Reducing the impact on our world
We recognize our responsibility to the planet and future generations and stand firm in our commitment to mitigating the effects of climate change by reducing our impact and being environmental stewards. We understand that while our products create greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their production, use, and end-of-life, they are also important in everyday life and can support our customers in their sustainability journeys.
Central to our program is the imperative to reduce GHG emissions. We are focused on curbing our emissions through careful measurement and innovative technologies.
We are also committed to minimizing waste and embracing the circular economy. By reimagining our production processes, enhancing resource efficiency, and utilizing waste materials as co-products, we can reduce waste at its source while repurposing materials previously labeled as waste. Our dedication to the circular economy isn’t just about minimizing waste; it’s about redefining our approach to manufacturing and fostering a culture of innovation and sustainability that permeates all aspects of our operations.
Moreover, we understand that progress requires collaboration across the entire value chain. We are committed to working closely with our partners, suppliers, and customers to reduce our collective impact on the world. Through transparency, accountability, and shared goals, we aspire to forge a sustainable future where environmental stewardship is a shared ethos. Together, we can help to catalyze positive change, ushering in an era where responsible manufacturing isn’t just a goal—it’s
the standard by which we measure our success, both now and for future generations.
Decarbonization plans
Following the development of our decarbonization strategy in 2022, in 2023 we set out our staged approach to developing decarbonization plans for each manufacturing site. Beginning with Greatham, one of our largest manufacturing sites, we created a decarbonization plan that outlines our planned actions to decarbonize our scope 1 and 2 emissions. We will also conduct studies on critical equipment at Greatham, such as boilers, driers, and furnaces, to see how we can retrofit and
upgrade them to utilize low-carbon hydrogen gas in our systems.
In 2024, we plan to develop decarbonization plans for our Huelva site to continue our efforts to reduce emissions.
Progress and Impact
Case Study: Realizing the potential of Carbo-Gi
One of our main markets for gypsum is the agriculture industry, which uses it in soil fertilizers. While gypsum is widely known as having properties suitable for fertilizing soils, in marginal lands such as coastal areas in Malaysia, standard soil fertilizers are not beneficial. Soil amendments are required to provide suitable fertility and soil structure for agricultural practices.
As such, in 2019, our Teluk Kalong site developed a new gypsum-based soil amendment called CarboGI. This combines our gypsum with an organic carbon source derived from the palm oil industry, to create a soil amender that can be used to improve the soil quality of marginal lands. Carbo-GI contains primary and secondary macro-nutrients and trace elements, so it can also be used as a raw material source for producing other fertilizer blends for application to mineral soils. We aim to sell
this product in Malaysia to facilitate higher crop yields in agricultural industries and improve food security.
For this initiative to succeed, the safety of all components must be verified. We are working with leading scientific experts and government authorities to demonstrate the safety and benefits of our products through research studies and trials. For Carbo-GI, as a synthetic gypsum-based solution, we began the Product Acceptance Testing (PAT) in January 2023 to demonstrate its quality, safety, and benefits as a soil amender. This PAT involves a comprehensive study in coordination with Malaysia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security spanning 20 months.
The trials include:
- testing Carbo-GI on non-food crops and food crops over multiple harvest cycles and analyzing the crops’ safety, soil fertility, and plant nutrition.
- analyzing non-food crops’ dietary nutrition value for animals
- monitoring environmental conditions pre-, inter-, and post-harvest data.
- comparing Carbo-GI’s contributions to crop growth against traditional soil improvers such as chicken dung.
The scope of the PAT is extensive, which is why it is supported by various experts from institutes such as the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), University of Putra Malaysia (UPM), and the Department of Environment. At the end of 2023, we had completed the non-food crop aspect of the study, with full results expected to be ready by Q4 2024.
Ultimately, as Malaysia works toward its targets for food security, circular economy, and sustainability practices, our ambition for Carbo-GI is to have a gypsum-based product that is safe to apply, beneficial for crop cultivation, and provides a suitable, cost-effective solution for soil amendment. Following a successful outcome from the PAT, we intend to increase the production and sale of Carbo-GI, which will ultimately help Venator reduce the quantity of gypsum going to landfill at the Teluk Kalong site.
Green House gas emissions
As a chemical manufacturer, our scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions are significant. While our value chain emissions are being targeted for reduction through our Procurement teams, it is essential that we also focus on adapting our infrastructure to reduce the carbon intensity of our operations.
As such, we have committed to a 50% emissions reduction target for our absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
Ambitious short-term emissions reductions are essential to put us on a trajectory to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
