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Chemical Leasing business models and corporate social responsibility

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Abstract

Chemical Leasing is a service-oriented business model that shifts the focus from increasing sales volume of chemicals towards a value-added approach. Recent pilot projects have shown the economic benefits of introducing Chemical Leasing business models in a broad range of sectors. A decade after its introduction, the promotion of Chemical Leasing is still predominantly done by the public sector and international organizations. We show in this paper that awareness-raising activities to disseminate information on this innovative business model mainly focus on the economic benefits. We argue that selling Chemical Leasing business models solely on the grounds of economic and ecological considerations falls short of branding it as a corporate social responsibility initiative, which, for this paper, is defined as a stakeholder-oriented concept that extends beyond the organization’s boundaries and is driven by an ethical understanding of the organization’s responsibility for the impact of its business activities. For the analysis of Chemical Leasing business models, we introduce two case studies from the water purification and metal degreasing fields, focusing on employees and local communities as two specific stakeholder groups of the company introducing Chemical Leasing. The paper seeks to demonstrate that Chemical Leasing business models can be branded as a corporate social responsibility initiative by outlining the vast potential of Chemical Leasing to improve occupational health and safety and to strengthen the ability of companies to protect the environment from the adverse effects of the chemicals they apply.

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Notes

  1. Functions performed by a chemical might include: number of pieces cleaned; amount of area coated, etc.

  2. See http://www.chemicalleasing.com

  3. The award is open to organizations, companies and individuals worldwide and comprises four categories (case studies, scientific publications, consulting services and public relation activities). Various impact factors are taken into consideration such as innovation, technical applicability and sustainability, which also includes the aspects of resource efficiency, precaution in terms choice of hazardous substances, effective chemical management as well as social implications. For more information see http://www.unido.org/what-we-do/environment/resource-efficient-and-low-carbon-industrial-production/cp/awards/global-chemical-leasing-award.html

  4. http://chemcon.net/europe/chemcon_2010/chemcon_2010 cz.shtml

  5. http://www.achema.de/en.html

  6. http://ecochemex.com/2014-conference/

  7. http://www.unep.fr/scp/cp/unep_unido_prog.htm

  8. Ecopetrol S.A. is the main producer of petrol in Colombia. It ranks among the top 40 oil companies in the world and among the five largest oil companies in Latin America. Ecopetrol exploits hydrocarbon extraction fields throughout Colombia and operates two refineries and a pipeline network of 8,500 km (http://www.ecopetrol.com.co/especiales/Reporte%20de%20Sostenibilidad%20inges %202010/b_responsabilidad_en_la_cadena_01.html).

  9. Nalco de Colombia Ltda. (chemical supplier), is a company involved in water treatment and process improvement applications, providing services, chemicals and equipment to industrial and institutional customers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121, Ferrara, Italy

    Frank Moser & Francesco Dondi

  2. Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Stubenbastei 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria

    Thomas Jakl

  3. BIPRO GmbH, Grauertstraße 12, 81545, Munich, Germany

    Reihard Joas

Authors
  1. Frank Moser
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  2. Thomas Jakl
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  3. Reihard Joas
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  4. Francesco Dondi
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Correspondence to Frank Moser.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Moser, F., Jakl, T., Joas, R. et al. Chemical Leasing business models and corporate social responsibility. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 12445–12456 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3126-y

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