International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) Responsible Care Status Report, December, 1996Executive Summary
Status Report
Annex I
Annex II
Annex III
Annex IV
Annex V
Executive Summary
In response to a request made at the Round Table Meeting of Ministers and chemical industry Chief Executive Officers (Stockholm, January 15-16, 1996), the global chemical industry, as represented by the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), wishes to present a status report on the worldwide implementation of the Responsible Care initiative.
Responsible Care is the trademark name for the chemical industry's voluntary, global initiative to realize its commitment to continuous improvement in all aspects of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) performance and to openness in communication about its activities and its achievements.
* The ICCA now coordinates an international program which in 12 years has been adopted in 40 countries, thus bringing Responsible Care to 86 percent (by production volume) of the global chemical industry.
* The chemical industry believes that the implementation of the Responsible Care initiative is an extremely effective means of improving environmental, health and safety performance and thus helps to achieve the risk reduction objectives set forth in Agenda 21's Chapter 19.
* Eighteen practical examples of voluntary actions are presented in detail in the paper to demonstrate the wide range of initiatives and beneficial outcomes.
* The strength of Responsible Care is the collective action at international, national and local levels to share and promote best practice
* to reduce risk.
* The industry is taking steps to respond to the public's concerns on environment, health and safety issues by listening to views expressed at both national and local levels, and engaging in greater dialogue.
* Our future credibility will be strengthened by three current ICCA initiatives: Increasing the coverage of meaningful performance reporting; establishing processes to verify commitment and implementation; and, spreading the disciplined Responsible Care ethic both across the sector and up and down the product supply chain.
* The ICCA commends Responsible Care to IFCS as an outstanding model for voluntary industry efforts to promote chemical risk management as a complement to appropriate regulation.
Status Report
Background
Responsible Care(1) is an initiative developed and adopted by chemical companies to improve continuously environmental, health and safety (EHS) performance of their operations and products in a manner responsive to the concerns of the public. Responsible Care was first adopted as a new model for the management of chemicals by the Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA) in 1985 and has since been adopted by chemical associations and their members in an additional 39 nations. Responsible Care is the basis of significant cultural change within the chemical industry which is leading to improved performance and new levels of openness with the public.
The global chemical industry plays an important role in modern society by contributing to the solution of human problems ranging from hunger, sickness and sanitation to housing, transportation and leisure. The processes and products that deliver these benefits often have properties with the potential for harm to health and the environment if they are not managed properly. As a result, the public has concerns about the products and operations of the industry. The industry recognizes that, in decades past, there have been real problems with its environmental performance, but major strides have been made since then. Through the implementation of Responsible Care, the chemical industry, led by the Chairmen and CEOs of companies, has delivered improved EHS performance and new levels of responsiveness to the public's concerns about chemical risk reduction.
Responding to Agenda 2
The global chemical industry, as represented by the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) (See Annex 1 for information on the ICCA and its Responsible Care Leadership Group), views Responsible Care as a practical and visible tool for meeting its obligation to manage safely the risks associated with the ever-widening range of chemical production and products. Agenda 21 (Chapter 19.
encourages the development and promotion of Responsible Care and its attendant product stewardship activities. The chemical industry has responded by expanding the reach of Responsible Care to 40 countries which account for approximately 86 percent of the world's chemical production. In each case, the initiative is sponsored by a nation's leading chemical trade association representing both domestic and multinational chemical producers. Participating chemical companies in each country commit themselves to adhere to the Responsible Care Guiding Principles which state that a company will manage its activities so that they represent an acceptably high level of protection for the health and safety of employees, customers and the public and for the environment. Furthermore the companies will reflect these commitments in their policies and practices.
The growth and integrity of Responsible Care is guided by the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) and its Responsible Care Leadership Group. Through the Leadership Group, the ICCA has identified certain fundamental features of Responsible Care which must be present in each national association's initiative(See Annex 2 for information on the ICCA's Fundamental Features of Responsible Care). The Responsible Care fundamental features are intended to ensure global consistency of the initiative for the chemical industry and for its stake-holders. It is the view of the ICCA that effective implementation of the fundamental features by an association and its members will lead to improved EHS performance, risk reduction, increased influence of interested parties' views within the industry and the spread of the Responsible Care ethic both within and outside the chemical industry.
