HOUSTON, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Kraton Corporation (NYSE: KRA), a leading global Sustainable producer of specialty polymers and high-value biobased products derived from pine wood pulping co-products, announces that it achieved a Gold recognition medal for its sustainability rating from EcoVadis.

“We are proud to have earned our first-ever EcoVadis Gold rating,” said Nella Baerents, Kraton’s Global Sustainability Director. “This recognition demonstrates our continuous commitment to sustainability throughout the organization, enabling us to help meet market demands, advance the bioeconomy, and promote a more Sustainable future through collaboration in the value chain.”

Kraton’s points score and the resulting Gold rating puts it in the top 98 percentile of its industry. With more than 6,000 suppliers globally, Kraton’s progress on supply chain initiatives was vital in elevating it to the next level. Kraton’s achievements in 2019 include further deploying the Responsible Procurement: Making a Positive Difference program to all suppliers in scope and onboarding them on the EcoVadis platform. the company also added a corporate social responsibility section to its vendor performance scorecard, conducted 20 physical audits of suppliers and manufacturers, and improved the vendor base’s risk evaluation methodology.

“Kraton’s Responsible Procurement program is designed to accelerate environmental and social improvements across our supply chain in collaboration with key partners,” said Suzanne Pesgens, Kraton’s Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer. “Collectively, we aspire to make an impact through a common goal of delivering Sustainable, useful and competitive solutions to the market.”

More information about Kraton’s sustainability initiatives can be found on kraton.com. the company’s 2019 Sustainability Report is available here.

EcoVadis is a global provider of business sustainability ratings, intelligence and collaborative performance improvement tools for global supply chains. the EcoVadis platform and sustainability scorecards provide insight into environmental, social, and ethical risks across 198 purchasing categories and 155 countries. Their methodology provides a single framework to evaluate, collaborate and improve sustainability performance to protect brands, foster transparency and innovation, and accelerate growth.