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Select SDGs to find out how we are taking action in support of the UN Substinable Development Goals
Product stewardship, the responsibility to minimize a product’s environmental impact throughout all stages of its life cycle, is at the core of responsible action by the chemical industry. As such, it is an important pillar of Responsible Care®.
In order to enable the flow of information up and down the value chain and ensure that chemicals are used and managed safely throughout their life cycle. ICL works to increase its positive impact and minimize any negative impact throughout the value chain. The Company maintains a close, sustained dialogue and transparent working relationships with its suppliers, customers and other stakeholders involved in its value chains. An excellent example for this connection is ICL’s Together for Sustainability (TfS) Initiative, for sustainable procurement.
Beginning with innovation, ICL looks at globally occurring mega trends and at the UN’s SDGs as guiding principles for products to be developed. Products are then developed in line with a Sustainability Index developed by ICL.
ICL’s goal is to increase the number of assessed PCF by 50% each year. We have already calculated the carbon footprint for over 100 of our products and plan to continually add more products. We are also preparing to tackle the European CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) that is expected to be implemented in the near future.
ICL prioritizes product management approaches to reduce environmental impact during their use. This applies both to ICL’s fertilizers, as well as to its industrial products. In its fertilizer business, ICL develops products that minimize environmental impact such as controlled release fertilizers, bio-stimulants and specialty fertilizers. ICL’s professional agronomists support farmers by providing them with best practices on the balanced and sustainable use of fertilizers. Recently, digital platforms have been made available to enable farmers to engage in precision agriculture.
For its industrial products, ICL recommends best practices for using many of its products as part of the service it provides to its clients. ICL’s labs stand ready to support clients’ needs and requests by testing new formulations or helping clients troubleshoot issues they raise. And additional example is the SAFR methodology developed by ICL to provide an evaluation of flame retardants in their applications, enabling users to select the most sustainable product for the intended use.
ICL provides its customers Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) to relevant products, available in dozens of languages and are beyond the compliance requirements for most countries. “Safety cards” are also available to ICL employees and logistics and distribution personnel of ICL products, who are also given a unique safety book for handling bromine.
The Voluntary Emission Control Action Program (VECAP) is a product stewardship scheme and guidance for best practice, that supports management of chemicals throughout the value chain, and which goes beyond regulatory and legislative requirements. It was launched in 2004 by the International Bromine Council (BSEF) and the UK Textile Finishers Association to reduce emissions of the brominated flame retardant deca-BDE. In 2015, it was expanded to include all powder brominated flame retardants (BFRs) produced by VECAP member companies. In 2019, VECAP published the VECAP Code of Best Practice. The code includes examples of possible sources of emission and good housekeeping procedures. These help producers and downstream users–particularly compounders, textile formulators and master batchers within the plastics converters sector, to control, reduce and continuously improve their potential emissions of flame retardants.
Read MoreICL also supports other product-safety related requests from its customers, such as GMO/allergen declarations and more.
Regarding the end of life of its products, ICL is exploring an initiative that employs circular economy strategies for flame retardants and for products used in the construction industry.
As a major producer of fertilizers and specialty fertilizers intended for greater precision, ICL’s products enhance yields and improve crop quality, while also reducing water consumption and loss of fertilizer through leaching and volatilization.