Collective Action to Reduce Risk
Managing risk has been a role traditionally addressed by individual companies working alone or with their stakeholders to comply with regulatory requirements. Individual companies have made progress in reducing chemical risk. In some cases, however, a company's actions were limited to localized improvements or failed to meet standards required by regulators or the expectations of the public. Additionally, company and industry innovation and flexibility in addressing chemical risk management has often been hampered by government command-and-control regulatory pressures. In the developed world, purpose-designed and well-enforced laws and regulations focusing on solely end-of-the-pipe solutions can cause industry to devote scarce resources to meeting only minimum requirements in order to avoid penalties and legal actions. In developing countries, enforcement of laws and regulations is often hampered by a lack of resources and uncertainty about what is expected of individual companies.
Implementation of Responsible Care by a national chemical association transforms the traditional view of risk management from an individual company activity to the responsibility of a group of like-minded companies representing significant segments of a nation's chemical production. These companies seek broad-based performance improvement, reduction of risk and the establishment of best management practices. Factors driving this new mind-set, which leads to a public commitment by a national chemical trade associations' members to Responsible Care, includes:
* agreement among participating companies that successful risk management and risk reduction practices are to be shared to promote collective performance improvement;
* peer pressure among companies driven by an understanding that the failure of one company to deliver on its commitment threatens the
* entire group's license to operate;
* input from interested parties or stakeholders both within and outside the industry which continually emphasizes their expectations and
* raises industry performance;
* belief that given the opportunity to innovate and introduce flexibility into their response to regulation, companies can meet and exceed regulatory and stakeholder expectations; and
* awareness that the Responsible Care message and its benefits must be shared throughout the chemical supply and customer chain to foster product stewardship and improved chemical risk management.
Because of this belief in benefits of collective action, the chemical industry has made significant progress in reducing its impacts on human health and the environment.
Results
Since the early 1990s, many of the national chemical associations implementing Responsible Care have begun to collect EHS data from their members to measure the positive impact on performance. While the amount of EHS performance data varies between countries, positive trends are beginning to emerge wherever Responsible Care is being implemented (See Annex 3 for information on each national association's Responsible Care activities).
In addition to the positive trend in process- and product- related performance results, the chemical industry has made a concerted effort to respond to the challenges outlined in Agenda 21's Chapter 19. These efforts include risk reduction efforts - many of which were underway prior to Agenda 21 - at the company, association and international level. In many cases these risk reduction efforts have been conducted with the participation of customers, suppliers and other stakeholders within the chemical distribution chain.
Specific examples of the global chemical industry's efforts to manage chemical risk on a collective basis through Responsible Care include:
* Working with the OECD's Risk Reduction Program, a group of chemical companies concerned about the health and environmental effects of brominated flame retardants have conducted extensive research and education activities on these products, including bromine recycling. The companies have sponsored a series of Conferences on brominated flame retardant issues in Europe, Japan and the U.S. and distribute a newsletter on these issues to an international audience of customers, users and other interested parties. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.14)
* Chemical companies working in concert with shippers and users of hydrogen fluoride in the United States and Mexico have sponsored a number of programs to improve the safe handling of this material. Safety Seminars and
* mutual assistance networks have been created. Because of the success of the program in promoting safe handling of hydrogen fluoride, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported to the U.S. Congress that no additional regulations were needed for this material. The cooperation on hydrogen fluoride issues is part of a larger effort to coordinate chemical distribution safety programs in North America. This larger effort is co-sponsored by the U.S., Canadian and Mexican chemical associations. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.44)
* In Europe, 16 out of the 22 member federations of the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) have processes for responding to chemical transportation emergencies under the umbrella of the International Chemical Environment (ICE) program. These national processes are known by their local acronyms: TUIS, TRINS, TRANSAID, FIN-TERC, CHEMSAFE, SIET, TRC, A.C. Schutz. As a result of the success of ICE and these national processes, information on best practices for emergency response procedures
* have been transferred to countries in Central and Eastern Europe. A similar program, CHEMTREC, has been operated in the U.S. by the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) since 1971. ANIQ, in Mexico, and ABIQUIM, in Brazil, are operating emergency response centers. Efforts to create emergency response programs in Latin America and Asia are strongly supported by the chemical industry as a means of improving transportation safety and emergency response processes. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.49)
