Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2021 - 21

Q&A
'Partnering throughout
the value chain is critical'
Formulations for recycled
content are a big
part of our portfolio.
Avient, the company that was created following PolyOne's acquisition of the Clariant
Masterbatch business, styles itself as a 'new kind of materials company'. In this Q&A,
Walter Ripple, Vice President of Sustainability at Avient, discusses how Avient
and its products are seeking to make a diff erence. " Brand owners for all types of
consumer products are setting sustainability goals, " he said. Avient has developed
material solutions designed to promote sustainability - 'for our customers and for the
planet'. By Karen Laird.
We talk a lot about sustainability,
but it seems as if different
people have diff erent
definitions of what it actually
is. So, how do you, at Avient
define sustainability?
Avient's strategy is based on
the four cornerstones of people,
products, plant and performance,
and these four are
all inextricably linked. In other
words, you can't have one of
those without the other, which
means we're focused on all
those areas. We align our activities,
our messaging and our
goals with all four of these cornerstones.
In
terms of how we define
sustainability, for a number
of years now, we have offered
our sustainability
promise and we've adopted
components of
the 1987 UN Brundlandt
report, in which they
talk about sustainability
in terms of meeting the
needs of the present
without compromising
future generations' ability
to meet their needs.
To be honest, I've seen a
lot of diff erent definitions
and I've tried to come up
with some of my own, but
frankly, to me, that
says it all.
Meeting the needs of the present
without compromising the
needs of the future.
And: sustainability has been
core to our strategy for a very
long time. I know that everyone's
talking about it now, and so are
we, but, as the results we have
already achieved show, we are
not new to this. To give you an example:
since 2016, which was kind
of a baseline year for us when we
started measuring things, our sustainability
portfolio has doubled in
sales. And in terms of planet and
environmental initiatives, I can say
that in the last three years, we've
been able to improve our carbon
emissions by 30%, or reduce
them by 30%.
How long have you been in
the role of Vice President of
Sustainability at Avient?
Not that long, but let me tell
you a bit about how I got here.
I've been in the industry for 28
years or so. I started my career
with Shell Chemical Company,
after getting a bachelor's in
chemistry from A&M Texas University
and I spent about 8 years
there. I then moved to Avient, although
when I joined we were of
course still PolyOne.
A little over 20 years ago I
Walter Ripple
moved to the company's specialty
elastomers business:
prior to my current role -
which I've been in a little over
two years - I was running the
global thermoplastics elastomers
business. Why was I drawn
to my current role? It's simple.
Sustainability megatrends and
the challenges associated with
them were becoming more and
more important to the planet
and for our customers, and I
wanted to be part of driving Avient's
strategy to do our part.
And in July of last year, we
purchased the Clariant Masterbatch
business and changed
our name. The idea was that two
companies were coming together
who were leaders in both our
industries, so we formed under
a new name called Avient. And
a big component of that is the
sustainable solution set that we
off er to the industry.
Can you say something about
that? Is that a solution set targeted
at the development of
specific sustainable chemicals
and polymers or specific
applications?
I think the best way to answer
this is maybe to point to a couple
of areas - sustainable megatrends
- with the most urgent
needs that we are addressing.
And which has therefore led
to maybe some of the fastest
growth, at least that we've seen.
continued on page 22
May/June 2021
21
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