Safeguarding our people and the planet

Leading by example

Our operations

At DSM we take our responsibilities seriously - whether it’s looking after our 23,000 people, or the planet we all share. 

Our people

Safeguarding, nurturing and developing our increasingly diverse 23,000-strong workforce is a top priority for DSM. In fact, today our employees represent around 100 nationalities (a huge transformation from 2001 when nearly half our people were Dutch).

Safety

At DSM we aim to continue reducing the Frequency Index of Recordable Injuries - which is based on the number of fatalities, lost or restricted workday cases or medical treatment cases per 100 DSM employees and contractors in one year. The goal is to reduce frequency by 50% or more by 2020 compared to 2010 (an index score that is less than or equal to 0.25 in 2020, compared to the 0.57 achieved in 2010). In 2019, the Frequency Index of all DSM Recordable Injuries improved from 0.33 to 0.28, with the majority of our sites being injury-free.

Helping with this are our Life Saving Rules; our Safety, Health & Environmental (SHE) policy; various ongoing process improvements and competency training; and the day-to-day fostering greater safety awareness.

Safety in 2019

Health

We also invest heavily in the health of people - through our regional health initiatives such as DSM FIT in the Netherlands and the Brighter Living Wellness Program in the USA, we encourage and support employees worldwide who would like to improve their health and well-being in the short term. We also take a long-term perspective in encouraging long-term health and employability.

Health in 2019

Inclusion & Diversity

For a science company like DSM, diversity of backgrounds, experiences, cultures and opinions is essential if we want to achieve our united purpose of creating brighter lives for all. There are many aspects of inclusion & diversity that matter to DSM, including age, nationality, culture, ethnic background, gender and religion (to name but a few).

Inclusion in 2019
Diversity in 2019

Our Environmental Footprint

Responsibility for our operations covers some 200 DSM sites and offices in nearly 50 countries (and even extends to our suppliers, customers and end-users - for example through our Brighter Living Solutions).

DSM is committed to being transparent about its sustainability performance. The company has set ambitious sustainability aspirations company-wide. Our new target, announced in 2018, is a 30% absolute reduction of our scope 1 + 2 emissions by 2030 versus our 2016 baseline. This is below a 2°C pathway.

We will achieve this target through a wide-ranging number of actions across all our operations, including:

  • renewable electricity: 50% of purchased electricity to be sourced from renewables by 2025, increasing to 75% by 2030
  • energy efficiency improvement: an average year-on-year improvement of at least 1% until 2030.

DSM’s progress towards other environmental footprint reductions targets is published in the company’s Annual Report.

Key environmental indicators 2019

The table below shows DSM’s footprint for key environmental indicators in 2019.

Divestments are reported to the last full year with DSM. Acquisitions are reported at the latest in the year following the first full year after acquisition, due to the required alignment of reporting processes and systems.

(x million tons) 2019 2018 2017 2016
Total CO2e emissions (Scope 1 and 2) - Market based 1.17 1.23 1.50 1.50*
Total Scope 1 CO2e emission 0.63 0.76 1.03 1.03
 - Direct fuels Scope-1 CO2e emissions 0.59 0.73 0.99 0.98
 - Non-fuel Scope 1 CO2e emissions 0.04 0.03 0.04 0.06
Total Scope 2 CO2e emissions 0.54 0.47 0.47 0.47

*) The 2016 baseline for the purposes of our SBT was restated to 1.57 million tons. See the Integrated Annual Report 2019 for details.

