Our business & sustainability
Our business, purpose and values
Arxada is a standout player in the global specialty chemicals market, with its headquarters in Switzerland. Established in 2021 through the carve-out and acquisition of Lonza Specialty Ingredients by Bain Capital and Cinven, as well as the sub-acquisitions of Troy Corporation and Enviro Tech, Arxada has a leading presence in the industry. Specializing in cutting-edge microbial control solutions and performance additives, Arxada has a rich history in the specialty chemicals sector. The company offers the largest selection of biocidal active ingredients and the widest range of preservative and disinfectant options in the market.
Arxada's unique backward integration capability at its production site in Visp, Switzerland, enhances environmental efficiencies and is a market differentiator. This positioning allows Arxada to assist customers in meeting the growing demand for sustainable products that protect human health, infrastructure, and the environment. By focusing on addressing global microbial control challenges, Arxada is committed to advancing sustainability in the industry.
Arxada focuses on multiple end-markets, primarily in Human Health and Nutrition, Home & Personal Care, Paints & Coatings and Wood Protection. It provides a broad porffolio of differentiated products and solutions. This is supported by science and innovation capabilities, in-depth regulatory know-how and a proven record in manufacturing and process development. Arxada has a global footprint spanning 24 production sites and 14 research and development centers. Our team of 3,400 dedicated associates serves a diverse array of industries, striving to innovate and overcome obstacles to achieve high performance. We are driven by a passion for empowering individuals to reach their full potential, whether it be within our own organization or for our partners and customers.
Collaborating closely, we work diligently to fulfill Arxada’s purpose:
Operating locations
Our purpose revolves around the importance of protecting both society and the environment. This protection helps to maintain the health of people, improve the longevity and efficacy of vital infrastructure, while safeguarding the future of our planet. To help us achieve this, we follow a set of core values that reflect the longstanding commitments of our heritage companies.
Our products
We use science, innovation and collaboration to work towards minimizing our ecological footprint to create a sustainable future. Our broad porffolio of products and services helps our customers meet their own sustainability goals. It has been designed to be more efficient, effective and to enhance society and the planet.
Microbial Control Solutions
Nutrition, Care and Environmental
Developing our sustainability strategy
At Arxada, we prioritize sustainability and environmental responsibility, and we strive to make a positive impact on both people and the planet. Building on the momentum established in our 2022 inaugural report, we remain committed to leveraging the results and insights gathered from our key stakeholders and investors to shape our sustainability strategy. Arxada's sustainability strategy was formed on a foundation of three critical pillars that ground our responsibilities to associates, customers, investors, owners and the communities where we work and operate.
The Planet Pillar represents our approach to operating in an environmentally responsible manner. We are committed to being a climate leader and achieving Net Zero by 2050 in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement. We recognize the need to make immediate progress, so we have set ambitious yet achievable goals for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2023. We are also focusing on establishing a roadmap for our water strategy, beginning with a comprehensive water policy covering all Arxada manufacturing sites by 2024. We pledge to evaluate and reduce our water impact in the regions where we operate. Through science, innovation and collaboration, we work towards minimizing our ecological footprint to create a sustainable future.
The Preservation Pillar is at the core of Arxada's purpose: better science to solve the world's toughest preservation challenges. The products and solutions we provide are key enablers of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), promoting positive impact on the climate and wellbeing of society and conservation of resources. Arxada is committed to delivering low-carbon products that allow our customers, society and the planet to benefit from more sustainable solutions. We align our innovation investments to the UN SDGs, advocating for responsible, science-supported, risk-based decision- making, and strategically partner with our suppliers to ensure responsible sourcing. Product safety is a top priority. We are regularly developing new and inventive offerings, systems and services that provide more sustainable value to our customers. Our compliance with current regulations and industry standards helps support our products' safety for all they serve, including associates, consumers and society throughout their lifecycle. By adhering to current regulations and industry standards, we are designing products that are intended to be safe throughout their entire lifecycle.
The People Pillar reiterates that the people of Arxada are the most important ingredient to our success. At the heart of this recognition is a commitment to ensuring world-class health and safety performance for our associates. Our safety goals have the ultimate vision of zero injuries and incidents. We also proudly commit to an engaging work environment that values diversity and inclusion, a culture where all associates can be their true selves, thrive and grow. We aspire to improve our associate engagement and expand inclusion and wellbeing to be active members of the communities in which we operate and live, and to be a positive force for change.
Social responsibility is a key component of our business operations. We are working to have a positive impact on society and the environment. As a best practice, we routinely seek input from stakeholders and investors and are continuously refining our approach to reflect priorities.
Collaboration is a powerful way to drive innovation, solve complex challenges and achieve sustainable growth. That is why we are committed to a culture of transparent communication, mutual respect, engagement and teamwork. By prioritizing collaboration at all levels, we can leverage unique perspectives and individualized expertise to deliver broader value and positive impact. We expect our suppliers and service providers to adopt and comply with standards comparable to our policies.
Our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) is jointly responsible for this strategy, setting goals focused on its advancement and tracking progress together.
"Our People Pillar reiterates that the people of Arxada are the most important ingredient to our success."
Sustainability-linked instruments
As the first of its kind for a private equity transaction, Arxada has committed to reducing its environmental impact during its early growth stage. Arxada was partially financed through sustainability-linked loan facilities and sustainability-linked bonds (Sustainability-Linked Financial Instruments), with support from our sponsors Bain Capital and Cinven. A Sustainability-Linked Financial Instrument has financial and structural characteristics that can vary depending on whether the issuer achieves material, ambitious, pre-determined, regularly monitored and externally verified sustainability objectives. Therefore, Sustainability-Linked Financial Instruments present an additional incentive for the issuer to meet future commitments to improve sustainability in areas considered material to overall business operations.
By embedding targets against its Key Performance Indicators (KPls) into Sustainability-Linked Financial Instruments, Arxada continues to ensure transparent disclosure of our progress toward these KPls, which aligns with our values and vision for the future. The adopted KPls tied to the Sustainability-Linked Financial Instruments are (i) our greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions intensity and (ii) waste intensity with target reductions set from a 2018 baseline. To date, we have exceeded both targets. A Sustainability- Linked Financing Report is provided annually to investors outlining Arxada's progress against the KPls for each instrument. See our assurance report for our 2023 KPI observation date here.
More information on how we are working to improve our GHG and waste impact and meeting our targets can be found in the Planet Pillar content to follow.
[1] From our 2021 baseline
[2] As per the WBSCD PSA or another 3rd party validated methodology.
[3] Rates are calculated as the number of injuries or incidents in the reporting period x 200,000 / Total hours worked in the reporting period).
[4] Advocacy to advance external science-based decision making that drives sustainable preservation.
[5] Our key suppliers make up approximately 20% of our supplier base and account for approximately 80% of our spend
[6] Our community engagement target is driven by our number of manufacturing sites. In 2023, Arxada had 24 manufacturing sites globally. See ‘Our Business, Purpose and Values’ section for a list of these sites.
