The American Community Right to Know Act was passed in 1986, and it has been more than 30 years. At the time, the idea of companies reporting to the toxic Release Inventory seemed far-reaching, but chemical companies now know that this is part of doing business. US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy declared when touting the success of the TRI chemical report: “People should know what toxic chemicals are using and releasing in their backyards, and what companies are doing to prevent pollution.” TRI is online. Tools, maps and reports provide easy access to this information and help protect our health and the environment. ”
Fast forward to 2017, and information disclosure has evolved from chemical emission reports to include chemical composition reports. Sustainable business news is flooded with articles about company transparency, ingredient disclosure, and new tools for tracking materials from source to product.
According to “Harvard Business Review” (Harvard Business Review), winning in the “era of complete transparency” will bring huge marketing opportunities for companies, because consumers need more information about the products they buy. In a consumer survey sponsored by major chemical and formulation companies such as DuPont and SC Johnson, 84% of respondents in developed countries and 88% of respondents in developing countries ranked ingredient transparency as the most important thing that companies should address. One of the important issues.
Of course, fully disclosing information from the supply chain can be hard work, but the cost of not doing so can be terrible. Our multi-group project investigated the use of bisphenol a (BPA), a highly dangerous hormone disruptor. It was found in food can lining materials that most brands did not require or were unable to fully disclose their information from their can suppliers. The identity and chemical hazards of tank lining materials. But not knowing what is in your product is a growing business responsibility. Take Sigg USA in 2011 as an example. The company had to file for bankruptcy protection and assume US$13 million in debt because its alleged BPA-free bottle was found to be untrue. This aroused the anger of consumers, and the retailer responded quickly and removed its products from the shelves.
Company leaders understand the value of all chemical substances in products. Seagate, the world’s largest manufacturer of disk drives, requires full disclosure of all chemicals in all components in its global supply chain. The reward for doing so is to “keep ahead of the regulatory curve,” thereby reducing costs. When new chemical issues or draft regulations arise, the company has sufficient information to actively respond. Enterprise procurement regulations among enterprises increasingly require the disclosure of all chemical components through tools such as WERCS and UL authority. Kaiser Permanente is the largest non-profit healthcare system in the United States, with operating revenues of US$64.6 billion. It requires its suppliers to fully disclose its ingredients—transparency is only part of doing business.
The business case for understanding chemicals in products has now evolved into a business case that is responsible to the public. The call for improving the company’s chemical policy and product composition transparency will only increase, and company executives must take note of this. The 2017 Retailer Report Card of the Mind The Store campaign evaluated 13 categories of standards, including business-to-business transparency and consumer transparency. The 2015 Chemical Footprint Project’s survey results on the company’s chemical management system showed that most companies did not disclose the actual extent of their internal chemical policies. For example, although 79% of the companies surveyed have an internal restricted substance list, only 17% of the companies make it public. In this “era of complete transparency,” more transparency has multiple benefits. Of course, company leaders, especially in the field of beauty and personal care, already understand this.
A 2015 Harris poll found that 60% of American women said they would read labels on personal care products and avoid products containing certain chemicals. In response, some retailers and brands require their suppliers to disclose all ingredients, including perfume formulations. Thousands of chemical substances are used in “perfume”, and people’s health concerns have exceeded the traditional confidentiality requirements. Some formulators, retailers and brand companies are now beginning to disclose their ingredients on product labels and company websites. Seventh Generation has always been a leader in chemical transparency, and other companies are now following suit, including Reckitt Benckiser, Clorox, SC Johnson & Son, and Unilever USA. US). Retailer Target announced that it will push suppliers to disclose all ingredients in beauty, baby, personal care and household cleaning products by 2020.
