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Commitments that go beyond conventions

See BeyondTM is Quaker Houghton’s sustainability strategy – and we see far beyond typical expectations of sustainability.

Addressing social, economic and environmental aspects, and aligned to key UN Sustainable Development Goals, we have defined 15 long-term targets that put us on a path to achieve our vision for a sustainable future. Key to meeting our ambitious goals is supporting our customers as they tackle their own unique sustainability challenges and keep pace with the demands of a changing world.

It’s why we’re committed to setting and achieving measurable targets, and driving tangible improvements that go beyond organizations and operations – creating positive change in lives, communities and our planet.

See every side of sustainability

Going beyond to drive change

Sustainability has no set destination. It’s an ongoing journey with ever-changing challenges and stakeholder expectations. It’s a critical subject across our global industry, and we need to collectively make our commitments clear – and act on them with conviction.

At Quaker Houghton, we combine our solutions with industry insight and intelligence to See Beyond™ the issues of today and secure a better tomorrow. Our sustainability commitment focuses on social, economic and environmental progress and is based around four key pillars. These pillars guide our actions and help us protect and positively impact the lives, organizations and communities we serve.

  • Innovating Together for a Better Tomorrow
  • Protecting Our Planet
  • Empowering Our Colleagues and Communities
  • Sourcing Our Materials Responsibly

Sustainability has long been integrated within our customer-intimate strategy.  It is overseen by committees at the Executive and Board Level and helps inform our behaviors, decision-making processes and our investment choices. With input from colleagues, customers, suppliers, and investors through our materiality assessment, we have defined 15 long-term targets, driven by our vision, that put us on a path by 2030 to achieve a sustainable future. Our goals also closely align to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Our 2022 Sustainability Report provides more detail of our plans and the substantial progress we are making towards our ambitious 2030 targets. Looking ahead, we’re focused on delivering beyond the bounds of our own business and becoming a driving force in realizing a brighter, better future for everyone, everywhere.

Aligning our commitments

Our goals

Material Topic
We Aspire to by 2030
We Will by 2023
  • Minimizing Hazards In Our Portfolio
  • Achieve 100% of finished goods in our portfolio not classified as Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, or Reprotoxic (CMRs)
  • Establish the baseline
  • Implement green chemistry guidelines globally
  • Formulating With Renewable Raw Materials
  • Transitioning Our Solutions To Support A Low Carbon Economy
  • Reduce our use of fossil-based raw materials by 30%
  • Establish the baseline
  • Implement green chemistry guidelines globally
  • Transitioning Our Solutions To Support A Low Carbon Economy
  • Eliminate 45,000 metric tons of waste at QH FLUIDCARE™ partner locations
  • Implement a data management platform
Material Topic
We Aspire to by 2030
We Will by 2023
  • Reducing Our Direct Emissions
  • Achieve carbon neutrality in our global operations
  • Set science-based targets to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our value chain by 2050
  • Source at least 50% renewable electricity globally
  • Standardize ISO 14001 certifications in all manufacturing sites
  • Minimizing Our Waste
  • Managing Our Water Responsibly
  • Reduce waste to landfill, hazardous waste, and water per ton produced by 20% each
  • Standardize ISO 14001 certifications in all manufacturing sites
Material Topic
We Aspire to by 2030
We Will by 2023
  • Empowering Our Colleagues To Live Safe
  • Have zero serious injury recordables
  • Achieve zero recordable incidents with more than 5 days lost work days at 98% of Quaker Houghton and customer locations
  • Standardize to global multilingual incident management and EHS learning platforms
  • Achieve zero recordable incidents with more than 5 days lost work days at 96% of Quaker Houghton and customer locations
  • Investing In Our People’s Growth And Development
  • Achieve engagement scores greater than our industry peers
  • Provide career enhancement programming to 100% of our colleagues
  • Achieve 100% participation in the company’s annual Code of Conduct training program and certify bi-annually
  • Launch a global enterprise leadership development program with more than 50% annual participation by all new managers
  • Embracing Diversity And Inclusion
  • Increase female representation globally and in management to 25-27%
  • Increase ethnic diversity in the US to 25-27%
  • Establish a Diversity and Inclusion Council
  • Expand Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to 3-5 per region
  • Supporting Our Local Communities’ Development
  • Work together to reach 250,000 cumulative hours of volunteering
  • Invest our time and resources to conduct impactful projects in all of the communities where we manufacture, work, and conduct research around the globe
  • Implement a global volunteerism program with standardized paid time off
  • Relaunch the Quaker Houghton Foundation globally
Material Topic
We Aspire to by 2030
We Will by 2023
  • Confirming Sustainable Sourcing Of Raw Materials
  • Ensuring Everyone In The Supply Chain Is Treated With Dignity And Respect
  • Achieve 75% of total direct spend with suppliers that exceed our sustainability performance threshold
  • Ensure that 100% of direct suppliers, above $100k spend, commit to Quaker Houghton’s Supplier Code of Conduct
  • Implement a global sustainability supplier assessment tool
  • Source fully segregated Palm Oil for 50% of our global supply
  • Incorporate supply chain human rights awareness into annual compliance training
  • Implement a system to measure diversity in our US supply base

Discover See Beyond™

Seeing is the first step towards action. Towards measurable change. Towards securing a better tomorrow socially, economically and environmentally.

See how Quaker Houghton can help you shape a better tomorrow.