Westlake Releases 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance Report
Westlake Corporation released its 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, which marks the company’s sixth annual update on sustainability advances and initiatives in products and operations. This year, the report includes certain metrics established by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Further, in the fourth-quarter of 2022, Westlake performed a Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures (TCFD) Gap Assessment, and the 2022 ESG report includes the company’s first TCFD disclosures, thus laying the groundwork to work toward reporting against the TCFD standards.
The report provides progress on the company’s goal to reduce carbon intensity in operations. It also includes five new ESG goals – for water, health and safety, community engagement, diversity and inclusion, and circular economy.
Westlake operates sites in North America, Europe and Asia and views goal setting and increasing alignment with widely embraced ESG frameworks as critical to providing the multiple degrees of transparency expected by customers, shareholders, partners and employees around the world. The company endeavors to disclose environmental progress, climate risks and opportunities amid a dynamic and evolving regulatory landscape.
“These globally recognized frameworks better ensure we provide more transparency with data and context about Westlake’s role in our communities and in the many markets that value our essential products and critical innovations,” said Albert Chao, president and chief executive officer of Westlake. “ESG reporting gives us the means to take an honest measure of where we stand, determine where we need to be and how to achieve further milestones on this journey.”
Westlake said a key example of how ESG metrics are vital to the company’s focus on continuous improvement is its carbon goal to target a 20% reduction in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon-dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions per ton of production by 2030 from a 2016 baseline. As of December 31, 2022, Westlake achieved a total reduction of 18% in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions intensity from our 2016 intensity baseline. We continue to research economically feasible technologies, which could help us establish a path to reach operational net zero carbon on or before 2050.
Westlake also is pursuing ways to enhance circularity in more products on four main fronts: continued focus on recycling opportunities between our businesses, reducing waste at company facilities, incorporating more recycled content and in-house generated process regrind into products, and seeking to incorporate renewable and bio-based materials into products.
For more information, visit: www.westlake.com.
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