The Chemours Company

The Chemours Company produces chemicals and materials, including PFAS (the first ever to make PFAS), titanium dioxide, fluorinated products, and mineral sands in Florida and Georgia. Since the production process requires much water and may involve water withdrawals, discharges, and emissions, water management practices are essential for the company.

The company's most impressive water sustainability performance is process-water circularity, complemented by a significant reduction of fluorinated organic chemical (FOC) emissions to water. In the Mission Mine in Georgia, water is constantly recycled during the mineral extraction, separation, and land reclamation processes. Only about 20% of the water withdrawn from the aquifer needed to be treated and discharged; the remaining 80% was reused in the production cycle and returned to the surficial aquifer.

The company's most outstanding practice is demonstrated by the Altamira titanium dioxide works in Mexico, which saw a temporary reduction of water withdrawals to mitigate the effects of the 2024 drought. The brackish water intrusion that could occur in the shared freshwater aquifer was prevented by the infrastructure built by the company in response to the 2021 water shortage. There were no intrusions during the 2024 drought, and watershed evaluations were conducted at 18 company facilities to define water stress levels and establish baseline information on potential impacts on water resources. The 85% completion rate of the 2024 baseline assessments was achieved for the 18 manufacturing sites.

FOC emissions to water were significantly reduced by 94% per year (from 251 to 15 metric tons) and down by 97% from the 2018 baseline (556 metric tons). In addition, operational withdrawals decreased by 11% from 189,000 to 168,000 megaliters in 2024. Withdrawals in water-stressed areas were down by 47%, from 17,000 to 9,000 megaliters.