Waste

DOWNLOAD THE 2021 REPORT

Meeting Essential Needs with Less Waste

COMMITTED TO RESPONSIBLE GROWTH WITH ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

Using practical, cost-effective methods to reduce waste, Chemours’ waste goal teams are successfully implementing local improvement efforts. They are also evaluating new waste process options, which will require capital investments over the next few years.

Our 2021 Waste Highlights

Completed transformation of four Chemours operating sites to zero waste and are working towards making all our facilities zero waste
Shipped 43% of our products to our customers in packaging that was either reusable or recyclable

70% reduction in landfill volume intensity

Committed to Waste Reduction and Sustainable Land Practices

Despite our efforts, landfill volume intensity increased in 2021 versus our 2018 baseline, due to several operational developments. As reduction programs mature, we expect our landfill volume intensity to decrease.

We are also committed to reducing waste across our value chain. Working with our customers, we are helping them to reduce their waste footprints by researching and designing product packaging alternatives for recycling and reuse. In addition, we are working with vendors on several initiatives, including reducing the amount of packaging materials sent to us; designing new processes and/or equipment to reduce landfill intensity; and recycling more waste materials, such as pallets and boxes.

Our Land Use and Biodiversity Team evaluates current approaches to land use and finds ways to further support biodiversity. We’re also working with partners to identify opportunities for redevelopment, sustainable land practices, habitat restoration, and enhancement, and managed open space for use by our employees and the local community.

Two people looking at a clipboard while wearing high visibility coats

Chemours restores each of its mine sites to its pre-mine condition.

Case Studies

Chemours and Wildlife Habitat Council sign

Partnering with the Wildlife Habitat Council

We partner with the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), a group focusing on building collaboration for conservation between corporate employees, conservation organizations, government agencies, and community members. The WHC’s certification program is the only voluntary sustainability standard designed for broad-based biodiversity enhancement and conservation education activities on corporate landholdings Chemours’ sites lead WHC programs, enabling employee volunteers to engage with, and give back to, the local communities in which we operate. In total, six of our sites have received WHC certification—three gold and three silver levels each—and three more sites will apply for recertification in 2022. Together, our WHC-certified sites are engaged in 53 actively managed WHC projects.

Preserving Gopher Tortoise Habitats

While we are committed to returning our former operating sites to beneficial use, some species—like the gopher tortoise—need a little extra help. We relocate the tortoises to wildlife management areas in Georgia and approved relocation areas in Florida. We are also an active participant in the Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative, a public-private partnership aiming to establish 65 reproductively viable populations on protected lands.

man in high visibility vest cleaning a path through the forest

Making Land Available for Redevelopment

Chemours had sold or donated eight underutilized former manufacturing site properties with the aim of creating beneficial reuse of these valuable resources. To date, we have transferred around 3,600 acres of land, and these sites now have new purpose including a new solar generation facility, expanded port infrastructure, warehousing, and preservation of scenic wilderness.

Margaret O’Gorman

President, Wildlife Habitat Council

Companies achieving WHC Conservation Certification are environmental leaders, voluntarily managing their lands to support sustainable ecosystems and the communities that surround them.