Last month, this column discussed the continuing momentum of sustainability projects in industry, citing a couple of reports that showed sustainability to be valuable to business. More recent findings support those conclusions. Research by Aras (www.aras.com), a product lifecyle-management provider, showed that 92% of organizations surveyed in January of this year said that successful sustainability programs are essential to business success. This represents an increase from the 87% response in 2024. The survey [1] was based on insights from 656 executives from the U.S., Europe and Japan.
A couple examples of recently announced projects are highlighted here:
- Chevron Lummus Global (CLG; www.chevronlummus.com), a joint venture between Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Lummus Technology, and Neste (www.neste.com) announced last month that they successfully demonstrated proof-of-concept for converting lignocellulosic waste into renewable fuels. The companies will now further validate the process for deployment on a commercial-scale.
- Also last month, a European consortium launched the “Genesis” project — a large-scale initiative aimed at making Europe’s semiconductor chip industry more sustainable, from material development to final waste treatment. The full semiconductor value chain, including large industries, universities, research institutes and industry associations, is represented by 58 partners who will participate in the three-year project. Targeted innovations include emissions control, use of alternative eco-friendly materials, waste minimization and reuse of raw materials.
Recognizing sustainability leadership
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; www.americanchemistry.com) recognizes members with outstanding sustainability-related achievements with its Sustainability Leadership Awards. The following winners of the 2025 awards were recently announced:
Sustainable Chemistry, Innovation & Transparency — Clariant (www.clariant.com) won this award for its Dynamic Portfolio Value Program.
Environmental Protection Award — This honor was given to Arkema (www.arkema.com) for its Kynar Aquatec® polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) latex-based coatings for building applications.
Circularity Award — Occidental Chemical Corp. (www.oxy.com) won this award for recovering chlorine byproducts of vinyl chloride monomer production, at its LaPorte, Texas facility for reuse at other sites.
Social Responsibility and Community Engagement Award — Indovinya (www.indovinya.indoramaventures.com), the specialty chemical division of Indorama Ventures, was presented with this award for its annual community event, called “Fish-O-Rama,” held in Port Neches, Texas in partnership with the Beaumont Children’s Museum, which supports education in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM).
External Collaboration Award — A collaboration between Dow (www.dow.com), auto seat manufacturer Adient (www.adient.com) and auto manufacturer JLR (www.jlr.com) was honored for creating seat foam from polyurethane foams that were recovered from vehicles — an industry first.
Details for the award-winning accomplishments can be found on the ACC’s website. ■
Dorothy Lozowski, Editorial Director
1. Aras, The Future of Product Lifecycle Management and Digital Engineering, www.aras.com; June 3, 2025.