ACA Sustainability Report 2022 - Report - Page 53
Improving the Community and the Climate
MEMBER STORY
Climate Protection, Circular Economy, Safer Materials
As a materials science company, our
ambition is to be the most innovative,
customer centric, inclusive and
sustainable materials science company
in the world. Our purpose is to deliver a
sustainable future through innovation,
expertise and collaboration with our
partners. To achieve our sustainability
ambitions, we are focusing our efforts
around three areas: Climate Protection,
Safer Materials and Advancing a
Circular Economy. Here is a sample
of exciting technologies and solutions
that Dow’s Coatings & Performance
Monomers business offers, aligned
with Dow’s sustainability priorities.
Climate Protection
Dow aims to reduce emissions by
five million metric tons by 2030 — a
15% reduction versus our 2020
baseline. This target is the next
step in our broader commitment to
achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. To
support this goal, Dow’s Coatings &
Performance Monomers business, is
targeting a 30% reduction in emissions
by reducing our footprint, increasing
use of renewable power and expanding
the portfolio of lower carbon binders
and additives.
Circular Economy
To advance a circular economy, Dow
will enable the collection of one million
metric tons of plastics to be re-used
or recycled through direct actions and
partnerships, and by 2035, all products
sold into packaging applications will be
reusable or recyclable.
RHOBARR™, Dow’s portfolio of
waterborne barrier coatings for
paper-based substrates, enables
brand owners, converters and mills
to develop new paper packaging
formats to meet sustainability
commitments and consumers’
expectations for recyclable and
repulpable packaging. An exciting
upcoming product launch is
RHOBARR™ 325 Barrier Dispersion,
which provides excellent barrier to
hot and cold liquids, strong heat
sealability, and excellent repulpability.
In paper cups, RHOBARR 320™
Barrier Dispersion provides
sustainability benefits through the
use of barriers that are up to 70%
thinner and have 50% lower carbon
emissions than incumbent coatings.
When repulped, up to 99% of the
paper fibers can be recycled.
Safer Materials
For our architectural and industrial
coatings customers, we offer more
than 150 binders and additives that
are APEO-free and that enable low to
ultra-low VOC paints and coatings.
All of our new product innovations
are APEO-free and our aim is to have
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our entire portfolio be APEO-free by
2030. Our products are enabling our
customers to remove materials of
concern from end-products. Here are
two illustrative examples:
• To get oil, grease and water
barrier, fluorochemical
additives (e.g., PFAS) have
been commonly used in food
packaging containers. The use of
RHOBARR™ 214 Acrylic Emulsion
in paper packaging eliminates the
need for PFAS additives.
• We spend more than 90% of our
time indoors. Indoor air can be
2-3 times more polluted than
outdoors and a known indoor
air pollutant is formaldehyde, an
irritant and a probable human
carcinogen. Indoor paints that
feature FORMASHIELD™ binders,
capture formaldehyde, thus
helping improve indoor air quality.
Sustainability at Dow is broad in scope,
innovative in character and designed
to create a positive impact on society
and the environment. Let’s formulate
together for a more sustainable future!