Ningbo, October 26, 2021 – On October 26, 2021, Together for Sustainability (“TfS”) held its 10^th anniversary celebration in Ningbo, China. Representatives of TfS member companies and their chemical suppliers together with chemical industry experts reviewed TfS achievements in China, shared successful practices in the field of sustainable supply chain management and expressed hope for the continuous sustainable development of China’s chemical industry.

Focusing on the sustainable development of the chemical supply chains

TfS was co-founded by Bayer, BASF, LANXESS, Evonik, Henkel and Solvay in 2011. In the past 10 years, the number of TfS member companies has reached 34. TfS is committed to becoming an international hub linking chemical companies and suppliers and further promoting efficient operations and coordinated development of the global chemical supply chains.

Xia Fuliang, President of Evonik Greater China, said in his speech, “As one of the co-founders of TfS, we have always adhered to the concept of sustainable development, and we work with many other member companies to improve environmental, social and governance practice aspects of the chemical supply chains. As sustainable business operations become increasingly important today, such a platform that promotes industry exchanges and enterprise collaboration plays an important role in bringing about change in the industry.”

As the world’s largest chemical producer, China is of great significance to the sustainable development of the global chemical industry. For this reason, TfS has been active in the Chinese market for many years and has helped Chinese chemical companies to improve sustainable supply chain management by conducting sustainability performance evaluation and training chemical suppliers. In 2020, TfS member companies carried out 5,316 assessments and 258 audits of chemical suppliers worldwide, of which 29% and 69% respectively were Chinese chemical suppliers. This has significantly helped Chinese chemical suppliers to improve their sustainable performance. At the celebration event, TfS presented chemical suppliers who have made outstanding achievements in improving their sustainability in recent years with awards to encourage more Chinese chemical companies to transition to a sustainable development path.

Robert Yang, Arkema Asia Pacific Procurement Director, Goods and Services, and TfS APAC President in Duty reviews TfS achievements in the past 10 years

Robert Yang, Arkema Asia Pacific Procurement Director, Goods and Services, and TfS APAC President in Duty, said in his review of TfS achievements in China, “I am delighted to see that more and more Chinese chemical companies commit to improving sustainability of their supply chains. Looking ahead, we look forward to working together with every member of the chemical supply chain within TfS framework to jointly help China’s chemical industry to achieve continuous sustainable development.”

Zhang Shoujun, General Manager of Procurement Department of Wanhua Chemical, shared Wanhua’s sustainable development path, its views on sustainability and its sustainable practices. As the first Chinese company to join TfS, Wanhua takes ‘Chemistry makes life better’ as its vision and is committed to improving the sustainable development of the chemical industry. “Building a green and environmentally friendly modern chemical company is the responsibility of each of us at Wanhua. Since Wanhua joined TfS more than 2 years ago, it has actively participated in various TfS projects, from which it has benefitted significantly,” Zhang Shoujun said. “We look forward to working together with all of you to contribute to the sustainable development of China’s chemical industry and the construction of the global sustainable supply chains.”

Working together with multiple partners and looking forward to the next decade

As an international organization focusing on sustainable procurement, TfS unites the world’s leading chemical companies and industry experts and actively seeks collaboration with major organizations and initiatives with a similar vision and goals. In China, TfS has been successfully cooperating with China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF) since 2016. Since then, TfS has attended the annual China Petroleum and Chemical International Conference (CPCIC), offered training to local suppliers, built a community for sharing expertise and promoted the adoption of global practice standards for sustainable chemical supply chains in China.

Li Shousheng, Chairman of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF), delivered a speech at the event

TfS 10^th anniversary celebration was part of this year’s CPCIC and was attended by Li Shousheng, Chairman of CPCIF. In his speech, he said, “As the chemical industry is a large energy and recourse consumer, its sustainable transformation is crucial to promoting the sustainable development of China and the rest of the world. Achieving “dual carbon goals” set by the Chinese government is a very complex task, but also a major opportunity for the transformation of the chemical industry. TfS meets the urgent needs of the industry in this era and its rich international practice will provide a useful reference for the development of China’s chemical industry.”

TfS also invited a number of industry experts to participate in the roundtable discussion and share their experiences and insights into the chemical supply chain management. Pang Guanglian, Vice Secretary General of CPCIF, and representatives of Wacker Chemie, Covestro, Henkel, SUEZ Asia and Royal DSM discussed the best practices in responsible sourcing and ways to improve sustainability of China’s and global chemical industries. The experts said that as more and more companies face challenges in the sustainable management of the supply chains, industry collaboration will become key to driving change.

To answer the most popular questions about TfS, the guests also talked about the cooperation experience between their respective companies and TfS, and emphasized that win-win cooperation is the key value of TfS. The original intention of TfS was to create a platform for a dialogue among the chemical industry players and together establish sustainable operation standards that meet the development requirements of the industry. TfS welcomes more Chinese companies to become its members.

The industry experts discuss sustainable chemical supply chain management

Looking ahead, TfS sincerely hopes to deepen cooperation with more Chinese companies, industry associations and industry experts and work together to enhance awareness of the need for sustainable development in China’s chemical industry and promote international best practices in sustainable supply chain management. In this way, we can build more sustainable chemical supply chains and create a better future.