Section EB, Beverley BARNES, Laurie BEAUSOLEIL, Talha BEG, Kelsey POWELL
One company whose business model will be affected by climate change is Dow Chemical, leader in applied chemistry and industrial energy efficiency, and one of the world’s largest plastic producers. Fighting a legacy of environmental disasters and pollution, Dow is undertaking a serious re-envisioning of its business practices to embrace sustainable development and aim to set higher standards for other companies, as well.
According to a research published by the Guardian, by 2050 plastic will be responsible for up to 13% of the total “carbon budget” – equivalent to 615 coal-fired power plants. Revenues from plastic (the “Performance Plastic” division) account for 38% of Dow’s total revenues. Thus, there is no doubt that as the fight against plastic pollution intensifies, Dow will need to reinvent itself in order to survive.
Dow is doing exactly that, and much more. They have continued to diversify their product offering and are focusing on offering environmentally friendly products and solutions. They are also investing quite substantially into innovative new projects, as well as forming alliances with various legislative players in order to enact substantial reforms. Each of these actions aligns with sustainability goals that have been set by the company for 2025 which are attempting to set the scene for changing the role of business in society.
Products
A few examples of products that Dow has added to their offering include solar shingles, energy efficient insulation, and polymer car components. Their POWERHOUSE solar shingles serve to both protect the roof as per standard shingles while also generating electricity, and their STYROFOAM Brand CAVITYMATE Insulation products maximize energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint. Dow has also touted the use of their VORAFORCE Epoxy Resin Systems to work alongside traditional metal components of cars to reduce car weight and therein improve fuel efficiency.
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Innovative Technologies
With their expertise in applied chemistry and energy efficiency, Dow is committed to working toward finding innovative solutions to combat climate change. These initiatives range from using recycled plastic to replace asphalt in road construction, to changing packaging technologies to eliminate waste, to converting previously un-recyclable plastic bags into new energy.
Building roads with recycled plastic is an interesting way to reduce waste that Dow has begun exploring through pilot programs in the US and Europe. This new plastic solution is actually more durable than traditional road materials in that it is more resistant to corrosion, lasts three times as long, and survives extremely hot and cold temperatures better than asphalt. There are concerns that heating plastic could release toxins into the atmosphere, although researchers believe this to happen only at extremely high temperatures. This solution has the potential to save 220,000 pounds of waste from going into landfills while also reducing the instances of potholes. At this point in time it is also being implemented in various stages within other companies in the UK, Indoensia, India, and Thailand.
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Dow’s Recycle Ready technology for packaging, meanwhile, attempts to limit the amount of plastic waste in the food chain. This new type of technology provides the same benefits as traditional plastic packaging, with the multiple configurations, layers, and stiffness, while also being recyclable. Once used, these containers can be recycled in communities with existing PE film recycling such as grocery drop-off stores in the US.
https://www.dow.com/en-us/industries/packaging/innovation/recycleready
For those plastics that are non-recycled, Dow partnered with Hefty for a three-month Energy Bag recovery initiative in 2014, which converted those plastics into energy. Orange Heft bags were used to collect those non-recycled bags which were then sent to a plastics-to-energy plant that converted them into high value synthetic crude oil. While this program drew some criticism for “greenwashing” due to the environmental specifics of the technology used in the plant, this initiative was an early step in attempting to determine how to deal with these used plastics.
Alliances
Finally, Dow has partnered with governments, NGOs, and other companies, bringing together various parties to meaningfully spur change. As a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, Dow is working to raise $1.5 billion over the next five years to develop and scale solutions that manage plastic waste, focusing on a circular economy for plastic. This alliance includes 30 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and targets companies’ supply chains. Additionally, at the government level, Dow engages with governmental agencies as an active member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership, which aims to bring countries together to combat plastic pollution. At the NGO level, Dow has partnered with The Nature Conservancy, which studies the effect that operations activities have on nature. At the company level, Dow has invested in institutions working towards sustainable solutions such as Circulate Capital, which is an impact investment firm dedicated to investing in companies that promote a circular economy for plastics.
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With 3 decades of setting sustainable goals, DOW is taking steps in the right direction to make a strong contribution in the fight against climate change. Through harnessing Dow’s innovation strengths, global reach, and dedicated employee population, the company has set bold and aggressive sustainability targets for 2025 to design and develop breakthrough product innovations to combat climate change. However, all the above mentioned technologies, with the exception of one, are strongly focused on consuming efficiently, reducing waste, and recycling. There have been minor developments in setting up a circular economy in which products and waste could be reused in the design of new products. This may be due to the fact that setting up a circular economy comes with a lot of significant challenges: a new modular design of products, change in manufacturing processes, strong reverse logistics systems, etc. However, even with all the challenges, it is the responsibility of companies like DOW and consumers like us to understand the importance of fighting climate change and put in the due effort to keep the world habitable for generations to come.
I believe that the chemical industry in general is still highly focused on becoming more Eco-efficient and make small improvements every year. A big shift in incentives will probably be required for companies like Dow to dedicate their significant R&D budget and top talent to develop more Eco-effective systems.