Global chemical companies could increase their cash flow by at least €1bn ($1.4bn) if they increase their sustainability performance, a study has found.
According to a European research team, including academics from Queen's University Management School in Belfast, there exist significant differences in the sustainable performance of chemical companies.
Resources evaluated in the study include total assets, water use, chemical oxygen, demand of waste water, hazardous waste creation, emissions of greenhouse gases, volatile organic compounds, number of employees and accidents.
Leading companies Air Liquide and BASF are using their resources up to five times more efficiently than their competitors, creating around €1bn more cash flow than their competitors in 2007, the study said.
Each company's sustainable value, the first monetary assessment of corporate sustainability performance for chemical companies taking into account financial, environmental and social resources, is calculated in the study.
Air Liquide, which outperforms Bayer and BASF, is using its resources 1.7 times more efficiently than its competitors on average, the study said.
Other companies involved in the study are Dow Chemical, Du Pont, Reliance, DSM, AKZO and Shell Chemicals.
