Sustainable value proposition

COSSMA: You are responsible for both sustainability and services at DSM PCA. Do these two remits overlap?

Gaelle Bathany: Definitely. Being a company that sees itself as a solution provider rather than just a supplier of ingredients means that we are often leveraging our comprehensive suite of services when addressing our customers’ needs. It’s something that is clearly valued by our customers as can be seen from our biennial NPS (Net Promoter Score) survey results (a market survey that rates the customers’ likelihood of recommending a company, product, or service). Of our services, support with sustainability related topics is one of the most appreciated ones, because while no-one can ignore this topic, it isn’t always straightforward to define and break down into tangible goals and actions.

As a business, our approach serves us well too. Since Covid-19 hit, people have been reassessing their priorities. There’s much more focus now on the basics, human relationships, and building resilience for the future − as individuals, communities, and as a planet. Because we are well attuned to our customers and have been adopting more sustainable practices for some time, we were ready to respond to this shift quickly. Having a dedicated team to guide and implement sustainable working practices is one of the reasons we’ve bounced back so strongly in 2021.

How do you make sure your services bring value to customers?

We take the same dynamic approach to services as we do every other aspect of the business and interact closely with our customers to identify the challenges they face and offer them appropriate, even customised solutions. In addition to our biennial NPS survey, we run a dedicated survey on services – including sustainability – with an external research company. This helps us understand how customers rate the services in relation to other suppliers and to identify unmet needs.

We also innovate as much on service levels as we do in other areas. For instance, it has become clear that application expertise, in the form of formulation support, is now seen as a “given” rather than a differentiator so we have adjusted accordingly. To give you an example, some customers have indicated that they want more support with science and innovation. One way we are responding to this is with innovations and concrete concepts to help communicate complex scientific information in easy-to-understand ways.

Take our 3D facial colour mapping technology. We first used this a couple of years ago to provide a visual depiction of facial skin moisturisation levels and how they respond to treatment with cosmetic ingredients. More recently we’ve been using this same technology to demonstrate the correlation between oily skin, sebum levels and the skin microbiome, and how the daily use with bioactives impacts these. Customers appreciate add-ons like this because they can use the images to reassure end consumers about the product’s efficacy – after all, an image is worth a thousand words.

Another example is the latest updates to our “Sunscreen Optimiser” tool. Sun care and sustainability don’t always sit easily together because what’s safest and most effective from a sun protection perspective might not be ideal when it comes to eco-friendliness. Last year we integrated a new function into our all-in-one tool so that alongside SPF performance, manufacturers could assess, adjust, and classify their formulations’ environmental impact.

We’ve now taken this a step further by adding a system of colour-coded symbols that provides a visual interpretation of the benchmarking and scientific data behind the eco-classification methodology. These symbols can be used to show consumers how eco-friendly sunscreens are. They also reflect our broader commitment to driving sustainable practices in this sector by developing tools and services that help customers minimise their environmental footprint.

What are the main challenges in developing more sustainable ingredients from your perspective?

It would be wonderful to offer fully sustainable ingredients from today, but when there are so many interconnected factors and stakeholders involved in a product’s value chain, we must be honest and realistic. First, what does “sustainable” even mean? There are various benchmarks we can follow, such as ISO guidelines or the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, but these are very broad and high level. There’s also no real alignment across our industry. Then, we must consider whether 100% sustainable is genuinely going to be possible throughout a product or ingredient’s entire life cycle. 

In my view, the most comprehensive tool for assessing sustainability is life cycle analysis, because in addition to being a science-based approach, it also considers the impact on the value chain. Unfortunately, when evaluated against these criteria, not many products can be considered truly sustainable now.

Nonetheless, we are fortunate to have LCA expertise in house and are using this approach to improve the sustainability footprint of some key products. It will take time to apply it across our whole portfolio though. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be doing everything we can right now, or set ambitious goals; just that for us, becoming more sustainable is very much a case of acting where we can, selecting the areas where we can make an impact and leading by example. 

How do you break ambitious aspirations down into more achievable targets?

Our overall corporate sustainability strategy is informed by the UN’s sustainable development goals. Aligned to this is the “DSM Responsible Care Plan” which sets out our ambitions, targets, and actions in key areas under the sustainability umbrella. For climate action, for example, we have set ourselves a long-term target of net zero emissions by 2050. To achieve this, we are following specific science-based targets which have been reviewed and approved by an independent body − the Science Based Targets initiative.

