TfS Transforms Chemical Supply Chain Sustainability

Collaboration is a critical component in the pursuit of tangible advances in sustainability within global industries.

The chemical sector's efforts, spearheaded by the collective efforts of the Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative, stands out in this march towards environmental accountability.

The initiative — propelled by leading chemical companies such as BASF, Bayer, Evonik, and Henkel — aims to enhance sustainability across chemical supply chains, meet stringent regulatory standards and live up to societal expectations.

Comprehensive emissions sustainability action

TfS is now made up of more than 50 chemical companies.

These firms collectively generate an annual turnover of around €800bn (US$864bn) and engage in global transactions exceeding €500bn (US$540bn) annually.

Each member contributes through their Chief Procurement Officers who come together within the TfS General Assembly.

This group plays a pivotal role in steering the direction of TfS, ensuring it continues to deliver innovative, practical solutions that foster sustainability in the chemical industry.

One of the latest innovations from TfS is the creation of the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) Exchange.

This tool is set to transform the methodology with which chemical companies calculate, monitor and exchange emissions data across their supply chains.

Revolutionising Emissions Tracking and Sustainability

Aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, industries worldwide face increasing pressure to meet stringent decarbonisation targets.

By employing Siemens’ advanced SiGREEN technology, the PCF Exchange by TfS provides a unique solution specifically designed for the chemical sector to overhaul its emissions tracking and reporting methods.

It confronts the formidable challenge of managing Scope 3 emissions, which typically represent the largest portion of a company's carbon footprint.

Utilising SiGREEN technology, the PCF Exchange ensures a secure and efficient platform for tracking and swapping product-level emissions information. This allows companies to obtain detailed carbon data from their suppliers more efficiently, thus facilitating the process of PCF calculation across various materials within complex global supply chains.

TfS is confident that the PCF Exchange will not only bring about transparency but will also assist companies in achieving their greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, contributing significantly to global climate change mitigation efforts.

“The PCF Exchange solution is a key component of our Scope 3 GHG emissions programme,” enthuses Jennifer Jewson, President of TfS and CPO at LyondellBasell.

“With this addition, TfS offers a truly end-to-end solution for calculating PCFs across the chemical supply chain.

“Together with our established PCF Guideline and White Paper, PCF Exchange equips TfS members and suppliers with the necessary tools to generate accurate, consistent data and seamlessly exchange it. This marks a significant step forward in helping the industry reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions with greater transparency and precision.”

Solving challenges across the chemical industry

TfS says its PCF Exchange solution is a response to three critical challenges:

• Scale: The solution allows companies to request and exchange emissions data on a large scale, enabling simultaneous data requests from multiple suppliers, reducing processing time and error.
• Comparability: By using a standardised PCF Guideline, the solution ensures consistent and comparable carbon footprint calculations across the sector, helping businesses identify where improvements can be made.
• Connection: The platform offers a secure, collaborative environment where supply chain data is exchanged with confidence. Siemens’ SiGREEN technology ensures emissions data remains accurate and unaltered throughout the process. The collaboration with Siemens also offers users the unique opportunity to feed back and influence the development of SiGREEN.

Maria Valentina Giraldo Martinez, Co-Chair of the TfS Workstream ‘GHG Scope 3 Emissions – Data Collection and Sharing’ and LCA Manager at IFF, calls the solution a “pivotal moment” for the chemical industry.

She adds: “For the first time, companies will have a reliable, standardised platform to manage carbon data from across their supply chains.

“By facilitating the secure exchange of carbon data, this solution is not just improving how the industry manages emissions; it’s enabling proactive steps towards transparency. As we roll out this technology, we are witnessing the chemical sector take bold strides in addressing its climate responsibilities.”

Dr Gunter Beitinger, SVP Manufacturing, Head of Factory Digitalization and Head of Product Carbon Footprint at Siemens, adds: “We’re proud to partner with TfS on the launch of the PCF Exchange solution, which leverages Siemens’ SiGREEN technology to enable efficient data handling, reduce manual effort and errors and ensure secure, trusted data exchange.

“Its robust security and compliance with global privacy regulations make it a reliable platform for companies to confidently exchange emissions data and integrate it into their greenhouse gas accounting systems.”

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