develop digital and data services and related technologies helping owners
and operators to reduce fuel costs, comply with existing and pending
regulations and improve their environmental performance. While Jotun
will continue to develop quality primers, antifoulings and topcoats, these
digital solutions help strengthen Jotun’s leadership role in hull performance
management, which will play a larger role in the industry’s efforts to
decarbonise in the years ahead.
Powder Coatings
Despite business interruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic in the
first half of the year, Jotun not only achieved sales growth in every region
where the company is active but also recorded double-digit growth in most
market categories. As in other segments, record high raw materials costs
outpaced the company’s efforts to raise prices, impacting profitability.
The segment’s performance was supported in part by Jotun’s focus on
meeting the evolving demands of different customer groups in different
markets. For example, the development of powder coatings that deliver
metallic finishes helped Jotun grow sales in the Appliances, Furniture
and Building Components, while growth in General Industries was driven
by highly durable coatings developed to protect exterior units, such as
electrical cabinets. Jotun has also expanded its range of colour selections.
This development allows Jotun to approach architects, designers, and
furniture manufacturers directly to ensure Jotun products are specified at an
early stage.
Over the past decade, Jotun has invested significant resources into the
development of powder coatings solutions that cure at lower temperatures,
which can be used on non-metal substrates. Other promising markets
include battery housings for electric cars and durable powder coatings for
components found in agriculture and construction equipment. Jotun is
also seeking to grow in the highly demanding pipeline market. While raw
materials prices are likely to impact the Powder Coatings segment into the
first half of next year, Jotun remains confident that growing concerns about
the environment will continue to encourage customers to seek coatings
solutions free of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
4. SUSTAINABILITY
Jotun supports all UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), however
with focus on four where the company can have the largest impact. These
include Goal number 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Goal number
12 (Responsible production and consumption), Goal number 13 (Climate
action) and Goal number 14 (Life below water).
Jotun defines sustainability in three dimensions: Environment, Social and
Governance(ESG).
5. ENVIRONMENT
Jotun‘s goal is to reduce the footprint of the company’s operations and
develop sustainable products and solutions that help customers both
comply with regulations and achieve their environmental targets. Jotun’s
holistic approach minimises the environmental impact across the value
chain, from sourcing raw materials and manufacturing, to distribution, and
the use, reuse, and recycling of products and materials.
In 2021, the Board approved a new Sustainability Strategy. To communicate
and implement this strategy, Jotun developed a simplified three-step
model. The model defines Jotun’s role across the value chain, including
how Jotun designs products and interacts with suppliers (Input) how Jotun
manages its own operations (Operations) and how Jotun provides solutions
and collaborates with customers and other stakeholders to improve
environmental performance (Supply).
The three-step model is grounded in standardised environmental data
gathered from multiple sources to produce Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs)
and other tools used to measure environmental impacts across the value
chain.
Input: Raw material supply and product design
As a global player in the paints and coatings industry, Jotun exert influence
over suppliers to ensure they comply with the company’s sustainability
goals.
Board of Directors
In 2021, Jotun initiated a new supplier assessment tool in order to meet
Jotun’s expectations and requirements for environmental and social
performance in the supply chain and in accordance with Jotun’s Supplier
Integrity Declaration. The goal is to conduct annual assessments on all raw
material and packaging suppliers.
Research and Development
Jotun’s R&D function works to ensure that products are responsibly
designed and documented in line with the company’s sustainability goals.
While every Jotun product features unique characteristics tailored to meet
the needs of specific customer groups, Jotun is sensitive to growing market
demand for more sustainable products that help customers comply with
increasingly strict environmental regulations. Innovations include paints and
coatings that contain minimal or zero VOCs, highly durable coatings that
extend maintenance intervals, and a number of specialised coatings to help
different customer groups improve their environmental performance.
Life Cycle Assessments of products
Jotun provides customers with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs),
a measurement of “cradle-to-gate” carbon footprint of products, to
help customers meet environmental requirements. EPDs are based on a
standardised, independently verified Life Cycle Assessment method which
document and communicate transparent and comparable information
about the environmental impact of Jotun products. In 2021, Jotun
introduced the GreenStep Analyser, a tool which allows Jotun to extend the
scope of EPDs beyond “gate” to include the use and maintenance phase,
which in turn delivers valuable insights that can be shared with customers.
Chemical Policy
Jotun acknowledges that the use of certain chemicals in paints and coatings
may represent a risk to health and the environment. To manage these risks
in a responsible way, Jotun chemists apply the “Substitution Principle”, which
requires Jotun to replace hazardous materials with more sustainable alternatives.
This principle is consistent with Jotun’s Chemical Policy, which is updated annually
to ensure that use of certain substances that may represent a high concern of
risk to health and the environment are avoided or restricted all across Jotun.
Jotun Annual Report 2021 I 11
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