In the mid-term, we are working to a 50% absolute reduction in scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to 2016, and to achieve this, we plan to purchase 75% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030. We have already achieved 100% renewable electricity in Switzerland. For scope three emissions, we are aiming for a 28% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per ton of product by 2030 compared to 2016. To support this aim, we are working closely with key suppliers through a dedicated supplier engagement program which earned us recognition from the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2020 and 2021.

At product level, how do you assess and improve sustainability?

Last year, we spoke to you about our “Sustainability Imp’act Card” methodology and this is now one of the main tools we use to apply tangible sustainability data at product level. The name merges two words: “impact”, because sustainability is all about growing positive and mitigating negative impacts, and “action”, as in, what we need to do to improve the situation and fill in the gaps.

The cards contain qualitative and quantitative data on each product’s environmental impact, social impact, identity, and traceability and are compiled using respected external benchmarks and methodologies. To assess environmental impact for example, we use the IPCC method to calculate carbon emissions; OECD guidelines and tests to assess biodegradability; and WBCSD guidelines and the WRI aqueduct tool to evaluate water footprint¹. 

The cards help us identify areas where we can make improvements and give us a reference for new product development. They also give customers meaningful information about our ingredients at every stage of the value chain so that they too can deliver more sustainable solutions to end-consumers and meet expectations in terms of transparency.

Could you give a specific example of how you address your products’ environmental impact?

In 2019, DSM opened its own biomass power plant to generate electricity at its vitamins manufacturing site in Sisseln in Switzerland. We are now using renewable energy from here to produce our cosmetic-grade Vitamin E, which has enabled us to cut emissions for this ingredient by 15%. This is significant because Vitamin E is used in one out of every two personal care products.

The plant, which is one of the largest biomass facilities in the country, is also an important showcase for the group’s commitment to sustainability. Because as well as giving us a renewable energy source, it supplies steam energy to neighbouring companies and electricity to 17,500 local households. Creating a new renewable energy facility doesn’t just happen overnight – which is what I mean about being realistic in the short term – but it will contribute to our net zero ambition by 2050.

Sustainability also covers social responsibility; what action are you taking in this area?

We are currently piloting a project in Dalry, Scotland where we produce Panthenol. This site is recognised for its efficient water use, less generation and better use of waste. We also know that our European customers appreciate being able to source ingredients via a shorter supply chain. However, as it’s located in North Ayrshire, which is the third most deprived area in Scotland, it was clear we could make more of a social impact here.

Social inclusion, diversity, and hiring from underprivileged communities have underpinned DSM’s recruitment policy for a long time and at Dalry, we have always made a point of employing local people as this region has higher than average unemployment levels. Currently, 67% of our Dalry workforce lives in North Ayrshire and we employ senior workers, veterans and other socially and economically vulnerable people.

As a next step though, we want to support young people too. We are currently working with the local college of further education to encourage disadvantaged youngsters into STEM-based training and careers − in general or through our apprenticeships. We have also introduced the DSM Chemical Engineering Postgraduate Scholarship, with bursaries to enable underprivileged students to complete masters level studies in chemical engineering at the University of West Scotland. And as well as the Scholarship, we have sponsored a DSM Student Prize to celebrate the achievements of two undergraduate students of chemical engineering.

How do you plan to take sustainability to the next level?

Customers and end consumers both want to see a commitment to sustainability throughout the value chain, and ultimately, we want to offer our customers similar sustainability profiles for our outsourced ingredients as for our in-house products. However, this is no mean feat as there are so many different interests to align. To get started, we are introducing sustainable sourcing guidelines for everyone involved in our supply chains. Because once we have a common language, we can define criteria and set concrete goals at every level. To make our portfolio more sustainable, we also recognise that sustainability must be considered at the outset of the innovation and development process, so we are introducing sustainable innovation guidelines too to embed it at the very start. 

To maximise our positive impact, we need to work together and strive to instil sustainable practices at every stage and in every area of our operations. This takes a mindset shift, but it’s encouraging to see what can be achieved when people come on board.

For example, in PCA we have an internal employee community of sustainability ambassadors who have volunteered to drive sustainability in their areas and seek out opportunities to make our business operations more sustainable. One of them suggested that we use more sustainable packaging for our trade show samples so we have initiated a new project with a leading international packaging company, who now supply this for our sun care samples. In time, we plan to use similar packaging for all our samples. This might seem like a small step, but it is one in the right direction. It also shows that our approach to changing the mindset within our company, through training and education, is working!

Reference

¹ IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change); OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development); WBCSD (World Business Cuncil for Sustainable Development); WRI(World Resource Institute)