PPG's Sustainable Procurement Meets the Gold Standard

Headquartered in the US city of Pittsburgh, PPG is a Fortune 500 organisation and global supplier of paints, coatings and specialty materials. 

Operating in more than 70 countries, the company is, by revenue, the largest coatings organisation in the world.

PPG's vision is to be the first-choice partner when it comes to meeting its customers' evolving needs. 

EcoVadis awards PPG a gold rating

PPG has once again achieved a gold rating in corporate social responsibility from EcoVadis, a leading third-party sustainability ratings platform.

Its rating surpassed that of 93% of the 130,000 evaluated companies.

EcoVadis evaluates firms based on 21 factors grouped into four categories: environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. 

Each organisation receives scores in these areas based on its size, locations, and industry. The ranking methodology adheres to international sustainability standards and initiatives, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, United Nations Global Compact and ISO 26000 standard (social responsibility).

PPG achieved 'advanced' scores in the categories of environment, sustainable procurement practices and labour and human rights.

Key contributors to its high scores were:

• 44% of PPG’s sales were from sustainably advantaged products
• The company reduced its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 10%
• 97% of PPG's key suppliers underwent assessments against stringent sustainability and social responsibility criteria.

“We take an extremely pragmatic approach to integrating sustainability throughout our operations and within our value chain to support our own ambitions and those of our customers,” says Peter Votruba-Drzal, PPG VP-Elect, Global Sustainability.

“We're proud to be ranked among the top companies for environmental and social responsibility. It's a testament to the efforts of our more than 50,000 employees and reflects our recent progress.”

PPG's sustainable mindset

PPG is making strong progress against its environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities, reporting increased sales of sustainably-advantaged products, more efficient operations, strong momentum towards achieving diversity, equity and inclusion goals, greater supplier sustainability and strengthened support within communities where the company operates.

The company is laser-focused on sustainability goals, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets, which have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

As part of this drive towards sustainability, PPG has committed to:

"PPG has long been committed to reducing the environmental impact of its own operations, and we are proud to have validated science-based GHG emissions targets that are in line with the expectations of the Paris Agreement," adds Diane Kappas, Vice President, Global Sustainability at PPG.

"By raising our sustainability ambitions and increasing sales of sustainable solutions for our customers, PPG is advancing its leadership in the paints and coatings industry."

In addition to its science-based emission targets, PPG has set other 2030 ESG targets against a 2019 baseline, including:

• Achieving 50% of sales from sustainably advantaged products
• Reducing water intensity at priority sites by 15%
• Reducing waste intensity by 25% and reusing, recycling or recovering 100% of process waste
• Increasing COLOURFUL COMMUNITIES funding by US$5m, with each project incorporating an element of sustainability, making the total investment US$15m since 2015
• Assessing 100% of key suppliers against sustainability and social responsibility criteria. 

PPG remains determined to make progress, as demonstrated its latest ESG report. This details its continued improvement and focus on providing sustainable advantaged products, services and solutions for its customers. The full 2023 report is set to be published in late-May 2024.

PPG is also committed to educating others, as demonstrated by its partnership with the Czech organisation, Facts on Climate Change. This forms part of its global commitment to investing US$5m in environmental sustainability education by 2030.

"As a business committed to environmental responsibility, we recognise the significance of organisations like Facts on Climate Change as educators," adds Jan Šipan, PPG Sales Director for the Czech Republic. 

"Its work demystifies climate impacts and promotes unity in addressing it through education. Supporting it helps create a future where facts, understanding and collective education drive positive change."

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