Product Stewardship

Throughout the Value Chain

We recognize that we have an important role to play in the drive toward a more sustainable society, beyond ensuring regulatory compliance in every region in which we operate. Nouryon therefore creates business value by providing safer and more-sustainable solutions for our customers through our product stewardship programs. It also enhances our ambition to develop and deliver our Eco-Premium Solutions to our customers and the market. Our global product-stewardship process comprises eight elements (see table below) and is monitored at each of our manufacturing sites through the Nouryon Assessment Tool (NAT). We are dedicated to managing our products safely along the entire supply chain, from raw materials to product end of life, and to continuously minimizing impact on human health and the environment. 

For us, this means:

  • Ensuring that customers are provided with adequate safety information regarding our products via SDS.
  • Having processes in place to ensure that HSE aspects are considered in our new product development and design.
  • Having a program in place designed to manage priority substances in advance of legislation and taking a proactive global approach to the review and management of hazardous substances in our products and processes, which could lead to phase-out and substitution in cases where safe use and handling cannot be ensured.

We use a global monitoring system to keep track of regulatory developments in order to prepare for advocacy and implementation activities at an early stage. Nouryon supports the aims of the European Green Deal, the European Union (EU) Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, and the US Toxic Substances Control Act legislation, among others. We participate in the development of chemicals management legislation around the world through our membership in industry associations.

Keeping Our Customers and their Products Safe

We train our customers and other stakeholders to work with and handle our products safely. For example, our Innovation Center in Deventer, the Netherlands, has always been a place where some of the best scientists in the world develop innovative molecules that meet new requirements for plastics and rubbers, make chemicals that are safer for our customers to handle, and minimize environmental impact.

Our Deventer Innovation Center features a world-class Safety Testing Laboratory where products and processes are tested on their safety performance in use as well as during transportation and handling. The lab capabilities are coupled with expert training for our employees as well as customers.

Expert Capability Center Deventer

Hazard Assessment and Communication

We handle more than 4,000 unique substances, including raw materials used in our production and R&D samples. Of these, 2,200 are sold and used throughout the world and have been subjected to a hazard assessment. In 2022, 85% of our net revenue came from products containing substances that are classified as Globally Harmonized System (GHS) Categories 1 and 2 Health and Environmental Hazards. Our core competencies are in complex and hazardous chemistries and the handling of highly reactive chemicals. All substances are carefully managed to ensure they are used safely at our production sites and by our customers. Our company-wide procedure ensures that all substances manufactured by, or toll manufactured for, we have undergone a hazard assessment which is based on physical chemical, toxicity, ecotoxicity and environmental fate data. This data is stored in a global central database, which is used for creation of labels and SDSs. New regulatory information is continually uploaded into the central database. The system generates the labels and SDSs in line other requirements for each shipment, including in the language and format of the country the product is being shipped to.

We are committed to not using any vertebrate animal testing unless it is legally required and support the development of animal-free testing methods and has established an animal testing policy. When vertebrate animal testing is required, we fully support and apply the principles of the ‘3Rs’ to Replace, Reduce, and Refine animal testing.

EU-REACH

Nouryon continuously works to ensure that our products can be safely used in alignment with REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006), which aims to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the possible risks posed by chemicals. REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals and includes established procedures for collecting and assessing information on the properties and hazards of substances.

One of the obligations in REACH is the registration of all substances imported/manufactured above one ton in the EU. Nouryon uses REACH chemical hazard, exposure, and risk assessment, and communicates safe uses through an extended safety data sheet, e-SDS, in accordance with REACH regulations. In the European Economic Area, we require new suppliers of raw materials to provide e-SDS documentation (together with other necessary data). Our site and procurement teams collaborate in this process, and our PSRA teams advise on REACH aspects and perform regulatory checks.

REACH @Nouryon

Managing Substances of Concern (SoCs)

Substances of concern (SoCs) are chemicals that have severe hazard classifications and could cause long-term effects on human health and the environment. Typical classifications such as CMR category 1A and 1B, PBT, vPvB belong to this category.

In 2022, 4% of Nouryon’s net revenue came from products containing SoCs (>0.1% by weight). Of our net revenue, 0.8% is on the REACH Annex XIV (Authorization) list, and 0.3% is on the REACH Annex XVII (Restriction) list. As described above these substances are carefully managed to ensure they can be manufactured and used safely. All have undergone a risk assessment according to the REACH methodology.

