Adrian Beard, Clariant, explained that the company decided voluntarily to move out of halogenated flame retardants in the late 1990s, considering them to be non-sustainable. Indeed, the products in question are today banned or on REACH evaluation lists. Clariant is also looking for routes to phosphorus flame retardants which avoid PCl3. Clariant has also developed a phosphorus based synergist as a substitute for zinc borate, because of concerns resulting from the classification of other boron compounds (see pinfa Newsletter n°91). Clariant’s product policy is driven by the company’s internal portfolio sustainability assessment system with its “Ecotain” label for best-in-class products (pinfa Newsletter n°79) based on independent external evaluations, such as ENFIRO and GreenScreen (pinfa Newsletters 36 and 100).