Traditionally, chemicals are sold to customers, who become owners of the substances and therefore responsible for its use and disposal. Their suppliers have a clear economic interest in increasing the amount of chemicals sold, which is usually related to negative releases to the environment.

Compared to this approach, the concept of Chemical Leasing (ChL) is much more service-oriented. In this business model the customer pays for the benefits obtained from the chemical, not for the substance itself. Consequently the economic success of the supplier is not linked with product turnover anymore. The chemical consumption becomes a cost rather than a revenue factor for the chemicals supplier. He will try to optimise the use of the chemical and improve the conditions for recycling in order to reduce the amount consumed, which again reduces the environmental pollution.

Against this background ChL can be seen as a key element of sustainable chemicals management systems.

The application of ChL models brings economic advantages for all partners involved, provides concrete solutions for efficient chemicals management and ways to reduce negative releases to the environment. Since chemical products provide a broad variety of services such as "cleaning", "coating", "colouring" and "greasing" the ChL model is applicable in a multitude of industry sectors.

When applying ChL business models, the producer does not just provide the chemical, but also his know-how on how to reduce the consumption of chemicals and how to optimise the conditions of use. While in the traditional model the responsibility of the producer ends with the selling of the chemical, in ChL business models the producer remains responsible for the chemical during its whole life cycle, including its use and disposal.