Good guys or bad guys?

The chemical industry has a negative image for many people. Often, the perception is that these types of companies are mainly concerned with profits, with little respect or value for their surroundings and the environment in general. What about us? 

Allow us to set the record straight: we are the “good guys”. That applies to the entire Dutch chemical industry, by the way. We are also just people who, like you, want to enjoy our beautiful planet for many years to come. When it comes to sustainability, we are actually doing very well. For example, did you know that the substance we produce is 100% safe and that it can extend the life of other products? Not to mention that our R&D department is continuously working on the development of smart, sustainable solutions. Apart from that, we also try to make environmentally friendly and responsible choices in our production process and all the steps involved in it. That manifests itself in many different ways.

Deliberate purchasing and transport

In their daily activities, our colleagues in the supply chain and ICT look for smart and sustainable alternatives as often as possible. 95% of our containers travel to Rotterdam by barge, not by car. Transport by water is a lot more sustainable, because much more can be transported in one trip. Lately, however, the port has become increasingly crowded. As a result, many companies are forced to choose road transport once again. That is certainly not a favorable development in terms of CO2 emissions.

Fast connection by train

For this reason, we have started an initiative with a number of production and logistics companies in the region to bring the railways back into use for transport. The trains have good, fast connections and produce fewer emissions than a virtual caravan of individual trucks on the road. One train can hold about 100 containers. In addition to smart transport, we also take a critical look at the purchase of raw materials. One of the raw materials in our product is made from palm oil. We have chosen to buy palm oil exclusively from suppliers who also replant. After all, these are the little things that make a difference.

A good neighbor

We have to take our close environment into account as well. Not only do we comply with all the rules in place, we also go out of our way to treat the people around us with respect. If someone from the neighborhood complains about our operations, we take it seriously. For instance, a while back, a woman who lived about a kilometer away complained about a beeping noise that she heard regularly. We invited her to our property to take a look around. At the back of the site, she heard the noise near a cooling system. In the end, it turned out that a piece of equipment was not working properly. We installed a new component to repair the issue. It was a win-win for all of us: no more beeping for the woman and we were able to find and resolve the issue!