Kemianteollisuus

Responsible Care - Our commitment to sustainability

Responsible Care: 31 years in Finland
57% of Finnish Responsible Care companies have set a climate target
Responsible Care: 31 years in Finland

Results

Energy consumption
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Safety
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Circular economy
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Greenhouse gas emissions
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Responsible Care is the chemical industry’s voluntary sustainability programme.

In Finland it has been in action for a whopping 31 years!

2022 results show a commitment to making climate goals a reality in areas such as the use of energy and raw materials. Over half of Finnish companies committed to Responsible Care have set a climate target. The use of reused and renewable materials grew.

Committed companies

Carbon neutral chemistry

The chemical industry in Finland has set an ambitious goal. We strive for climate neutrality and nature positivity. We aim to reach our goal by both reducing carbon footprint and increasing handprint. In practice this means reducing our own carbon footprint, that is, our greenhouse gas emissions. It also means increasing our handprint through products and solutions that reduce our customer’s emissions. New raw materials, new technologies, and circular economy will play an important role in this process.

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News
The chemical industry’s Safety Awards granted to change agents - safety involves everyone
The awards highlighted new change agents and well-established contributors to best practices, as well as players who have successfully weathered the exceptional circumstances.
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Case
Neste sets an ambitious target for carbon neutral production by 2035
Neste is committed to reaching carbon neutral production by 2035. The commitment complements Neste’s other strategic climate commitment of reducing customers’ greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030.
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Case
Heating a large factory with waste heat
Kiilto has set itself clear environmental goals and aims to make all its operations carbon-neutral by 2028.
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Case
Saving the climate with know-how − Six strategic capabilities and success factors to achieve carbon neutrality in the chemical industry
The Chemical Industry Federation of Finland and Aalto University studied the essential strategic capabilities and success factors for the industry to achieve the carbon neutrality goal.
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Case
Cooling an enzyme plant with outdoor air
Roal is a biotechnology company that takes full advantage of Finland’s climate to save energy in its manufacture of industrial enzymes.
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From an employee’s point of view, Responsible Care has given us great results with work life development. Information flows easily and understanding increases.
Jenni Uljas, Member of the Finnish Responsible Care Steering Group, Industrial Union

Energy consumption

The companies committed to the Responsible Care programme in Finland have improved their energy efficiency gradually during the past years. Many of them have signed the national energy efficiency commitment too.

Many processes in the chemical industry require high pressure and high temperatures. This leads to high overall energy consumption. The majority of consumed electricity is bought from energy producers.

Results of 2022

Since 1995, energy consumption proportionated to total production has decreased by 20% in Finland. In 2022, 26% of the energy used is electricity, while most are other forms of energy, such as heat. Totally 51% of the electricity consumed and 8% of other forms of energy consumed was produced using renewable energy sources.

-0%
Energy consumption
from 1995
0%
of electricity from
renewable sources
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Responsible Care guides holistically the sustainable management of the entire company, covering all areas of responsibility in the areas of personnel, chemicals and environmental safety.
Anne Helenius-Heir, Vice President of EHSQ, Kemira Ltd

Safety

Long-term development of safety culture has lead to good results in the Finnish chemical industry. The aim is in continuous development of safety towards a zero-incident goal.

Since 2000 lost time injuries have decreased to a quarter. The lost time injury frequency rate (LTI) of the chemical industry is significantly lower than in general in the Finnish industry. A good sign of an active safety culture is the constantly growing number of safety observations.

Results of 2022

2022 marks a return to a positive safety development. In 35% of companies there were no injuries among employees or contractors. The lost time injury frequency rate reached it’s best score of all time.

-0%
lost time injuries frequency rate
(LTI3) from 1988
0.0
lost time injuries frequency rate (LTI3)

Lost time injuries frequency rate and work hours lost
per million man-hours worked

injuries/million man-hours worked
1000 hours/million man-hours worked
0
10
20
30
40
50
0
1
2
3
4
1988
1991
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
2022
Lost time injuries frequency rate
Work hours lost
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Responsible Care highlights the longterm development of safety. If last year a quarter of companies were in the "zero injury club", I am sure the direction is towards 100% through collaboration and sharing best practices.
Elisa Tuhkanen, Health, Safety, Environment and Security Manager, Kraton Chemical

Circular economy

Circular economy is in the heart of chemical industry and materials are used very efficiently in the industry. The raw materials differ as much as the end-products, which tells about the heterogenity of the chemical industry.

Most of the waste is utilised as raw material in other processes or as energy. The amount of materials going to waste has decreased significantly. Molecules are reused more and more.

Water is used both in chemical industry processes as well as in products as a raw material. Focus on water consumption has lead to an even further efficient use of resources.

Results of 2022

Resources are used efficiently in the Finnish chemical industry’s processes and the work develops constantly. In 2022, 53% of the companies reported to use recycled materials in their production. In 2020 5,4% of materials leaving the production are by-products and waste materials.

0%
of materials used are
recycled or renewable
-0%
Water consumption
from 1995

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With chemistry we can solve the climate crisis. Responsible Care has been guiding our work for 30 years and offered tools for building a more sustainable future. The work continues!
Sami Nikander, Director, Responsibility, the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland

Greenhouse gas emissions

The Finnish chemical industry’s greenhouse gas emissions keep on declining, while advancing towards carbon neutrality. The chemical industry is accountable for a little under 10% of the total greenhouse gas emissions from Finland.

In the chemical industry, the work to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions has been done by developing processes and switching to using as low-emission energy as possible. To reach the carbon neutrality goals, we need innovative new solutions alongside continuous improvement.

Results of 2022

The work to reduce the Finnish chemical industry’s carbon footprint has been ongoing for a long time and greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 32% since 1999. In 2022 the total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions were 4.5 million tons CO2e.

-0%
Greenhouse gas emissions
from 1999
-0%
Greenhouse gas emissions
from 2019
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