LYB operates in over 90 manufacturing sites in 32 countries worldwide. All sites follow our Global Product Stewardship standard and no site manufactures products that contain restricted or prohibited substances in the United States (US) or European Union (EU), even where local law or rules may allow such products to be made. As a result, LYB does not produce or market products containing substances of very high concern (SVHC [1]) globally which we have not registered and do not market within the US or EU.
As a Responsible Care® Company, we are committed to promoting a comprehensive approach to chemicals management and sustainability in all aspects of our products’ life cycles, including design, manufacturing, distribution, use, recycling and disposal activities. We apply the same product safety standards for all LYB products, including products based on recycled raw materials. Our testing protocols go beyond regulatory requirements and are used globally for all LYB products to assess their use and suitability in all applications. We have additional well-defined testing protocols to rigorously test post-consumer recycled raw materials as well as our finished products containing recycled content prior to permitting their use in an end-use application. This testing includes full composition analysis and non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) screening. Where information does not support the use of recycled materials, they are prohibited or restricted under our policies or standards. This restriction is cleared only after a thorough risk assessment process which includes testing, validation for hazardous substances (such as SVHC above 0.1 wt%) and ensuring sound governance through good manufacturing practices in our facilities.
We implement sustainability and safety criteria as part of our product innovation process. Introduced in 2022, these criteria restrict the use of substances with carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction (CMR); persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT); very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB); and endocrine disrupting (ED) properties to less than 0.1% within our finished products. We aim to bring chemicals, materials, products and technologies to the market that are safer, accelerate the transition to a circular and low carbon economy, and prevent harm to human health and the environment.
Use of SVHC
In 2023 less than 0.1% of our total number of products representing less than 3% of revenue, contained substances in the candidate list of SVHC for authorization above 0.1wt%. These products were placed on the market almost exclusively (>99.9% by revenue) for monomer or intermediate uses. In such industrial use settings, involving suitably qualified and trained individuals, exposure risk and use is rigorously controlled, for example via technical means and appropriate personal protective equipment as part of the operator's health and safety compliance obligations.
Products containing certain substances on ChemSec’s SIN list
The International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec) is an independent non-profit organization that advocates for safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals through its Substitute It Now (SIN) list. As of August 2024, the LYB product portfolio includes 54 substances on the SIN List. However, the vast majority of products with these substances are either used as monomers and / or intermediates in industrial settings, meaning there is very limited consumer use e.g. fuels and flame retardants in the wire and cable sector. A detailed view of the uses of Chemsec’ s SIN-list substances can be found below:
[1] Substances of very high concern as identified under the EU REACH regulation.
