Can you discuss your or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability, or other environmentally-friendly activities?

Braskem Idesa is firmly committed to sustainability, and we communicate our progress transparently through our annual sustainability report, which is publicly available on our website: https://www.braskemidesa.com.mx/reportssustainability.

Our 2023 ESG Sustainability Report reflects a clear vision for a carbon-neutral and sustainable future. It’s a vision rooted in strong stakeholder relationships, driven by innovation and human development. Despite the complex landscape of the global petrochemical market last year—with challenges such as oversupply and reduced demand—we remained resilient and made significant strides toward our sustainability goals.

Our strategy is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and is centred around three main pillars: the elimination of plastic waste, mitigation of climate change, and social responsibility.

Among our key achievements in 2023, we collected 149 tonnes of plastic waste through initiatives like Plastianguis and PlastiVale. We also launched post-consumer recycled resins in partnership with major companies such as Colgate-Palmolive and Kimberly-Clark, reinforcing our commitment to the circular economy.

Additionally, we implemented over 30 social programmes, benefiting more than 56,000 individuals. A particularly proud milestone was receiving the FDA’s Letter of No Objection for our HDPE resin incorporating recycled content—making it suitable for some food and cosmetic applications. We also successfully produced a resin composed of 50% virgin material and 50% post-consumer recycled content.

These accomplishments underscore our ongoing commitment to creating sustainable value through circularity and innovation.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?

There’s no doubt that enthusiasm for sustainability is widespread, and many organisations are taking important steps forward. However, alongside genuine efforts, we’ve also seen the rise of “greenwashing”—the misleading practice of marketing products as environmentally friendly without sufficient backing.

In recent years, claims like “eco,” “bio,” or “sustainable” have become common on product labels, yet too often these terms are used without the scientific rigour or regulatory evidence to support them. As in-house counsel, we are ideally positioned to ensure integrity in these claims. At Braskem Idesa, we actively support the regulatory frameworks that validate environmental declarations—such as life cycle assessments (LCAs), product carbon footprint studies, and international standards like ASTM and ISO.

Our LCAs have shown, for example, that reusable plastic products can often have a significantly lower environmental impact than alternatives made of aluminium, stainless steel, or even paper. As corporate lawyers, we help ensure these findings are reflected in credible, regulation-backed sustainability claims—thus protecting consumers and upholding trust.

It can be challenging to measure a company’s track record in environmentally friendly behaviour. What, in your opinion, has mostly been missed in discussions about how green a company is?

In addition to serving as General Counsel at Braskem Idesa, I also lead our advocacy and institutional affairs team. One of the major gaps I see in the sustainability discussion is the limited involvement of governments in supporting and promoting industry innovation.

For meaningful progress, especially in sectors like plastics, collaboration between industry and government is essential. Take, for example, our development of FDA-compliant recycled materials: achieving this level of product safety requires a robust and reliable infrastructure for collecting recyclable plastics. This, in turn, depends on broader social frameworks—like public healthcare and waste management systems—that are often under the remit of government.

Unfortunately, regulation has not kept pace with the innovation emerging from industry. For companies to fully deliver on sustainability promises, we need public policy to evolve in step. Reconnecting with governments—through dialogue, advocacy, and partnerships—is crucial to unlocking the full potential of environmentally responsible innovation.