Feature story
R&D Product Pipeline Focused on Sustainable Solutions for Customers
R&D Product Pipeline Focused on Sustainable Solutions for Customers
August 2023
Nouryon’s customer-centric business model is focused on providing tailored solutions that improve the performance, quality, and sustainability of our customers’ products across a variety of end-markets, including personal care, cleaning goods, crop protection, crop nutrition, paints, coatings, natural resources, polymers, and packaging.
Sustainability is integral to everything we are and do – from our customers, R&D to our operations – day in and day out. Everything we do, we do with our customers’ success in mind and at the forefront. We understand that many of our customers, like us, also care deeply about our planet and its future.
Nouryon’s sustainability strategy “Commitment to a Sustainable Future” is centered on continuously improving its safety and environmental performance, growing and innovating sustainable solutions that address customers' needs, and engaging and partnering with employees, customers, and suppliers to drive sustainable progress. In 2022, approximately 77% of our R&D product pipeline was focused on solutions with sustainability benefits. These include a growing share of bio-based and biodegradable products.
“At Nouryon, we are committed to driving innovation and sustainability in partnership with our customers. By working closely with customers, we can develop solutions that meet their needs while also reducing environmental impact,” said Philip Clark, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Nouryon. “Our focus on innovation and sustainability is not only good for the environment, but also for business. We believe that good chemistry contributes to the prosperity and well-being of a sustainable society.”
Our product innovations are increasingly focused on biobased, biodegradable, and circular solutions, including natural polymers in Home and Personal Care and cellulose-based raw materials in Paints and Coatings. Other innovations include our range of biodegradable and biobased products, such as chelating agents, surfactants, and polymers based on natural materials. Many of the products we offer are recognized in our industry for product safety and sustainable benefits, including by American Chemistry Council (ACC), EU Ecolabel, Cosmetic & Toiletries (C&T) Allē Award, Nordic Swan, COSMOS approved, and US EPA Safer Choice.
Eco-Premium Solutions
When an impact can be quantified, we classify our products as Eco-Premium Solutions if an underlying sustainability benefit demonstrates at least a 10% lower impact on a given criteria when assessed along the total product life cycle. For example, products that help customers lower their energy consumption may represent Eco-Premium Solutions based on reduced energy or fuel use.
In 2022, 34% of revenue came from our Eco-Premium Solutions. The sustainability benefits of our Eco-Premium Solutions can include one or more of the following:
Nouryon also assesses whether Eco-Premium Solutions have significant adverse effects on the rest of our classification criteria to make sure they do not. Read more about our focus on growing our sustainable solutions through innovation in our 2022 Sustainability Report.