Position statements

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Nouryon does not manufacture GMOs. We do not sell products that use GMOs to provide any specific functionality, nor do we use GMOs in manufacturing processes to impart any specific variability. Certain raw materials that we use are derived from crops produced from GMOs prior to our use, for example, soybean oil and cotton linter cellulose. These materials are used in products that make up roughly 6% of our products by revenue in 2022. Nouryon continually monitors the ongoing debate around GMO usage and will act upon any new findings, as appropriate.

Position statements

Developing Alternatives Through Innovation: Product Substitution Examples

The demand for more sustainable alternatives to SoCs is growing. Nouryon has a proven track record when it comes to substitutions for SoCs for our addressable end-markets. In recent years, Elfan® AT84, Redicote® E-47 NPF, and a safer alternative to Di-cyclo hexylphthalate (DCHP) are just some of the substitutions we have offered to address evolving customer and regulatory needs.

For the cleaning market, we introduced innovations such as chelating agent, Dissolvine® GL. Wetting agent AG 6206, and Berol® 260 are part of our low dioxane portfolio, along with degreasers and cleaners from the Berol® and Ethylan® surfactant product lines. These are produced using a proprietary process that reduces the amount of 1,4-dioxane created as a by-product. Our innovative process also makes formulating more cost effective for our customers and offers the possibility of optimizing raw material purchases, reducing inventories, and simplifying production. All products within our low-dioxane portfolio are also listed in the CleanGredients database, meeting the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safer Choice standard. They include:

  • Berol® 226 SA: synergistic surfactant blend for optimized cleaning and easy handling
  • Berol® 260 and 266: primary-surfactant performance degreasers
  • Berol® 609: nonyl-phenol ethoxylate-free surfactant
  • Berol® 611: nonyl-phenol ethoxylate-free surfactant
  • Berol® DR-B1: performance cleaner for outside usage, qualified for direct release into the environment
  • Ethylan® 1005: low-foam, low-aquatic-toxicity primary surfactant degreasers

Substitution examples:

Wetting agent AG 6206

Wetting agent AG 6206 is a product for home applications such as dishwashing. It is a low hazard material, readily biodegradable, and recognized as safer chemical by US-EPA Safer Choice and CleanGredients.
Heavy-duty machinery with large wheel rolling over fresh asphalt

Redicote E-47 NPF

Redicote E-47 NPF is a safer alternative to Nonyl Phenol-ethoxylates (NPE), which have been successfully phased out in the EU. Our asphalt business has successfully replaced NPE with Redicote worldwide.

Elfan AT84

Elfan AT84 is a sulfate-free surfactant that gently cleanses skin, providing a rich creamy foam even in hard water. It is used in a wide range of personal care products. Based on renewable vegetable fatty acids, it is biodegradable and approved by US-EPA Safer Choice and CleanGredients.

Dissolvine GL

Dissolvine GL is used in products such as dishwasher powders, cleaning products, bath products, cosmetics, hair care, and body treatments. It is a low toxicity, non-sensitizing, and biodegradable chelate that is natural and renewable and does not contain phosphates or phosphonates. Dissolvine GL is recognized as a “safer chemical” within the US Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) Design for the Environment program.

DHCP-free products

A safer alternative to Di-cyclo hexyl phthalate (DCHP) was developed for our organic peroxide curing agents used in composites and coatings. The DCHP-free products bring additional benefits, allowing our customers to make clearer coatings and composites and switch to DCHP-free products in advance of legislation.

Shiny silver color stainless steel parts background. Regular industrial metal production pattern. Nouryon offers aqueous cleaning chemical products for all metals such as steel, aluminum, brass, aerospace metals, and many others.

Berol 260

Berol 260 is used in metal cleaners for aircraft and vehicles, as well as cleaning in industrial and home settings. It is a recognized safer chemical by several bodies, including US-EPA Safer Choice and CleanGredients. We have also introduced a next generation product, Berol 360, which is based on natural vegetable-based hydrophobes and has enhanced sustainability credentials and an EU Ecolabel.

Berol 611 surfactant

Nouryon introduced a new dispersing agent and emulsifier for industrial cleaning, hard-surface cleaning and adhesives. This ethoxylated fatty acid alcohol is a low foaming nonylphenol ethoxylate-free surfactant that has excellent wetting and dissolving properties at room temperature. It demonstrates outstanding detergency and solubility properties when formulated into multipurpose hard surface cleaners, heavy-duty degreasers, and textile treatment cleaning. The versatility of its application extends to all other cleaning applications that require alternatives to replace NP9/NP10 surfactants.

Related content

REACH @Nouryon

We actively maintain our REACH registrations and continuously implement other REACH developments to ensure continued compliance

Position statements

Find out more about our position on a number of key topics for us as a trusted, industry-leading specialty chemicals provider such as ethical animal testing, nanomaterials, renewable energy, etc

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