Global Chemical Management & Product Excellence

Management Approach: Product Stewardship

Strategy

Avient is actively involved in various associations including the ACC, European MasterBatchers and Compounders (EuMBC), European Plastics Converters (EuPC) and Titanium Dioxide Manufacturers Association (TDMA). Industry best practices and efforts to minimize impacts of our products on human health and the environment are based on a combination of lessons learned through these outreach programs and compliance.

Product Stewardship uses the ACC prioritization tool and associated risk assessment methodology to identify, document and communicate environmental, health and safety impacts of our products. Five percent or less of our products by total sales revenue are classified as category 1 or 2 health hazards in accordance with the Globally Harmonized system (GHS) for classification. These classifications and others, such as, environmental classifications (Persistent, Bioaccumulative Toxins—PBTs) and physical form contribute to the overall prioritization. Substances are encapsulated in our solid polymers and not biologically available for exposure when used as intended, therefore do not present a hazard. The majority of our products are not labeled or transported as hazardous materials. Despite this, we are committed to the process and have completed 43% of prioritized risk assessments. The number of prioritized risk assessments continue to grow each year as the process matures. Our goal is to complete 100% of risk assessments on hazardous materials greater than 1 ton by 2027.

As a result of these assessments, we have published additional substance safety summaries on our Avient website and will continue to update internal and external stakeholders on material handling and environmental considerations. We maintain data related to the environmental, health and safety of our products in our product stewardship database. The information is reviewed and updated continuously. Through this data, we create safety data sheets and customer certification statements for intended use and product safety improvements.

Global Chemical Management

The current and future focus is on continued Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) assessments, reclassifications and communication on the safe use and handling of these substances. Many other countries are following suit on the EU REACH chemicals regulation or a similar framework. 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, Product Stewardship continuously monitors regulatory lists that identify hazardous substances of concern. Product Stewardship compares the substance lists published by the authorities to our product portfolio. This 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 continue to 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 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.

Digitization Strategy

The global regulatory environment of today is more complex than ever before. Avient is committed to having expert systems in place to manage complex, global regulatory compliance requirements and mitigate potential risk.

In 2023, Avient invested in a new product stewardship platform to manage the environmental, health and safety impact of the Avient portfolio, the development and implementation of this platform will continue as we move into 2024. Through this powerful, configurable and global software for the management of regulatory and voluntary standard compliance, we will have full data transparency throughout the life cycle of Avient products. This investment will improve customer experience and it reiterates our commitment to providing transparency and communication with our stakeholders regarding our products.