A Landscape of Sustainability Attributes Considered by Companies During Chemical and Material Selection

Building on the OECD Guidance on Key Considerations for the Identification and Selection of Safer Chemical Alternatives, this report describes the results of a landscape study of sustainability attributes used by companies to guide chemical and material selection decisions. Results outline the range of sustainability attributes being considered, factors guiding the choice of standards and metrics used, as well as lessons learned in terms of challenges, needs and opportunities in the use and interpretation of a range of sustainability impacts to support chemical/material selection decisions. Companies are at various stages, given their value chain position and individual circumstances, in considering sustainability attributes in their chemical and material selection decisions, whether for the design of new chemistries, industrial processes or industrial/consumer products. Companies noted that sustainability attributes were not often considered in chemical substitution efforts given that regulatory and market-based chemical restrictions are primary risk-driven. Future guidance development to establish a minimum and recommended set of sustainable attributes should be flexible to the company/sector/product context as well as specific standards or metrics that could be used to evaluate them. Guidance should also be supportive of chemical-level innovation and selection decisions and aligned with forthcoming mandatory sustainability reporting requirements.