Chemours Commitment to Responsible Chemistry.

Our Commitment to Responsible Chemistry.

Chemours’ corporate responsibility commitments.

At Chemours, our purpose is to create a better world through the power of our chemistry. Through our business segments, we bring science-based solutions that are better, safer, more reliable, and more sustainable. Our products play a critical role in achieving climate and sustainability goals. In fact, by 2030 50% or more of our revenue will be from offerings that make a specific contribution to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

Increasingly, our world needs more than just effective and advanced chemistries. It also requires that we contribute to these essential technologies with an unwavering commitment to safety and end-to-end product stewardship, all for the benefit of our shared planet. In 2018, we made a public pledge to bring responsible chemistry to life through our Corporate Responsibility Commitment Goals, which we have been relentlessly executing against ever since.

We take very seriously our obligation to manage the PFAS compounds in our manufacturing processes in a responsible manner and our commitment to eliminate at least 99% of PFAS air and water emissions from our manufacturing processes by 2030. Chemours is leading the industry as the first company in chemical manufacturing to make this public commitment.

Our commitments are backed by action.

Commitments must be met with action and progress. At our Dutch facility in Dordrecht, we’re investing €75 million towards reducing PFAS emissions by more than 99% compared to 2017 baseline levels with significant milestones expected to be achieved in 2021 and 2024. We have successfully deployed technologies at our Fayetteville site in North Carolina to abate 99% of fluorinated emissions, compared to 2017 emissions levels. In Fayetteville we’ve invested over $100 million in emissions control technology and installed a suite of air emissions control equipment. Our state-of-the-art thermal oxidizer will destroy 99.999% of fluorinated organic emissions vented to it.

An image of three chemists analyzing research data.

PFAS are a large and diverse family of chemistries.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse group of chemistries that contain carbon-fluorine bonds, the strongest chemical bonds in organic chemistry. Due to their unique and useful properties, PFAS are widely used and critical to enabling numerous technologies.

The term PFAS encompasses over 4,700 substances. However, it is estimated that less than 10% of all PFAS substances are in commercial use today. Further, not all PFAS are the same. The chemistries currently in commercial use have varying physical and chemical properties, health, and environmental profiles, uses, and benefits.

Fluoropolymers

Fluoropolymers are one specific class of PFAS that are critical to modern life.

Fluoropolymers possess a unique combination of properties that make them critical to modern life and a wide variety of sectors and industries including the Green Economy. Their properties include fire resistance, weather resistance, temperature resistance, chemical resistance, non-wetting and non-sticking properties, and high-performance dielectric properties.

Fluoropolymers enable nearly every major sector of the economy.

Fluoropolymers are critical components in applications that span nearly every major sector of the economy. They are critical to these sectors and industries because for these applications they require products that meet specified performance where failure is not an option.

Fact Sheets by Industry

Fluoropolymers play a critical role in achieving important societal goals.

In a complex, interlinked world, technological advancements are transforming nearly every aspect of our daily lives: keeping us connected to our family and friends, reducing the time we spend commuting to the office, allowing us to see the world, and helping us better protect ourselves and our planet. Fluoropolymers are at the center of these technological advancements and will play a critical role in unlocking the next wave of innovation such as 5G, clean hydrogen, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and artificial intelligence.

These technological advancements are driving markets that are poised for meaningful growth over the next five years. For example, our components are critical for semiconductors. By 2025 there will be 75 billion Internet of Things Devices, all of which will require semiconductors. Our products are also critical for the Hydrogen Strategy which is necessary for EU to reach its ambitious decarbonization goals. Over 75 countries have net-zero emissions and hydrogen specific strategies driving their climate goals. These goals are backed by a commitment of $70 billion towards hydrogen initiatives.

Fluoropolymers do not pose a significant risk to human health or the environment when used for their intended purpose.

Fluoropolymers are not considered ‘short-chain’ or ‘long-chain’ chemistries but rather polymers of low concern, meaning they are stable in the environment and do not degrade. Fluoropolymers do not dissolve or contaminate water, cannot enter or accumulate in a person’s bloodstream, and do not pose a significant risk to human health or the environment. Fluoropolymers are not bio-available, toxic, or even mobile.

Therefore fluoropolymers meet the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) criteria for ‘polymers of low concern’ as they do not present significant toxicity concerns and cannot degrade into other PFAS.

All of our products, including fluoropolymers, are developed in accordance regulatory requirements and standards in the United States, Europe, China, and Japan.

There are currently no viable alternatives to fluoropolymers.

Fluoropolymers’ unique combination of properties set them apart from other chemistries and make them vital to the sectors and industries they serve and broader society. Their properties make them durable, efficient, reliable, versatile, and ultimately fundamental to the products they enable.

F-gases

F-gases are not commonly identified as PFAS.

F-gases are specialty performance refrigerants and fluids that offer high performance and low global warming potential (GWP).

F-gases are innovative technologies that meaningfully contribute to societal goals.

F-gases are used in refrigeration, air-conditioning, and heat-pump applications (RACHP), as well as in some foam-blowing agents, propellants, and solvents. The benefits of F-gases range from lowering the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of automobile refrigeration to preserving and safely distributing pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

F-gases do not pose a significant risk to the environment.