* The German chemical industry achieved a reduction in CO2-emissions of 25 percent between 1990 and 1993. In a voluntary agreement, the VCI undertakes the obligation to reduce CO2-emissions by 40 percent by the year 2005. The basis of reference is 1987. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.49)
* In Australia, the Plastics and Chemical Industries Association (PACIA) has defined product-specific codes of conduct which extend well beyond regulatory requirements. These codes of conduct areas include: Acrylonitrile Handling, Sodium Cyanide Emergencies, TDI Emergency Preparedness, Hydrofluoric Acid Supply Management and Controls on Illicit Drug Precursors. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.44)
* Working with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the chemical industry has supported and participated in more than 50 local, national and regional APELL seminars and workshops. ICCA associations provide support for a safety professional at UNEP for managing the APELL program. APELL has provided an opportunity for chemical industry experts to work with local officials on emergency planning and risk reduction. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.49)
* To foster the spread of the Responsible Care ethic to allied industries, ICCA is encouraging the creation of Responsible Care Partnerships. These partnerships allow non-chemical companies to fully participate in the program, share best practices and extend the ethic of continuous EHS improvement and responsiveness to the public throughout the distributor and customer supply chain. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.49) (See Annex 4 for information on ICCA's Responsible Care Partnership Principles)
* CMA and the CCPA each sponsor the Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response (TRANSCAER) program to assist communities to plan and prepare for transportation incidents involving hazardous materials. In both the U.S. and Canada, the chemical industry, along with major transportation associations, sponsor numerous activities to provide training to local emergency responders. A prominent feature of each association's TRANSCAER program is its "Whistle Stop Tour" which allows local emergency response teams to tour railroad equipment used to transport chemicals. Several thousand local officials have participated in the TRANSCAER activities in the two countries. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.49)
* As a result of voluntary reduction efforts sponsored by the Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA), the level of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) emissions at VCM/PVC production facilities in Japan decreased by almost 50 percent between 1990 and 1993. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.44)
* In the United States, chemical manufacturers are working with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop appropriate workplace exposure limits for carbon disulfide. This effort is being coordinated with European companies. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.16)
* In the United Kingdom, member companies of the CIA have reduced discharges of Red List substances (27 substances or groups of substances which are of particular concern if discharged to water) by 89 percent since 1990. The trend for other measures including distribution incidents, energy consumption and lost time accidents continues to improve. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.44)
* Member companies of the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association (CCPA) have voluntarily reduced emissions of all substances except CO2 by 50 percent since 1992 and have projected a further 50 percent reduction by 2000. Working with the Canadian government, CCPA members have pledged to voluntarily reduce benzene emissions by 75 percent by the year 2000. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.49)
* Finland's Kemianteollisuus Ry (KT RY) collects and publishes more than twenty performance indicators. Since 1988 lost time accidents have decreased by 50 percent among KT RY members while the number of member company personnel participating in safety training courses has doubled. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.
* Members of the Vereniging van de Nederlandse Chemische Industrie (VNCI) in The Netherlands continue to make progress in emission reductions where a goal of reducing emissions by 50 percent (1985 baseline) was achieved in 1994 more than five years ahead of schedule. VNCI members have set a goal of a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency by the year 2000. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.49)
* The Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association (PACIA) in Australia reports that its members have reduced the number of transportation incidents involving chemicals by more than 35 percent since 1990. Employee lost time injuries are down 30 percent since 1990 and workdays lost per employee by 50 percent. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.49, 19.
* Members of the U.S. CMA have reduced the number of workplace injuries and illnesses from 3.15 per 100 employees in 1992 to 2.5 per 100 employees in 1995. CMA member company rates are significantly lower than the U.S. chemical industry as a whole and one-fourth the rate for all manufacturing sectors. (Agenda 21, Chapter 19.
* In France, the association Secursol has developed several programs to ensure the safe use of chlorinated solvents.
* Federchimica, the Italian chemical industry federation, published its Second Annual Environmental Report which showed an average improvement of 50 percent in overall EHS performance between 1989 and 1995. Furthermore, an in-depth survey, carried out on 42,000 employees at 57 companies, demonstrated a high awareness of environmental issues.
