Global Chemical Management & Product Excellence
Global Chemical Management
At Avient, global chemical management is focused on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) assessments, reclassifications and communication on the safe use and handling of these substances. Globally, many other countries are following the EU REACH chemicals regulation and implementing similar frameworks. We continuously monitor these global emerging regulations and the impact to our product portfolio.
As part of the management and monitoring of Global Chemical Control Laws, the Product Stewardship team continuously monitors regulatory lists that identify hazardous substances of concern and compares the substance lists published by the authorities to our product portfolio. Our team utilizes digital tools, which enables us to identify any substances coming under review as soon as possible and take appropriate action. This includes working with suppliers and other departments within Avient to identify suitable alternatives and drive innovation towards sustainable solutions. Such lists include REACH Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list, U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and California Prop 65, amongst others.
We update Poison Center notifications associated with our European portfolio and monitor risk assessments associated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) inventory reset rule. We continue to actively monitor the developing regulatory activities at state, national and global levels with respect to per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS covers thousands of different substances and definitions of PFAS differ across organizations, states, and countries. Under the broad definition, PFAS includes fluoropolymers which are large, stable, inert polymeric molecules. Polymeric, high molecular weight fluoropolymers are too large to cross biological membranes. Avient does currently purchase and use a small amount of fluoropolymers and PFAS- containing additives as raw materials which represent less than 3% of our global product portfolio. Avient does not use perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in its product formulations.
Management and monitoring of global inventory regulations and other emerging issues by our regional product stewardship experts and supported by a global digital platform ensures a quick evaluation and proactive response to potential regulatory risks. Avient’s commitment to managing and monitoring the impact of global regulatory requirements on our businesses is demonstrated through our Global Chemical Management Policy.
Product Excellence
Management Systems
Avient subscribes to several third party management systems and standards at our 102 manufacturing facilities across the globe, including ISO and Responsible Care® to ensure continual improvement. External third-party certification is an important part of ensuring our products are both compliant and produced in alignment with industry standard best practices. To find more details about our certifications, visit the ISO Certifications Library on the Avient website.
International standards cover areas of Quality, Environmental, Health and Safety, Automotive, Medical Device, Responsible Care® and Energy Management. Avient successfully achieved a Global Central Certification for RC14001 Management System for 48 locations. The certification allows all locations on the certification to maintain a Responsible Care® Certification and ISO:14001 certification. Avient has facilities certified to other ISO standards, including ISO:50001, ISO:22000, ISO:45001, ISO:9001. Individual Avient sites have obtained additional certification specific to the products and customers they serve. These certifications include International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus*, Global Recycled Standard (GRS) 4.0, bluesign® SYSTEM, and others.
For our sensitive applications we have implemented Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP) and ISO 13485. 100% of our facilities producing for the healthcare market are GMP or ISO audited within a 3–year period. There were no significant audit findings preventing manufacturing in this reporting period.
Product Carbon Footprint
Decarbonization continues to be a priority across Avient’s value chain. As an innovator of materials solutions, Avient is well positioned to enable sustainability for our customers. We have established a methodology to standardize our approach to calculating product carbon footprint (PCF) in accordance with ISO 14067:2018 for product carbon footprint and aligned with ISO 14040/140440 for life cycle analysis (LCA). This methodology is available for Avient’s product portfolio and receives third party certification from TÜV Rheinland annually. We partner with Carbon Minds and our supply chain to generate the data. In 2024, we completed over 3,100 product carbon footprint calculations for our customers globally. The next phases of this program are to automate the PCF calculation process, creating a digital tool for our teams, and to expand our capability to calculate LCA inventory data.
ZERO
Major Non-Conformances at ISO Sites
3,100+
Product Carbon Footprint Calculations Completed in 2024