Driving innovation through life-cycle thinking

The concept of sustainability is critical for businesses and individuals to understand and apply. Although there are many ways to define sustainability, at The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) we say that sustainability requires making every decision with the future in mind. Sustainable innovation is driven by a clear corporate strategy, global accountability to goals, and a variety of tools to track and improve business performance. The ability to articulate aspirational goals for some areas and quantitative measurements for others is critical. Individual awareness of the four themes of sustainable chemistry and engineering (atom economy, energy efficiency, reduced hazard, and holistic design) is a firm foundation for sustainable innovation. The Dow Chemical Sustainability Footprint Tool©, life-cycle assessment, and a product-based Sustainable Chemistry Index are very useful in positioning and quantifying sustainability as a target for innovation—and a source of business growth. The development, application, and use of these tools in Dow are described.