Product Stewardship
At Avient, our culture of safety is a foundational strength that drives everything we do, and it extends to our product portfolio. We rigorously assess the health, safety, and environmental impacts of our products across all stages of their life cycle, from the safe and responsible use of raw materials through product development and manufacturing, to end-use applications and beyond.
Our Product Stewardship team is a competitive differentiator, playing a critical role in supporting both our product portfolio and our customers by ensuring the safe use and handling of our products. They provide comprehensive hazard communication and maintain product compliance with global and local regulations. Ongoing communication with customers about product safety, for both new and existing applications, is essential to understanding and managing health and safety risks.
We are proud to maintain certification under the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Responsible Care® 14001 management system and to adhere to the ACC’s Product Safety Code, which exceeds basic legal requirements.
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). Through these associations, we stay aligned with industry best practices and apply lessons learned to minimize the health and environmental impacts of our products
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. Products representing five percent or less of 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 and physical form, contribute to the overall prioritization. Many of the substances in our portfolio are encapsulated within solid polymer matrices, limiting biological availability when products are used as intended. This significantly reduces the potential for exposure and associated hazards. While most products are not classified as hazardous for transport, Avient applies rigorous risk assessment processes to all hazardous materials.
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 regularly. This data enables us to generate safety data sheets, customer certification statements, and actionable insights that inform product safety improvements.