Sustainability in the Chemical Industry

1 ABSTRACT. 2 FOREWORD: WHY THIS BOOK? 2.1 Review Of Existing Literature. 2.2 Needed: An Empirical Review. 3 SUMMARY: SUSTAINABILITY IS ADVANCING, WITH MORE CHANGES TO COME. 3.1 Sustainability In Practice: Communications, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management. 3.2 Sustainability Defined. 3.3 Is Sustainability Inevitable, And Does It Pay? 3.4 Sustainability'S Limits. 3.5 Are The Causes For Sustainability Obsolete? 3.6 Making Sustainability Sustainable. 4 INTRODUCTION: SUSTAINABILITY'S BANDWAGON HAS LEFT THE STATION, BUT WHERE IS IT HEADED? 5 WHY THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY TURNED TO SUSTAINABILITY. 5.1 How The Chemical Industry Upsets The Public. 5.2 How Regulation Has Harmed The Industry'S Image. 5.3 The Battle Of Litanies: Regulators Versus Industry. 5.4 Losing The License To Operate? 5.5 Sustainability: A Way To Keep The License, A Way To Influence Regulation. 5.6 For The Chemical Industry, Sustainability Is Conciliation. 6 HOW OTHERS DEFINE SUSTAINABILITY. 6.1 The Popular View Of Sustainability. 6.2 The Theoretical (Academic) View Of Sustainability. 6.3 The Financial Market View Of Sustainability. 7 HOW CHEMICAL COMPANIES DEFINE SUSTAINABILITY, IN PRACTICE . 7.1 Research Method. 7.2 Sustainability Within The Corporate Organization. 7.3 Stakeholder Approach To Communications. 7.4 Rebranding Regulatory Compliance And Risk Management. 7.5 Recognition/Celebration Of Green Opportunities. 8 SUSTAINABILITY 'BRANDS'. 8.1 How The Leading 29 Chemical Companies Stack Up. 8.2 Why The Variations In Branding? 8.3 What About Sustainability Crusaders? 8.4 The Limits Of Sustainability. 9 THE THIN GREEN LINE: BETWEEN SUSTAINABILITY AND GREENWASH. 9.1 Lying. 9.2 Spinning Words And Science. 9.3 Celebrating Compliance. 9.4 Celebrating Green Products And Processes. 9.5 Green Endorsements. 10 EVALUATING SUSTAINABILITY: IS IT NECESSARY, AND DOES IT PAY? 10.1 Academic Studies Of Sustainability'S Benefits Are Inconclusive. 10.2 Sustainability Makes For A More Attractive Employer. 10.3 Sustainability As A Way Out Of Crisis? Not Obvious. 10.4 How Stakeholders React To Sustainability. 10.5 Sustainability Successes. 10.6 Sustainability Failures. 10.7 Is Sustainability Profitable, And Should It Be? 11 IS THERE A NON-SUSTAINABLE OPTION? 11.1 Cigarette Producers. 11.2 Armament Makers. 11.3 Albemarle. 12 GET ON SUSTAINABILITY'S BANDWAGON, BUT NOT BLINDLY OR BLITHELY. 12.1 Study Your Stakeholders. 12.2 Consider The Corporate Position And Culture. 12.3 Be Responsive, Not Necessarily Responsible. 12.4 Sustainability And Responsibility: Right Ideas, Wrong Words. 12.5 Remember The Risks. 12.6 Return To A Safety Culture? 13 APPENDIX 1: Company Classification. 14 APPENDIX 2: Quantity Versus Quality - How Experts And Laypeople Disagree About Technology Risks. 14.1 Quantitative - Approach Of The Experts. 14.2 Not Just Whether You Die, But How. 14.3 The Leading Cause Of Death? Life. 15 REFERENCES.