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Product Sustainability Monitor

We aim to constantly improve the sustainability performance of our product portfolio, to substitute critical products and develop safe alternatives. To achieve this, we take a three-element approach. 

  • The first element focuses on ensuring that our products are safe and sustainable.
  • With the second element, we aim to provide climate-neutral and circular products.
  • In element three, we consider the benefits and positive environmental impact that our products bring or  facilitate during their entire life cycle.
Background PaperIllustration of chemical molecules

Background Paper Product Portfolio

This document shows how we continuously improve the sustainability performance of our product portfolio.

Analysis of our product portfolio from a sustainability perspective

We actively manage our product portfolio towards sustainability because we are fully aware of the positive impacts as well as of the potential risks our products pose through the use in certain applications.

In order to structure this analysis, we created a management tool with a specially developed evaluation system that allows us to evaluate the risks and improvement potentials in our product portfolio with the goal of systematically improving the sustainability performance while considering the environmental, social and economic impacts.

The continuously optimized system analyzes the effects and benefits of our products based on fact-based, significant and measurable criteria that we consider relevant for LANXESS and society as a whole. We are taking into account factors that exceed regulatory compliance to generate appropriate data for all our substances.

english graphics Annual Report 2021, Criteria of the LANXESS Product Sustainability Monitor
LANXESS AG
Based on this catalogue of criteria, our product stewardship group evaluates the entire product portfolio annually - with subsequent reviews by an internal committee of experts. The results show us which of our products meet our defined sustainability requirements and contribute to solving key global sustainability challenges.
Evaluation processes Graphic of the annual report 2020
LANXESS
More informationAt its Bitterfeld site, Germany, LANXESS produces ion exchange resins for water treatment under the brand name Lewatit.

Safe and Sustainable Products

Using the LANXESS Product Sustainability Monitor, we divide our portfolio into four categories

Regulatory Compliance

LANXESS complies with all necessary global, regional and local chemicals control regulations. We explicitly support the goal of EU REACH to ensure a high level of protection for human health and the environment. In countries outside the EU, we set comparable standards for our products. Consequently, we do not produce or market critical products (containing Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC)) globally, which we have not registered and do not market within the EU or US. 

In this context, substances, meeting the criteria for Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) by the EU REACH regulation, are of particular importance if contained in chemical end-products. We identified that less than 11 % of our 2023 total sales volume was generated with chemical end-products containing more than 0.1 % SVHCs. 

More InformationMan moving the Coronavirus COVID-19 out of the world.

Elimination of critical substances

We are committed to continuously improving the sustainability performance of our product portfolio, to eliminating critical substances, and developing safer alternatives.

Energizing sustainability 

We have a clear strategic focus on shifting our portfolio towards socially, environmentally and economically beneficial products. For the development of our innovative solutions, we select safer and more sustainable ingredients wherever possible. We will not develop and market new end-products containing substances > 0.1 % that have the characteristics of a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC). Our solutions fall into a broad range of sustainability categories contributing to a carbon neutral and non-toxic environment and to a circular economy. These products can be found on the respective business homepages, some examples below:

Substances on the SIN List


The International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec), a non-governmental organization (NGO), has made it its mission to accelerate the replacement of hazardous chemical substances. With this purpose in mind, ChemSec publishes the so-called “Substitute It Now!” (SIN) List, a directory of all substances that products should not contain according to ChemSec’s evaluation.

At LANXESS, we share the goal of making sure that critical substances in chemical end products should not be a source of any risk. Before we use or sell a substance, we check whether it can be ensured that it can be used safely in its intended application and work on developing safe and sustainable alternatives for critical substances. We are constantly striving to improve the sustainability performance of our product portfolio. The SIN List currently lists 28 substances for LANXESS. However, if we apply the ChemSec criteria to our product portfolio, we count only 27 substances that meet the criteria at this point in time. 

There is one substance on the SIN List for which there is no cause for concern. The substance Propanedinitrile, 2-[[4-[[2-(4-cyclohexylphenoxy)ethyl]ethylamino]-2-methylphenyl]methylene]- (CAS 54079-53-7) is listed as PBT substance, but has no PBT properties according to ECHA (Registration Dossier - ECHA (europa.eu).


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Head of Corporate Responsibility

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