PPG's contributions to communities and society align closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our sustainability approach underpins product innovation, customer collaboration, resource efficiency and community contribution – each of which supports progress against the SDGs in some way.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index
Our efforts also reflect the priorities captured in the Chemical Sector SDG Roadmap, which articulates how the sector can use its influence and innovation to support progress toward the SDGs. The roadmap is an initiative led by leading chemical companies and industry associations, convened by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
The table below shows the connections between the SDGs and our public environmental and social commitments, goals, policies and standards.
SDG | PPG interaction with the SDGs | Relevant PPG commitments, goals, policies and standards |
Responsible employer: provide living wages and benefits to employees Investments and partnerships: strengthening and revitalizing communities and improving infrastructure Innovative products: support affordable and accessible shelter and other basic goods | Our people strategy, community programs and partnerships, and innovative sustainably advantaged products often contribute to alleviating global poverty. Learn more about our work in the people overview, community engagement, and sustainably advantaged products sections. | |
Improve food distribution: extend lifetimes of food and food packaging, maintain food quality and safety | PPG products are key enablers of safe, long term food packaging and storage. Learn more in the product stewardship section. | |
Product stewardship: increased availability of products with health and safety benefits Management of chemicals: safe production and distribution | We take responsibility for minimizing adverse human health and environmental impacts of our products at every stage of the product life cycle. We also have strict operations standards to minimize the environmental impact of our operations. Target: On our path to eliminating spills, ensure that we achieve at least a 5% improvement in our spills and releases rate by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. Learn more in the product stewardship and waste sections. | |
Promote science education: fostering a love of STEM and supporting technical apprenticeships and skill building | PPG supports STEM education through our financial donations to educational programs and through our employee volunteer efforts in communities where we live, work and play. We have made a public commitment to donate $5 million by 2030 to support environmental sustainability education, aligned with climate action and a more circular economy. Learn more in the community engagement section. | |
Supporting women's success: implementing programs and management approaches that advance gender equity | Through our comprehensive DE&I strategy, we are working to improve equity and inclusion within PPG and in our communities. Aspirational goal: 34-36% representation of non-frontline, global female professionals by 2025. Learn more in the diversity, equity and inclusion section. | |
Water management: reducing water use and ensuring responsible disposal | PPG ensures that water used at our facilities is treated and discharged responsibly. We are working to reduce the absolute amount of water that we use across our operations, and the water intensity that is required to produce our products. Target: 15% reduction in water intensity at priority sites in water stressed communities by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. Learn more about our water management in the water section. | |
Supporting production of renewable energy: creating products that support wind and solar industries Addressing issue of climate change: Energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sourcing to reduce our impact Building adaptive capacity: working with our supply chain to promote sustainable practices | PPG is supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy by creating new products, improving our energy sourcing and efficiency, and partnering with our suppliers to build adaptive capacity. As an example, PPG provides coatings applied to wind turbines. Target: Reduce GHG emissions from our own operations (scope 1 and 2 emissions) by 50%, validated by SBTi and aligned with the emissions reductions required for a 1.5 degrees C future, by 2030 with a 2019 baseline. Target: Reduce GHG emissions in our value chain (scope 3 emissions) by 30%, validated by SBTi and aligned with the emissions reductions required for a well below 2 degrees C future. Learn more in the energy and emissions, climate-related risks and opportunities, and supplier sustainability sections. | |
Protecting quality of life: safe production and management of chemicals for our employees and communities Upholding human rights: meeting labor standards and respecting human rights throughout our value chain | PPG works with a leading sustainability ratings company to monitor compliance with labor and environmental standards in our value chain. As an example, through this assessment, we determined our suppliers’ Labor and Human Rights rating is 7.7 points above the chemical industry supply chain benchmark. Target: Zero injuries. On our path to zero injuries, ensure that we achieve an improvement of at least 5% per year in our injury and illness (I&I) rate. All PPG suppliers are expected to comply with our Global Supplier Code of Conduct. Learn more in the people overview, supplier sustainability and human rights sections. | |
Promote resiliency: identifying new uses and products that reduce resource use and negative environmental impacts | We are constantly working to identify new uses for existing products, and innovate new, more durable products that extend the life of the asset we protect with our coatings. Target: 50% of sales from sustainably advantaged products by 2030. Learn more in the sustainably advantaged products and climate-related risks and opportunities sections. | |
Advocate for equality: global policies that support fair wages, safety and ethical standards | PPG is focused on becoming a more diverse and equitable company, and supports DE&I efforts in our communities. Target: Invest $20 million by 2025 to advance racial equity in the U.S. by funding educational pathways for Black communities and people of color. Aspirational goal: 34-36% representation of non-frontline, global female professionals by 2025. Aspirational goal: 45-55% increase in headcount of Black, Latino and Asian professionals across non-frontline, U.S.-based employee population by 2025. Aspirational goal: 50% global employee resource network and DE&I capability-building participation by 2025. Learn more in the diversity, equity and inclusion and community engagement sections. | |
Supporting communities: paints and coatings protect and beautify means of transportation, buildings and other infrastructure | Our community engagement efforts protect and beautify community spaces and infrastructure around the world. Target: Commit an additional $5 million by 2030 through the PPG Colorful Communities initiative, increasing the total investment to $15 million since 2015. Learn more in the products overview and community engagement sections. | |
Improve efficiency of production processes: Increase our efficiency, and enable resource efficiencies for our customers in other industries | Efficiency of our operations is paramount for PPG, and we are always looking for resource and production improvement opportunities. Target: 25% reduction in total waste disposal intensity by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. Target: Drive to 100% process waste to reuse, recycle and recovery. Learn more in the waste and sustainably advantaged products sections. | |
Product stewardship: Improving product formulations and design to avoid negative environmental impacts | PPG's Environment, Health and Safety Policy outlines our commitment to producing and distributing products in a responsible manner. Learn more in the safety and health section. Learn more about our product stewardship activities in the product stewardship section. | |
Maintaining standards of ethical business conduct: requiring compliance with PPG's high ethical standards | The PPG Global Code of Ethics sets out the ethical principles that apply to all PPG people. Learn more about our standards, for PPG operations and throughout our value chain, in the governance overview and supplier sustainability sections. | |
Collaboration: Working with NGOs and other stakeholders to advance our management of topics relevant to each goal | We work with all of our stakeholders to understand how we can better contribute to reaching the SDGs and to support our stakeholders in their own efforts. Learn more in the stakeholder engagement section. |