The Sustainability Metrics: Q&A Factsheet

Who are the metrics aimed at?
Primarily at engineers working in the chemical and process industries. However, a general approach has been adopted and as a result, the metrics will also prove useful to engineers and managers in other industries, those involved in teaching sustainability, staff in NGO's and government agencies etc.

Who was involved in their development?
The IChemE's Sustainability Working Group comprises industrialists and academics primarily associated with the chemical and process industries. The process also drew on extensive consultation with other stakeholders including Forum for the Future. Early versions of the metrics were piloted at a number of process industry operations.

What happens after the launch?
Use of The Sustainability Metrics will be promoted amongst professional chemical and process engineers within IChemE membership. The CIA will also be encouraging uptake within its member companies

How will it be made available to business?
Through IChemE publicity campaigns, the Institution's website and via the Chemical Industries Association to its member companies.

What are the benefits to business?
The Sustainability Metrics provide a coherent set of measures to assess the impact of industrial activity. The benefit to industry is in knowing the effect of what it is doing, and thereby being able to enhance positive effects and mitigate negative ones. Considerable benefit will come from the audit work that is necessary in compiling the data. The whole exercise may provide an opportunity for industry to make a case for tax-breaks for certain activities, simply because the knowledge is being quantified. The metrics will help industry target its expenditure more effectively, by quantifying real problems, and perhaps defusing illusory ones, and highlighting opportunities. By comparing their own metrics with industry averages, they will be able to benchmark their own activities.

How are we going to monitor uptake and measure their impact?
Returns will be made to IChemE and at the discretion of participating organizations, IChemE will gather data, analyze findings and report trends.

What is our ambition and vision - how will we know that they have worked and how do we measure success?
Our ambition and vision are very straightforward. IChemE aims to steer the chemical and process industries towards greater sustainability as stated in the report's preface.

IChemE anticipates gathering extensive feedback on the practicality of the metrics and their use in 'live' situations. The Sustainability Metrics is a tool that will be subject to modification and evolution over time. Ultimately the best success measure is one of uptake and we anticipate a future where increasing numbers of chemical and process engineering companies cite the use of The Sustainability Metrics in their environmental reporting. However, in the first instance we recognise that metrics will be utilized as an internal tool that will allow process engineers to gain confidence in the measurement and analysis of key sustainable development indicators.