WILMINGTON, Del.—Chemours Co. is setting what the company calls an "ambitious goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."
The Wilmington-based chemicals company also is targetting a 60-percent reduction in operations-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
"Businesses like Chemours have an opportunity to help build a more sustainable future. Our more ambitious greenhouse gas emission goal, along with our other Corporate Responsibility Commitments, reflect our strategy to grow our business responsibly and sustainably. It's good for business and good for the planet," CEO Mark Vergnano said in a statement.
To help in this effort, Chemours is naming Sheryl Telford as chief sustainability officer. Telford joined the company in 2015 as director of environmental, health, safety and remediation in 2015 and was named vice president of environmental, health, safety and corporate responsibility in 2018.
"She will lead our efforts to embed sustainability into every aspect of how we operate, making it an integral part of the Chemours culture," Vergnano said.
Chemours portfolio includes a fluoroproducts division that includes the company's Viton-brand line of fluoroelastomer synthetic rubber.
The company portfolio also includes the well-known Teflon and Freon brands as well as the Ti-Pure product line of titanium dioxide that is used as a white colorant in rubber compounding.
Chemours said the company is using "a holistic approach" to cut emissions from both its own operations and from energy, including electricity, used by the company but created by others.
To cut direct emissions, also known as Scope 1 emissions, the company said it will continue to enhance emissions control technologies at its manufacturing sites and drive energy efficiency improvements across its operations, reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use."
For Scope 2 emissions, created by energy suppliers, the company aims to make cuts by increasing the use of renewable energy.
Chemours also is looking at Scope 3 emissions—those created by companies that do business with the chemical firm—in an effort to define reduction goals in that category.
Achieving a goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions cannot be done through just company efforts, Chemours said. Both the public and private sectors are needed to create new technologies and government policies to achieve the goal and create a greener economy.
Chemours was established in 2015 when DuPont spun off portions of its business. The publicly traded company has 6,500 workers, 30 manufacturing sites and about 3,300 customers in 120 countries.