Solenis, a global producer of specialty chemicals used in water-intensive industries, has released its 2022 sustainability report, summarising the company’s environmental stewardship and ESG initiatives for the previous fiscal year. The report — Solenis’ third annual report and first as a platinum equity-owned company — is available online.
CEO John Panichella said, “Last year, we posted Solenis’ third consecutive year of double-digit earnings growth; our best safety performance ever; our second Platinum rating from EcoVadis; improvements in diversity, equity and inclusion; and our highest-ever employee satisfaction rate.”
“As our company grows and strengthens, so too do our sustainability initiatives,” said its chief sustainability officer Lotta Kanto Oeqvist.
The 2022 report is based on the new global reporting initiative (GRI) universal standards, which were published in October 2021 for use in reports published beginning 1 Jan 2023. The Solenis report has been externally validated by an independent certification agency.
The highlights include Solenis’ second annual platinum rating from EcoVadis, a rating agency in CSR and sustainable procurement. The platinum status indicates that Solenis scored in the top 1% of chemical companies that were evaluated for sustainability management. A revised and expanded materiality assessment which identified 20 most important material priorities upon which Solenis will focus its commitments and strategic efforts. It is reported to be Solenis’ best safety performance. Solenis achieved a total recordable rate (TRR) of 0.3, which is a 27% improvement over the prior year. In addition, 32 out of 48 manufacturing facilities have operated for the entire fiscal year without any recordable incidents. In FY2022, Solenis reduced the occurrence of environmental incidents by 20%. Sscope one and scope two greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were flat versus the prior year, and the company’s water consumption decreased 11% versus last year.
With the company’s first published new scope three GHG measurement, it indicates that 99% of Solenis’ scope three emissions are categorised as Purchased Goods and Services; Downstream Transportation and Distribution; Capital Goods; and Fuel and Energy-Related Activities.
Solenis reported on improvements in diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) with newly launched DE&I programmes, including a new scholarship winner. Its overall diversity was 30.7%; global gender diversity was 26.4%; and women in executive leadership positions were 20.4%. The company is on track to double its diversity by 2030.
The overall engagement score on Solenis’ annual culture survey increased from 8.6 out of 10 in 2021 to 8.7 in 2022, marking the third consecutive year of improvement. Also, Solenis was once again named a US Best Managed Company.
It also reported on targets and key performance indicators of its sustainability goals that include customer relationships, R&D innovation and digitalisation. Each of these goals works as part of a broader initiative to address global issues such as water scarcity, deforestation and climate change.
