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Clariant chases sustainable development in China
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SWISS specialty chemicals producer Clariant will accelerate its sustainable growth in China as sales and marketing data indicate a high level of interest in sustainable products among the country’s consumers.
“As we all know, China is still very much reliant on CO2-intensive technologies. On the other hand, China is a country where technology and the recycling economy are developing the fastest and to the greatest degree,” Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant, told Shanghai Daily at its first sustainability dialogue, an event held in Frankfurt, Germany on September 2.
For Clariant, growing awareness about the importance of sustainability among Chinese shoppers is another key factor in shaping the company’s long-term plans in the country.
“As consumer demand for transparency and sustainable performance goes beyond compliance, public opinion in China is changing dramatically with regard to sustainability,” said Kottmann.
“In the past, people in China were asking above all about a company’s investments, how many jobs they were creating and how much tax they were paying in China. Today, a clear majority of all the questions are on the subjects of environmental protection, water, air and other sustainability-related topics.”
Given current environmental conditions in China, as well as increasing societal and regulatory pressure, Kottmann believes the specialty chemicals industry should deliver products which limit energy and water consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions.
Senior officials at the company also expressed confidence in China’s chemicals market despite the current slowdown in economic growth.
Martin Vollmer, chief technology officer at Clariant, predicted at the dialogue that demand for chemicals — particularly for specialty and bio-based chemicals — will grow strongly until 2030.
By this point, he believes, global demand for chemicals could increase two-fold over today’s levels, while Asia is expected to account for more than two-thirds of the market. Meanwhile, bio-based chemicals are expected to account for more than 20 percent of all chemical product sales within the coming 15 years.
According to Vollmer, 3.5 percent of company sales in 2014 were used to fund innovation.
Officials at Clariant also said that China’s new environmental regulations — which have become increasingly strict in order to foster a more sustainable economic development model — will help the company expand its market share based on its competence in sustainability.
Under a new environmental protection law which took effect at the start of the year, the first six months in 2015 saw Chinese authorities conduct more than 620,000 environmental protection checks at local enterprises. Among this group, 15,839 enterprises were ordered to suspend production, 9,325 were shut down and 23,227 were fined, according to China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Given that the new law also allows NGOs to directly sue companies over environmental issues, Guo Peiyuan, general manager of SynTao, a Beijing-based consultancy promoting sustainability in Asia, said foreign enterprises could team up with credible NGOs to showcase their competence in terms of sustainability.
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