F-gases do not pose a significant risk to the environment and are not meant for release in the environment except in very specific applications like pressurized inhalers for asthma treatment. F-gases are used in closed systems and recovered at the end-of-life. Additionally, existing F-gas regulations specify a robust recovery mechanism for all substances within scope.

Alternatives to F-gases do not present the same level of safety for human health and the environment.

There are no universal alternatives that offer the same unique combination of properties, uses, and societal benefits that F-gases provide. Alternatives do not present the same level of safety for human health and the environment and concerns have been raised on the grounds of health and safety, due to their significant inhalation and fire risk.

Man in hardhat and safety glasses sitting at a desk in a factory — The Next Normal: Committing to Responsible Chemistry

a father shows his daughter windmills — Our 2030 Goals

Our progress on achieving Chemours' Corporate Responsibility Commitment Goals.

Regulatory Activity in the EU

European Union regulatory bodies are considering restricting the manufacture and use of PFAS.

A regulatory process to potentially restrict the manufacture and use of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by 2025 has been formally initiated in the European Union (EU). A proposal to restrict PFAS under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) process, jointly prepared by the national REACH authorities of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, was received by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in July 2021. The authorities of these five EU Member States have submitted the restriction dossier on 13 January 2023, and a pre-publication of this dossier will take place on 7 February 2023.

In March 2023, ECHA’s scientific committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) will check that the proposed restriction meets the legal requirements of REACH. If it does, the committees will begin their scientific evaluation of the proposal.

On 22 March 2023, a six-month consultation will start to invite interested stakeholders to comment on the content of the restriction. These consultations shall help to gather data and input regarding the dossier’s potential socio-economic impact. ECHA will organize an online information session on 5 April 2023 to explain the restriction process and help those interested in participating in the consultation.

The publication of the dossier evaluation by ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) and the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) is usually expected within 12 months. Given the complexity of the proposal and extent of information, however, ECHA informed that the committees may extend the timeframe to finalize their opinions.

With the submission of the restriction dossier, the five national REACH authorities consider regulating all PFAS as one large group of chemicals simply based on structural characteristics, ignoring the safety profiles, societal benefits, and existing regulatory frameworks governing such substances. Chemours maintains that the expanded definition of PFAS being applied in the proposal is overly broad to enable effective, science-based assessment and regulation. PFAS can be separated into distinct classes for regulatory assessment using established scientific standards, including physicochemical properties and exposure conditions.

Fluoropolymers and F-gases are critical for nearly every major sector of the economy, offer a unique combination of properties, and are safe for their intended uses. Furthermore, no universal alternatives exist that offer the same unique combination of properties, uses, safety and societal benefits that fluoropolymers and F-gases provide.

We are confident that a constructive regulatory outcome can be achieved.

Chemours supports coherent regulatory approaches that lead to the use of safer, better performing chemistries in the EU and which enable the sustainability of the EU industrial value chain.

Considering the proposed overly broad regulatory approach to the PFAS restriction, we maintain that fluoropolymers and fluorinated gases (F-gases), as subsets of PFAS chemicals, should be exempted because of their safety profile, important applications in the EU economy, advances in existing regulatory frameworks, and the significant impact a restriction would have on numerous European industries. Not only from an economic standpoint, but also on industry’s ability to achieve EU climate, strategic autonomy, and innovation objectives. These include 2030 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions goals within Green Deal initiatives such as Smart and Sustainable Mobility, Renovation Wave, and the EU Hydrogen Strategy; as well as strategic autonomy goals in innovative sectors, such as ambitious semiconductor manufacturing targets.

Now that a PFAS restriction process has been formally initiated, we are committed to working with the appropriate competent authorities to help fill any data gaps or to provide additional information about the safety and socio-economic value of fluoropolymers and F-gases. Furthermore, through collaborative industry engagement across the value chain, we are confident that a constructive regulatory outcome can be achieved for all stakeholders.

We also maintain that our approach to responsible manufacturing, including our Corporate Responsibility Commitment 2030 Goal to reduce air and water emissions of fluorinated organic compounds by 99% or more from a 2018 baseline at our manufacturing facilities worldwide, proves fluoropolymers and F-gases can be made and used safely, and handled responsibly across the entire life cycle of these chemicals.

Regulatory Activity in the US

In the United States, PFAS remains a priority for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and policymakers.

On October 18, 2021, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan announced the Agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap. The Roadmap sets timelines by which EPA plans to take specific actions during the remaining first term of the Biden-Harris administration (2021-2024). It is focused on three central directives: (1) Research; (2) Restrict; and (3) Remediate. The Roadmap describes key actions within EPA’s program offices [Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), Office of Water, Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM), Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) and Office of Research and Development (ORD)] and cross-program initiatives.

For more information on the PFAS Strategic Roadmap visit the EPA site here https://www.epa.gov/pfas

EPA published a National Testing Strategy simultaneously with its release of the PFAS Strategic Roadmap.

The National Testing Strategy describes how EPA identified PFAS in 24 categories. The Agency will require companies to perform testing under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 4 on candidate substances representing the 24 categories. The Testing Strategy also describes a tiered-testing approach for each candidate PFAS that will inform whether additional testing within a category is necessary. EPA will implement the strategy in phases with Phase IA focused on human health data and Phase II on ecological toxicity.

For more information on the National PFAS Testing Strategy visit the EPA site here https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/national-pfas-testing-strategy