Although far from comprehensive, the results and activities listed above reflect a general trend within associations which have adopted Responsible Care (See Annex 5 for information on additional Responsible Care references) As more national chemical associations collect performance data as part of their Responsible Care programs, their member companies will be subject to greater performance expectations from their peers and outside stake-holders.
This in turn will lead to greater performance improvements which are best achieved through full implementation of Responsible Care. Currently, more than half of the associations implementing Responsible Care are collecting EHS performance data. Many associations are only beginning to identify performance indicators for future use. The ICCA fully expects EHS performance results in these countries to mirror the progress being made in those countries where the data is already being reported.
Why Responsible Care?
The global chemical industry has embraced Responsible Care because it is viewed as both "good citizenship" and a positive impact on companies' economic bottom line. For the individual company, implementation of Responsible Care leads to improved efficiency, lower EHS costs and improved relations with stakeholders. For the global chemical industry, successful implementation of Responsible Care demonstrates an appropriate public policy which protects its license to operate and its ability to innovate and meet society's demands for its products. For the public, successful implementation of Responsible Care, ensures that the chemical industry will continue to provide beneficial products for society and continually reduce its negative impacts on human health and the environment.
External Recognition
The chemical industry's success with Responsible Care has led to its recognition at the 1992 UNCED meeting in Rio, by the IFCS at numerous forums, by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in its Code of Ethics for the International Trade of Chemicals and by President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development. Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry's Council for Chemical Safety recognized Responsible Care as an example of an effective, voluntary initiative which, in combination with regulations, can promote chemical safety. In addition, individual chemical companies have received recognition at the national and local level for their efforts under Responsible Care to reduce risk and promote product stewardship.
In recent years, Responsible Care has also become a model for other industries or institutions which seek voluntary approaches to performance improvement and openness with stake-holders. In New Zealand, Responsible Care 's value is demonstrated by the adoption of the initiative by significant segments of the nations' public and private sectors including the armed forces. In the United States, the Department of Energy has recognized Responsible Care as an effective means of reducing chemical risks and is encouraging adoption of the initiative by its facility contractors.
Accountability
One of the key tenets of Responsible Care is openness and responsiveness to public and other stakeholder concerns about the management of chemicals. As a result, the chemical industry has a keen appreciation of the need to seek input from the public and other interested groups, include this input into its development of policy, and report on its progress in meeting these expectations.
National Audiences
Following an example pioneered by the Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA), a number of national chemical associations have created National Advisory Panels to provide public input into the development and implementation of Responsible Care. These panels ensure that the performance expectations of interested groups are a part of industry planning processes. Formal national Responsible Care panels are now also sponsored by the U.S. Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) and the Australian Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association (PACIA).
The Japan Chemical Industries Association (JCIA) sponsors a panel of experts to provide input to its members on EHS issues while The Netherlands' Vereniging van de Nederlandse Chemische Industrie (VNCI) has created a Board Advisory Panel to provide similar information to its leadership. A number of other associations are now in the process of forming national advisory panels as part of their Responsible Care programs. Many other countries seek out public and other stakeholders views through discussions with "opinion formers," such as the case of the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) in the United Kingdom. By this process, the associations receive independent national advice on health, safety and environmental issues.
Local Audiences
In addition to these national advisory processes, individual chemical companies have realized the essential need for local community dialogue concerning their production and distribution facilities. A growing number of formal and informal mechanisms are being established by chemical companies around the world to foster dialogue with local communities. One successful example of company-community dialogue is the local Community Advisory Panel. This local version of the National Advisory Panel provides input to chemical facility management and reinforces the local facility's accountability to the community in which it operates. In cases where panels do not yet exist, facility managers seek outside parties' input through other forums such as meetings with local leaders, open houses or progress reports to the media. One example of this willingness to dialogue with communities occurred in Italy, where more than 70 chemical plants were visited by more than 50,000 people in an "Open Factories Week" in October 1995. Australia's biennial "Open Door Weekends" have hosted more than 30,000 visitors at 50 member company manufacturing sites.
