On May 19, 2016 the Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) published its first annual report. CFP was launched in 2014 and founded by the environmental non-profit organization Clean Production Action, the research institute The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, U.S., and the sustainability consultancy Pure Strategies. CFP aims to transform global chemical use by measuring and disclosing data on business progress to safer chemicals (FPF reported).
Thus far, a group of 24 leading-edge businesses, such as Levi Strauss & Co., Johnson & Johnson, and Sealed Air Corporation, have participated in CFP to receive a score on their corporate chemicals management practices. The report analyzes participants’ responses to a 20-question survey regarding chemicals management across four categories: 1) Management strategy, 2) chemical inventory, 3) footprint measurement, and 4) disclosure and verification. Key findings include: i) Companies with Board-level oversight or senior management incentives performed better overall than businesses with no such accountability, ii) companies face hidden liabilities and chemical risks without policies addressing chemical hazards in manufacturing, supply chains, packaging, and products, iii) companies have more chemicals management practices in place than they share publicly, iv) companies with product portfolios based on minimizing or eliminating chemicals of high concern performed well above average, and v) companies need to know the chemical ingredients in their products and identify chemicals of high concern before they can reduce their chemical footprints.
The full report can be found on non-profit organization ChemSec’s website, who is the main European contributor to CFP.
Read more
Clean Production Action (May 19, 2016). “Chemical Footprint Project releases first report on corporate progress toward safer chemicals.” CFP
ChemSec (May 19, 2016). “Press release: First ever benchmark of company progress towards safer chemicals.”
Reference
Rossi, M.S. et al. (May 19, 2016). “The Chemical Footprint Project – 2016 Annual report.” CFP (pdf)
