Proactive Product Stewardship is a Business Imperative
Chemical regulations are evolving at an unprecedented pace across the globe, bringing new requirements around restrictions, reporting, and extended producer responsibility. These rapidly changing requirements directly impact how organizations across diverse sectors source materials, engage suppliers, and position themselves for future markets. Consequently, organizations increasingly recognize that proactive product stewardship is essential to maintaining operational continuity, strengthening supply chain resilience, and supporting long-term business strategy.
One of the most significant challenges organizations face is replacing chemicals identified as emerging risk while preserving product functionality, reliability, and safety. At the same time, they must carefully assess the overall cost of substitutes. This is particularly challenging in highly specialized industries like aerospace and semiconductors, where performance cannot be compromised.
Organizations can gain a competitive advantage by leveraging pre-regulatory intelligence to anticipate regulatory developments before regulators finalize new requirements. By implementing proactive product stewardship programs, organizations can turn regulatory complexity into a strategic opportunity. They can identify innovative alternative chemistries, strengthen supplier relationships, and improve supply chain visibility. By acting early, organizations build more durable business models, create resilient supply chains, and align their product portfolios with evolving market demands.
Forward-looking organizations treat product stewardship as a strategic enterprise capability that integrates procurement, engineering, operations, and executive leadership. In contrast, organizations often undermine their success when they treat stewardship solely as a compliance function and delay action until regulators finalize new rules. This reactive approach increases vulnerability to operational disruptions because market dynamics and supply chain decisions often shift long before formal compliance deadlines take effect.
Organizations seeking to strengthen product stewardship should:
- Monitor emerging regulations and continuously evaluate potential material and business impacts across their operations.
- Collaborate closely with suppliers to assess alternative materials and identify solutions that balance performance, safety, cost, and regulatory readiness.
- Build a comprehensive roadmap that aligns compliance objectives with product performance requirements and broader enterprise objectives.
Organizations that act now will be better positioned to convert regulatory foresight into measurable business value. By embedding proactive product stewardship into strategic decision-making, companies can accelerate revenue growth through market-leading products, strengthen brand value by demonstrating responsible and sustainable innovation, and reduce liability by identifying and addressing emerging regulatory risks before they become costly compliance or litigation issues. At the same time, early planning helps minimize transition costs, avoid supply chain disruptions, and optimize investments in alternative materials and technologies.
In an increasingly dynamic regulatory environment, product stewardship is no longer simply a risk management function. It is a business strategy that drives growth, protects enterprise value, and creates a durable competitive advantage.
Patricia will be discussing this topic further at FORUM26! Don’t miss her session, “Elevating EHS&S to a Strategic Business Function,” on Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM.
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About the Author
Dr. Underwood is a recognized expert in regulatory strategy with extensive experience in the EPA Toxic Substances Control Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and CERCLA, as well as assessing and managing related impacts to mission critical chemicals and chemical supply chains. She is also a recognized expert on PFAS management, leading the development and implementation of PFAS management policies and mitigation strategies associated with mission critical PFAS for the Department of War. This included promoting transparency within the supply chain to assess the use and criticality of chemicals such as PFAS, and those undergoing risk evaluations under TSCA Section 6, a topic she discussed on the All Things Chemical® podcast.
Dr. Underwood has co-authored numerous national level technical and policy documents on emerging contaminants. She served as chair of the EOP Council on Environment Quality (CEQ) Policy Coordinating Committees on PFAS Critical Uses from 2022 to 2025. She was an active member of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) PFAS working group and contributed to the OSTP PFAS Federal R&D Strategic Plan. She is board certified by the American Board of Toxicology and is a recipient of several national level awards including the EPA Bronze Medal for Commendable Service and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Civilian Career Service Award.