Reporting our Results
As part of their Responsible Care commitment, participating companies and their trade associations report performance data to the public. This voluntary reporting provides the public with specific, meaningful data on the industry's EHS performance and demonstrates the industry's commitment to exceeding public expectations. Examples of these voluntary reports include: "Indicators of Performance" by the U.K. Chemical Industries Association (CIA) which includes information on worker safety, emissions, waste releases, environment-related spending and community complaint processes; CCPA's annual "Emissions Inventory and Five Year Projections" which has been identified by Environment Canada as a "model for other industries to follow;" and the Australian Plastics and Chemical Industries Association' (PACIA) which is moving towards a series of performance indicators developed by a team of industry and public participants including a "Survey of Local Community Advisory Panel Satisfaction." PACIA reports that local panels have increased by 50 percent in two years and most panelists are "moderately to well satisfied with the industry's progress." The number and scope of association reports and individual company reports continues to expand to meet public expectations.
Verification
The chemical industry is further demonstrating its accountability by voluntarily including the public in programs to verify companies' implementation of Responsible Care. In several countries, members of the public, working with industry experts, are reviewing companies implementation of Responsible Care in an effort to promote continuous EHS improvement and build credibility among key audiences. ICCA has recognized the importance of Responsible Care verification by recently adding it to its list of Fundamental Features. (see Annex 4)
Future challenges
Despite Responsible Care 's many successes, the global chemical industry, as represented by ICCA, acknowledges that many challenges remain. The industry must continue to improve performance and increase its collection and dissemination of these results as a means of accountability to its stakeholders. Currently Responsible Care performance data reporting exists in many countries, but stakeholder expectations for industry reporting continue to rise. Future performance measures must be meaningful to stakeholders and demonstrate and deliver on the industry's commitment to continuous EHS improvement.
In addition to its focus on performance measures, the ICCA will pursue the goal of Responsible Care verification within its member associations. This will allow chemical companies to confirm their commitment to, and progress in, implementing Responsible Care. As other forms of auditing and verification such as ISO-14001 and EMAS are adopted, ICCA members will strive to integrate their verification processes with these useful standards and programs.
The ICCA and its member associations face a continuing challenge of spreading the ethic of Responsible Care to all sectors of the chemical industry. Currently, Responsible Care is being implemented in 40 nations which account for approximately 86 percent of the world's chemical production. Within these nations, the percentage of chemical production by companies implementing Responsible Care varies from 20 to 90 per-cent of total national production. The percentage of chemical production covered by Responsible Care continues to grow and is driven by peer pressure within chemical trade associations and by the positive performance achievements realized through implementation of the initiative.
The goal of the ICCA is to extend the initiative to an ever-increasing number of chemical companies around the world to include as much of the world's production of chemicals as possible under the umbrella of Responsible Care. Through Responsible Care Partnerships, the ICCA intends to spread the ethic to customers, suppliers and allied industries which produce, use or transport chemicals. Partnerships will allow chemical companies to extend their knowledge of chemical risk management to other sectors, thus improving overall product stewardship.
The global chemical industry intends to use Responsible Care as proof that voluntary industry initiatives which focus on flexibility and innovation can complement successfully appropriate regulation to succeed where command-and-control regulatory schemes have failed. Resource-strapped governments in both the developed and developing worlds are seeking new paradigms for environmental protection. Responsible Care is a partial answer to this search. Through this initiative which is based on the implementation of best management practices, continuous EHS improvement and accountability to the public's and other interested parties' expectations, the chemical industry will continue to make progress in reducing chemical risks while maintaining its economic viability.
Conclusions
The past twelve years have seen significant changes in the chemical industry. Because of Responsible Care, all types of chemical companies have publicly committed themselves to responsible EHS management. That commitment is changing the industry culture and affecting the industry's stakeholders in the form of reduced emissions to the environment, improved emergency response, fewer transportation mishaps, improved outreach and communication, safer working conditions and overall reduced risk. These improvements are not restricted to one part of the world, but are occurring wherever Responsible Care is being implemented.
The ICCA believes that Responsible Care is a proven, effective means of achieving superior EHS performance. The ICCA seeks IFCS consideration of Responsible Care as a model for voluntary industry efforts to promote chemical risk management and, thereby, to help fulfill the objectives identified in Agenda 21's Chapter 19. The ICCA further seeks national governments' understanding of the work we are doing and of the major importance of voluntary industry initiatives to complement and, where appropriate, replace regulation and thereby protect human health and the environment.
(1) Responsible Care
is a registered mark of the Chemical Industry
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