(in TJ) 2019 2018 2017 2016
Total (net) primary energy consumed 21,200 20,800 23,400 23,000
Total electricity purchased 4,560 3,910 3,870 3,540
 - Purchased non-renewable electricity 2,280 2,300 3,040 3,250
 - Purchased renewable electricity 2,270 1,610 825 285
Total electricity self-generated 1,290 1,600 1,910 2,330
 - Non-renewable electricity self-generated 1,280 1,590 1,900 2,300
 - Renewable electricity self-generated 8 15 12 15
 - Non-renewable electricity, exported 535 546 673 946
 - Renewable electricity, exported 1 0 1 0
Non-renewable fuel consumption 9,860 11,900 14,800 14,800
 - Coal consumed 365 1,080 3,780 3,200
 - Diesel/gas oil consumed 182 255 190 140
 - Natural gas consumed 8,460 9,770 9,980 10,650
 - Other non-renewable fuel consumed 856 798 805 836
Renewable fuel consumption 255 285 294 255
 - Biogas consumed 0 128 118 0
 - Biomass consumed 131 0 0 140
 - Other renewable fuel consumed 123 157 176 115
Total heat purchased 4,000 2,570 1,630 1,560
 - Non-renewable heat, purchased 3,460 2,540 1,630 1,560
 - Renewable heat, purchased 543 28 0 0
Total heat self-generated 6,340 7,480 8,970 8,220
 - Non-renewable heat self-generated 6,110 7,280 8,740 8,020
 - Renewable heat self-generated 222 208 225 198
Total heat exported 385 715 769 777
 - Non-renewable heat exported 353 662 722 777
 - Renewable heat exported 32 52 46 0
(in tons) 2019 2018 2017 2016
Recycled waste (%) 88% 83% 85% 83%
Total process related non-hazardous waste 138,000 96,700* 123,000 137,000
 - (Land)Farming 100 60 610 760
 - Landfill 15,200 17,900 15,800 16,900
 - Off-site incineration with heat recovery 9,200 7,660 6,390 5,200
 - Off-site incineration without heat recovery 3,400 3,190 5,210 6,100
 - Off-site recovery 109,800 80,700 95,400 107,800
Total process related hazardous waste 84,900 81,800 66,500 56,000
 - Landfill 1,560 2,830 2,600 1,030
 - Off-site incineration with heat recovery 27,600 24,700 19,600 13,700
 - Off-site incineration without heat recovery 6,300 8,980 3,910 7,900
 - Off-site recovery 49,500 45,300 40,400 33,300
Non-process related waste 5,100 26,900 8,420 9,600
 - (Land)Farming 0 40 10 0
 - Landfill 1,750 5,940 1,890 1,000
 - Off-site incineration 70 200 980 170
 - Off-site recovery 3,300 20,700 5,540 8,500

*) Restated due to a correction at two locations. See the Integrated Annual Report 2019 for details.

(x 1000 m3) 2019 2018 2017 2016
Total water use 111,000 114,000 114,000 104,000
Total water consumption 22,600 22,100 23,400 21,900
Ground water consumption 7,300 7,300 7,400 6,700
Potable (tap) water consumption 60,400 9,900 11,100 10,500
Surface water consumption 4,600 4,900 5,000 4,700
Total effluent 17,400 17,400 51,300 n/a
COD (tons) 2,100 2,240 2,680 2,600
Nitrogen (tons) 430 460 460 630
Phosphorous (tons) 60 60 80 70
(in tons) 2019 2018 2017 2016
VOC 2,740 4,880 6,680 7,840
SO2 60 90 270 320
NOX 430 510 750 800
Number of non-monetary sanctions 2 6 4 2
Total monetary value of fines (€) 115,100 23,500 128,000 27,900

