WASHINGTON, DC — Chris Jahn, the president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), recently discussed how the organization, comprising over 150 manufacturers, contributes to a cleaner future through self-imposed environmental health and safety standards, rather than government mandates.
During a policy event on Monday morning, featuring Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin, Jahn addressed questions from News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle about how the chemistry industry operates in an environmentally responsible manner.
“Not only do the products we create contribute to a cleaner future, but the processes we use to manufacture them also play a crucial role,” Jahn stated, emphasizing the industry’s dual approach to sustainability.
The ACC’s diverse membership includes manufacturers of various chemical products essential to everyday American life. Jahn underscored the notion that “American success relies on American chemistry,” highlighting the industry’s pivotal role in the national economy.
Jahn pointed to examples like hydrogen and nuclear energy as environmentally conscious products developed by ACC member companies. “These technologies, surprisingly to some, depend significantly on chemistry. Our members’ products enable the advancement of clean technologies. Moreover, the methods of production have significantly improved over time,” he remarked.
Examples of environmentally conscious products from member groups include hydrogen and nuclear energy, he said.
“Believe it or not, [it] requires chemistry to do that. So the products that our members make enable all of those clean technologies. At the same time, the way our members manufacture, that has gotten better over time as well,” he continued.
Every single ACC member has to comply with the industry group’s “Responsible Care” program, which requires a “third-party audit of our environmental health safety and security protocols,” Jahn explained:
So we’ve got a program that we call Responsible Care. Our members are required to comply with that program, and it is a third party audit of our environmental health, safety, and security protocols. And what we do is we gather their metrics, how they perform on those things. We aggregate that, and we publicly disclose that — not because anybody in the government makes us do that, but because it’s the right thing to do. And I can sit here and tell you that our industry is cleaner and safer than it has ever been.
The ACC still works within the government’s regulations, with Jahn saying that the current EPA under the Trump administration is working faster than the Biden administration’s EPA on approving chemistries that would benefit the public in a safe way.
“This is not your grandfather’s chemical industry, and we’re going to continue to get better and better as we go forward,” Jahn told the crowd gathered in Washington, DC. “So the way we do it is really important, and what we do is equally important.”
