3E Continues Supply Chain Sustainability Product Build-Out With ChemChain Acquisition

3E Continues Supply Chain Sustainability Product Build-Out With ChemChain Acquisition

3E, a compliance-focused sustainability and safety software firm, has acquired ChemChain, a blockchain-enabled chemicals supply chain solution. This adds to 3E’s depth of offering, following its purchase of Toxnot just over a year ago and its acquisition of Chemycal in November 2023. The addition of further capabilities to support customers in supply chain compliance and sustainability aligns with the broader trend of growing demand from manufacturers, especially in the chemicals sector, for improved product data-related oversight in their value chains. Greater transparency can improve inventory tracking, connectivity with customers and circularity.

ChemChain is a Luxembourg-headquartered decentralized supply chain solution developed to support traceability in the chemicals industry. The platform enables the communication of information along the value chain for the recovery of materials at the end of the product life cycle. The encryption of data with blockchain protects the intellectual property of manufacturers and brands, with access controls limiting the availability of information to certain value chain operators. The platform is intended to facilitate scalable circular operations, enabling enhanced and secure data transfer within supply chains.

3E’s move is particularly notable given an uptick in product-specific regulations that are increasing scrutiny of where manufacturers source their materials, and ultimately, where their products end up. Several circular economy policies and regulations will require value chain participants to extend product and material life cycles through recovery, reuse and recycling. To do so, it is essential that firms have greater communication up and down their value chains. 3E’s previous acquisition of Toxnot formed the foundation of 3E Exchange, which provides customers with supply chain data built on 175,000 supplier relationships and regulatory content across 500,000 chemical substances – all bolstered by the integration of Chemycal. The 3E ecosystem will support organizations in understanding their regulatory requirements, and in acting on them too.

In the Verdantix 2023 ESG and sustainability global corporate survey, 69% of respondents in chemicals production ranked product compliance and circular economy regulations in their top three for sustainability-related requirements influencing spend on ESG and sustainability, compared with the average across all industries of 40%. As a result, Verdantix anticipates growing demand in solutions that enable data-sharing, with a particular focus on solutions that provide digital product passports (DPPs), as with 3E Exchange and ChemChain. For more insight into circular economy solutions and product compliance, head here.