Historic location reports by region

  APAC Europe North America Latin America
Energy and GHG        
Total Primary Energy (PJ) 5.9 10.1 4.4 0.8
% Renewable Electricity purchased 0.3 61.3 69.3 64.7
Total scope 1 + 2 CO2e emissions (x million tons) - Location based 0.46 0.59 0.30 0.04
Total scope 1 + 2 CO2e emissions (x million tons) - Market based 0.46 0.50 0.19 0.03
Water        
Total Water use (x million m3) 4.28 101.10 4.73 0.77
Total Water consumption (x million m3) 4.28 12.80 4.73 0.77
COD (net) (x 1,000 tons) 0.1 1.7 0.3 0.0
Waste        
Total Process Related Waste (x 1,000 tons) 41 100 29 52
Total Recycled Waste (x 1,000 tons) 38 93 19 47
Total Non-Recycled Waste (x 1,000 tons) 3 7 11 5
- Landfill Non-hazardous (x 1,000 tons) 1 2 9 3
- Landfill Hazardous (x 1,000 tons) 0 1 0 1
- Off-site Incineration without Heat recovery (x 1,000 tons) 2 4 2 1
% Recycling 91% 93% 63% 91%
Emissions to Air and Various        
VOC (x 1,000 tons) 0.8 1.0 0.3 0.6
NOX (x 1,000 tons) 0.0 0.2 0.1 0
SO2 (x 1,000 tons) 0.05 0 0 0
Number of non-monetary sanctions 0 2 0 0
Total monetary value of fines (€ x 1,000) 88 12 15 0
  APAC Europe North America Latin America
Energy and GHG        
Total Primary Energy (PJ) 5.1 10.6 4.8 0.4
% Renewable Electricity purchased 0.2 60.5 37.1 66.0
Total scope 1 + 2 CO2e emissions (x million tons) - Location based 0.42 0.66 0.29 0.02
Total scope 1 + 2 CO2e emissions (x million tons) - Market based 0.46 0.57 0.23 0.01
Water        
Total Water use (x million m3) 3.98 104.69 4.78 0.36
Total Water consumption (x million m3) 3.98 12.97 4.78 0.36
COD (net) (x 1,000 tons) 0.2 1.7 0.3 0.0
Waste        
Total Process Related Waste (x 1,000 tons) 42 96 29 10
Total Recycled Waste (x 1,000 tons) 39 88 13 6
Total Non-Recycled Waste (x 1,000 tons) 4 8 16 4
- Landfill Non-hazardous (x 1,000 tons) 2 3 10 3
- Landfill Hazardous (x 1,000 tons) 0 0 0 1
- Off-site Incineration without Heat recovery (x 1,000 tons) 1 5 7 0
% Recycling 91% 91% 46% 57%
Emissions to Air and Various        
VOC (x 1,000 tons) 3.0 0.9 0.3 0.8
NOX (x 1,000 tons) 0.1 0.3 0.1 0
SO2 (x 1,000 tons) 0.08 0 0 0
Number of non-monetary sanctions 0 2 4 0
Total monetary value of fines (€ x 1,000) 17 5 2 0
  APAC Europe North America Latin America
Energy and GHG        
Total Primary Energy (PJ) 6.4 11.7 5 0.5
% Renewable Electricity purchased 1% 25% 24% 56%
Total scope 1 + 2 CO2e emissions (x million tons) - Location based 0.58 0.68 0.29 0.02
Total scope 1 + 2 CO2e emissions (x million tons) - Market based 0.58 0.66 0.25 0.02
Water        
Total Water use (x million m3) 5.5 103.2 5 0.4
Total Water consumption (x million m3) 5.5 12.6 5 0.4
COD (net) (x 1,000 tons) 0.3 1.7 0.4 0.1
Waste        
Total Process Related Waste (x 1,000 tons) 52 104 36 10
Total Recycled Waste (x 1,000 tons) 48 94 24 4
Total Non-Recycled Waste (x 1,000 tons) 4 10 12 6
- Landfill Non-hazardous (x 1,000 tons) 3 4 10 3
- Landfill Hazardous (x 1,000 tons) 0 1 0 2
- Off-site Incineration without Heat recovery (x 1,000 tons) 1 5 3 0
% Recycling 92% 91% 65% 44%
Emissions to Air and Various        
VOC (x 1,000 tons) 4.9 0.9 0.2 0.6
NOX (x 1,000 tons) 0.3 0.3 0.1 0
SO2 (x 1,000 tons) 0.27 0 0.01 0
Number of non-monetary sanctions 0 0 4 0
Total monetary value of fines (€ x 1,000) 128 0 0 0
  APAC Europe North America Latin America
Energy and GHG        
Total Primary Energy (PJ) 5 11.9 5.3 0.4
% Renewable Electricity purchased 1% 12% 0% 57%
Total scope 1 + 2 CO2e emissions (x million tons) - Location based 0.44 0.71 0.29 0.02
Total scope 1 + 2 CO2e emissions (x million tons) - Market based 0.44 0.69 0.29 0.02
Water        
Total Water use (x million m3) 5.2 94.3 4.5 0.2
Total Water consumption (x million m3) 5.2 12 4.5 0.2
COD (net) (x 1,000 tons) 0.2 1.9 0.3 0
Waste        
Total Process Related Waste (x 1,000 tons) 52 98 39 9
Total Recycled Waste (x 1,000 tons) 45 87 29 4
Total Non-Recycled Waste (x 1,000 tons) 6 11 10 6
- Landfill Non-hazardous (x 1,000 tons) 4 2 7 5
- Landfill Hazardous (x 1,000 tons) 0 1 0 0
- Off-site Incineration without Heat recovery (x 1,000 tons) 2 9 3 0
% Recycling 88% 89% 74% 39%
Emissions to Air and Various        
VOC (x 1,000 tons) 7.3 0.9 0.2 0.5
NOX (x 1,000 tons) 0.4 0.3 0.1 0
SO2 (x 1,000 tons) 0.32 0 0.01 0
Number of non-monetary sanctions 1 0 1 0
Total monetary value of fines (€ x 1,000) 26 0 2 0

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  • Product stewardship

    We work tirelessly to manage and minimize all possible adverse effects of our products on people and the environment, across the entire value chain.

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