One year after BASF’s Monomers division announced its ambitious sustainability roadmap, it is now celebrating the successful certification of production sites in all regions. With its MDI production site in Geismar, Louisiana, USA, joining the ranks of ISCC PLUS and REDcert2-certified locations1, BASF can now offer its customers regionally produced ISCC PLUS and/or REDcert2 certified isocyanates and polyamides all over the world.
“Our successes in the last year have shown how serious we are about driving the sustainable transformation of the Monomers division and the various customer industries we are serving ̶ we are working constantly to improve our portfolio which is also reflected by our products constantly meeting the high standards of our international certifiers,” said Monomers President Dr. Ramkumar Dhruva. “With our sites certified all over the world, we are now able to help our customers reach their sustainability goals with more sustainable products wherever they are located. I am very happy that we now also have the right structures in place to supply our American customers with certified more sustainable Isocyanate solutions made in the United States. With this, we can always offer our customers the perfect fit for their product mix,” Dhruva added.
Sustainability roadmap well on its way – 345 certified sustainable products
Last January, BASF’s Monomers division committed itself to developing a circular option in every major product line by 2025. Now, only one year later, the division continues to deliver on that promise. As of February 2024, approximately 70 percent of the large portfolio of isocyanates, polyamides, glues and resins, precursors and inorganics products are available in chemically recycled (Ccycled®) or biomass-balanced variants2 (BMB), as LowPCF products3 or even ZERO variants (Zero Emissions, Renewable Origin). In total, the division now offers 345 certified sustainable product alternatives to its various customer industries, which range from food packaging, textiles, automotive or construction to wood binders and many others.
New technologies to boost the sustainable transformation
Besides offering more sustainable product variants, BASF’s Monomers division continues to invent completely new solutions like its polyol recycling. Further, the division develops new proprietary technologies that drive the sustainable transformation of the various industries it serves. With the newest addition to its portfolio, loopamid®, the Monomers division has developed an innovative solution to improve circularity in the fashion industry and recycle polyamide 6-based textile waste. With this cutting-edge technology, used fibers and materials can be recycled into new yarn over multiple cycles while retaining the material characteristics of conventional virgin polyamide. More information about this breakthrough technology is available here.
Various operational excellence measures cut tons of CO2 emissions
Besides the significant additions to its product portfolio, BASF’s Monomers division has also successfully implemented many measures for its production sites in all regions that further reduce carbon emissions. With these CO2 mitigation measures Monomers contributes significantly to BASF’s ambitious sustainability target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. Utilizing the benefits of BASF’s global Verbund network, several high-impact measures resulted in substantial CO2 reductions. A prime example are improved heat recovery measures at the site of Shanghai BASF Polyurethane Co. Ltd. (SBPC), which are expected to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 34,000 tons every year.
- 1 REDcert2 and ISCC PLUS are sustainability certification schemes for the use of sustainable biomass as raw material in the chemical industry. A certification according to these certification schemes confirms that the biomass used is sustainable and has been fed into the production system in the required amount. It also confirms that the sustainable biomass has been correctly attributed to the corresponding sales products. The certifications are awarded on the basis of on-site audits conducted by independent auditors.
- 2 Ccycled®: Conventional fossil raw materials required to manufacture BASF products are replaced with recycled feedstock from the chemical recycling of plastic waste or end-of-life tires along BASF’s integrated production chain. The corresponding share of recycled feedstock, e.g., pyrolysis oil, is attributed to the specific Ccycled® product via a certified mass balance approach. The recycled feedstock is not measurable in the BASF mass balance product.
- BMB: For a biomass balanced product, BASF replaces 100% of the fossil raw materials which are normally needed to produce the product with renewable feedstock in its Verbund production setup. The renewable carbon cannot be physically identified in the final product, but the renewable share is fully attributed to it via a certified mass balance approach.
- 3 LowPCF products have a at least 30% lower product carbon footprint compared to corresponding fossil-based grades. The product carbon footprint (PCF) calculations follow the requirements and guidance given by ISO 14067:2018. In a methodology review, TÜV Rheinland has confirmed that the PCF (SCOTT) methodology developed and used by BASF SE is in accordance with ISO 14067:2018 and the Together for Sustainability PCF Guideline, and reflects the state of the art (ID-Nr. 0000080389: BASF SE – Certipedia). Further information is available here.
Source: BASF