Toggle Search Menu

WATER STEWARDSHIP

DOWNLOAD THE 2023 REPORT

Protecting a Vital Shared Resource

IMPROVING OUR MANAGEMENT AND STEWARDSHIP OF WATER

Access to adequate quantities of clean freshwater is vital to our communities, operations, and supply chain. Our neighbors and surrounding communities expect us to treat and respect water as a shared resource. Water quality and chemical emissions to water are important topics to our stakeholders based on feedback from Community Advisory Panels at our manufacturing sites and other stakeholder engagement activities. We are committed to responsible growth, and that includes responsible stewardship of the water resources we need to produce our products.

Our 2023 Actions

  • Completed construction of underground barrier wall with a groundwater extraction system at Fayetteville Works in North Carolina to reduce the total volume of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds reaching the Cape Fear River
  • Completed investments at three sites—in the Netherlands, France, and Kentucky—to significantly reduce fluorinated organic chemical (FOC) emissions.
  • Continued progress to complete initial operational sustainability assessments, with 75% of sites completed through year-end 2023.

2030 CRC Goals Snapshot

Sustainability RESOURCES

Birds eye view of Chemours Facility
Close Video

Responsibly Manufacturing Sustainable Solutions

Case Studies

Row of water containers

Supplying an Essential Product Responsibly

The past year marked a milestone in a significant investment to address emissions and legacy remediation at our Fayetteville Works plant in North Carolina. The fluorinated products made here are critical to improving the U.S. supply chain for semiconductors and electric vehicles, and for producing green energy to slow global warming. Over the years, we’ve made significant investments—exceeding $400 million—at the site to install state-of-the-art emissions-control technology and remediation facilities, including a thermal oxidizer, which controls process emissions at an average destruction efficiency exceeding 99.99%. In 2023, we completed work on an underground barrier wall adjacent to the Cape Fear River that spans over one mile and is on average six stories deep, as well as a state-of-the-art groundwater extraction and treatment system, further reducing the amount of PFAS compounds reaching the river.

Two employees looking over documentation

Continuing to Reduce FOCs

Progress in 2023 reflects continued investment at facilities to reduce FOC emissions. As an example, our Villers-Saint-Paul site demonstrated a 92% reduction in fluorinated organic chemical (FOC) water emissions in 2023 compared with 2022. In 2023, Dordrecht Works realized the first full year in operation of the state-of-the-art water treatment facility designed to remove greater than 99% of targeted FOC water emissions from the site process contact water streams. Looking forward, we will continue to advance abatement programs to meet our external FOC process water emissions-reduction commitments through continued projects at facilities and exploring both best available technologies and new technology options.

Employees examining a pipe

Lessening Water Stress in Mexico

Our Altamira site is located near a freshwater-stressed region in Mexico. Common concerns for such water sources are low levels or contamination with nearby brackish water. After a drought in 2021, in which brackish water intrusion occurred to our freshwater source, also impacting the local public, farmers and other industry, Chemours invested US$100,000 in a system designed to prevent similar future intrusions. During more recent droughts, no brackish water intrusion has occurred, indicating the solution is working, and benefitting both our site and the region.

Partnering for Progress

Researching Ways to Improve Water Management

A critically important water stewardship research program is Chemours’ sponsorship of independent research projects by University of Georgia faculty and students and private consultants. This team has analyzed surface and groundwater systems at Chemours mine sites, reviewed regional water resource conditions, and developed an advanced model of the Floridan Aquifer in southeast Georgia to help us understand the effects of mine operations and to improve water management. The hydrologic model will eventually be publicly available, providing a state-of-the-art tool for water resource managers. The surficial aquifer analysis has provided a precise understanding of the relationship between mining activities and the water table, which will improve on-site water management and wetland reclamation. To date, all of the independent research has demonstrated that mining has not significantly impacted adjacent waterbodies.