Our strategy and all aspects of our operations are built around advancing a fully sustainable and circular aramid chain and the safety and well-being of our people.
Looking back at 2020, the word that resonates the most is Impact. The impact we have on our planet, our people, and our customers. We strongly believe in transparency and strive to transform negative effects into positive change. We even upgraded our ambition: we used to want ‘to be the best high-performance fiber company in the world’ and raised the bar ‘to be the best high-performance fiber company for the world’. The adjusted credo comes with even more responsibility, and we are happy to share our impact stories on the progress we are making in multiple fields.
Over the past few years, we have put the foundations in place to meet our targets. In 2020, we finalized our energy-efficiency program 2017–2020 and made progress with our energy transition plans. As part of our transition to greener raw materials, we completed an innovative pilot to explore the use of biobased feedstocks and also began to formalize a program to develop an extended technology toolbox to recover aramids from end-of-life applications. We now have a technology toolbox that includes advanced methods to recycle used aramids back into production and create new feedstocks.
Together, we create the most impact
We are now in a strong position to take the next steps in our sustainability ambitions. However, more than anything, our success will be driven by collaboration and open innovation. In 2021 and beyond, we remain committed to working with like-minded partners to maximize our positive impact. This will involve intensifying the cooperation with our traditional and new suppliers and customers to harness the unique contributions of knowledge institutes, research specialists, and other value chain partners. By pooling our knowledge and expertise, we can accelerate sustainable technologies and ways of working. We invite new partners to join us. Together, we can help safeguard our planet for future generations.
There is no doubt that 2020 will go down in history as a very challenging year. I could not be prouder of our colleagues across the globe for their commitment to our customers and to each other. During the pandemic we quietly moved into our new global headquarters. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to celebrate this embodiment of our approach to sustainability and circularity. We believe it will be a happy place in which we can build partnerships and magnify our positive impact in the value chain and for the environment.
We hope you enjoy reading about how we take sustainability seriously. More information on how Teijin supports the Sustainable Development Goals can be found in the annual Integrated Report.
“In our spirit of collaboration, we are working side by side with our partners on a journey toward a fully sustainable and circular aramid chain.”