The Business Case for Knowing Chemicals in Products and Supply Chains

This report develops the business case for knowing chemicals in products and across supply chains. The methodological approach is to build from secondary sources of data on the costs and benefits associated with not knowing and knowing chemicals in products and to supplement the report with interview data from Seagate Technology PLC—a manufacturer of storage drives. The report specifies the costs that companies pay for not knowing or not acting upon the knowledge of hazardous chemicals in their products as well as the benefits to companies of knowing chemicals in products and using safer substitutes. And it frames the management of chemicals in products as a strategic choice that ranges from being passive to active.