at the core of our company, as we deliver on our promise of Sustainable Solutions. Endless Innovation.™ It is embedded across the organization, allowing us to grow our business, improve productivity and manage risks – and enable our customers to do the same. Through a relentless focus on product quality and sustainability, we help meet market demands, advance the bioeconomy and promote a more sustainable future for everyone.
Our sustainability journey started in 2016, building on the foundations of two combined companies, Arizona Chemical and Kraton Polymers. As a joint effort, we progressed towards building a sustainability strategy incorporating sustainability throughout all functional areas, making it the heart of our business.
Kraton appointed a Sustainability Council responsible for developing and implementing the strategy, targets, and Sustainability Program. The council focuses on Strategic and Operational management sustainability, ensuring the long-term sustainability of Kraton. Additionally, to manage our short-term sustainability performance across Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) themes.
In 2018 we earned the Silver rating from EcoVadis, a global provider of business sustainability ratings. In 2019, we committed to the United Nations Global Compact's Ten Principles and identified the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that are relevant to our business model.
We earned the EcoVadis Gold rating in 2020. Kraton became a member of Together for Sustainability (TfS), a joint initiative of chemical companies that uses the EcoVadis platform to improve supply chain sustainability for the chemical industry.
Additionally, in 2020, we achieved our 25 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity reduction target, ten years ahead of our 2030 goal (compared to 2014). During that same year, we committed to further Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), updated our Code of Ethics, commenced diversity and inclusion training, and established a global D&I Council.
Responding to the growing need from customers to understand the Environmental Impact of our products, we met our target of completing 12 cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) for our key products by early 2021.
We are proud participants in the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® initiative, and in early 2021, we met our goal to certify all US manufacturing facilities to Responsible Care 14001.
In 2021 we defined new long-term sustainability targets to make effectual progress in preserving water resources, addressing climate change, and the societal ambition to move to a circular and biobased economy. Our continued focus on improving our sustainability management system awarded us the EcoVadis Platinum rating, placing Kraton in the top 1% of more than 90,000 companies assessed by EcoVadis.
In 2022, we plan to continue building on our expertise by developing a more comprehensive understanding of the risks and opportunities associated with climate change and a transition to a low carbon economy aligned with the Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. We remain committed to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact's principles and efforts contributing to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) relevant to our strategy, business model, and activities.
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2021 Sustainability Report |
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2020 UNGC Communication on Progress |
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2020 Sustainability Report |
By 2050, the United Nations expects the global population to reach approximately 9.5 billion people. The expectations are that millions of people will be lifted out of poverty, increasing living standards and driving demand for our products. How can we meet the growing population’s need for food, housing, infrastructure and mobility when we have a fixed resource base?
Kraton believes our role is to
The use of resources to support a growing population drives environmental impacts like climate change. These impacts raise concerns about economic and human health that regulators and governments tackle through new policies, commitments and regulations relating to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues. Complex and globalized supply chains present risks relating to human rights, labor, environmental and anti-corruption issues. That is why responsible supply chain management is a strategic priority area in Kraton’s sustainability strategy.
Across the globe, sustainability is high on the agendas of governments, investors, customers and other stakeholders. There is a demand for companies to proactively manage ESG issues, work toward more sustainable outcomes and transparently report about our actions – with the ultimate goal of driving more sustainable economies that support a highly-populated future. Kraton is well positioned to create exceptional value by delivering on tomorrow’s innovative products and solutions.
Kraton operates in a complex environment. To conduct our business, we depend on a wide variety of stakeholders for materials, maintenance, freight forwarding, warehousing, tolling and more. Many factors impact our ability to compete, including breadth of product offering, supply reliability, market cycles and operational sustainability. Customers value a supplier’s ability to design and produce customized products and the availability of technical support. We compete against a broad range of alternative materials throughout our product groups including petrochemical and vegetable-based substitutes. Major competitors include large domestic and international companies. New megatrends present not only opportunities on which to capitalize, but also risks to manage, mitigate and avoid. Customers appreciate our biobased-certified products and our progress in corporate sustainability management. We achieved the EcoVadis Silver Rating with a higher level of sustainability performance than our industry’s average.
Kraton operates through two major segments: Polymer and Chemical. Our Polymer Segment is known for its styrenic block copolymers (SBC) – a class of thermoplastic elastomers offering excellent flexibility, high impact resistance, safety and recyclability. The segment also includes isoprene rubber and isoprene rubber latex, which are recognized industry-wide as an ideal alternative to natural rubber. Our Chemical Segment pioneered the process for refining crude tall oil (CTO) and crude sulfate turpentine (CST), into biobased chemicals that provide high-performance capabilities with renewable attributes. CTO and CST are byproducts of the kraft pulp industry.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)is a means of systematically analyzing the environmental impacts of a product or process throughout its life cycle. The result of an LCA is often a carbon or water footprint report, but the actual value of an LCA can be much more. An LCA can help you create scenario analyses for supporting decision making in R&D, management and marketing.
Kraton provides innovations that allow chemical formulators and consumer brands to touch lives in the most imaginative ways. Whether the market demands a longer lasting asphalt or more sustainable paint, Kraton enables the development of groundbreaking innovations that change the way we live. Whether you are at home or on the road, our products improve the quality of countless everyday items that enhance your way of life.
