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Later this month, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) will launch a website—demanded for years by industry critics—that will track the health, safety, and environmental practices of individual member companies.
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It’s the first step in a wider campaign to open a window on the U.S. chemical industry’s performance in these areas, ACC officials told attendees at the annual Responsible Care Conference on May 3 in Miami. The company information will be found at a site now under development: www.responsiblecare.com.
Fran Keeth, chairman of ACC’s Board Committee on Responsible Care, told about 420 attendees that the site will “expand the transparency” of the U.S. chemical industry. It will include statistics on such areas as company greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, product stewardship, and security, she said.
Keeth, president of Shell Chemical, said the new website is part of a larger plan to reach out to the general public. That effort got a boost when the ACC board of directors met late last month and quietly authorized $20 million to be spent on its long-awaited advertising and communications program.
Terry F. Yosie, ACC vice president of Responsible Care, affirmed that the communications program would finally get under way next year, but with less than the $50 million per year proposed two years ago when ACC unveiled its plans. The ambitious spending proposal “was never realistic,” Yosie acknowledged. The $20 million campaign is “more financially sustainable,” he said, noting the financial pressures that are affecting most U.S. many chemical makers.
If it does get going, the outreach program won’t happen a moment too soon. According to a global strategic survey of Responsible Care conducted by London-based consultants SustainAbility, most people view the chemical industry as “a necessary evil.”
Jeff Erikson of SustainAbility, London-based business consultants on corporate responsibility who discussed the survey at the Responsible Care meeting, said that although people admire the industry’s technical expertise, they are troubled by its lack of transparency, accountability, and failure to use common metrics.
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