BASF transforms CO2 transparency with extensive digital calculation tool

11 Aug 2020 --- Chemicals company BASF is preparing to launch a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) calculation tool that provides customers with total values of CO2 emissions for 45,000 global sales products. The PCFs assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the extraction of resources, to energy purchase and the final production line, when the product leaves BASF. The tool helps BASF customers better measure and reduce the CO2 footprint of their activities and end products. Towards this end, BASF offers alternative raw materials and renewable energies via its Biomass Balance and ChemCycling approaches.

BASF will start with selected product and customer segments in the coming months and plans to make PCF data available for its entire portfolio by the end of 2021.

“[Environmental] sustainability and digitalization are core elements of our corporate strategy, which we are consistently implementing. By calculating the CO2 footprint, we bring both together and create much greater transparency for our customers regarding the specific emissions for each BASF product,” says Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE.

From cradle to gate, the PCFs provide BASF customers with more production transparency.“Climate protection issues are also becoming increasingly important for our customers. In the future, we will be able to support them with reliable data so that they can achieve their climate targets,” adds Christoph Jäkel, Head of Corporate Sustainability.

The calculation method follows general standards for life cycle assessments, including International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040, 14044, ISO/TS 14067 and GHG Protocol. The method is based on emissions data from the company’s own plants and high-quality information for purchased materials and energy.

Key mass balance approaches
BASF affirms its sales products from both the Biomass Balance and the ChemCycling procedures have the same properties as products based on purely fossil raw materials – but with a lower carbon footprint. BASF’s Biomass Balance approach replaces fossil resources with renewable raw materials from organic waste and vegetable oils in the production.

In June, organic poultry sausage brand Gutfried of the Zur Mühlen Gruppe adopted packaging created through the ChemCycling project. The result of a collaboration between Gutfried, BASF, SABIC and SÜDPACK, approximately two-thirds of the raw materials used for the packaging originate from plastic waste. The recycled content is allocated to the chemical end packaging via a mass balance method, affording the products the same high-quality and performance as new products.

“As we focus on plastic waste for which no high-value value recycling processes are established yet, ChemCycling is complementary to mechanical recycling. Examples of waste plastics that are difficult to recycle mechanically include mixed plastic waste, plastics with residues or multilayer food packaging,” BASF highlights.

The ChemCycling circle (Image credits: BASF).ChemCycling also resulted in a prototype Zott Gourmet Dairy flexible pack made from 100 percent recycled plastic. As part of its ChemCycling project, BASF also invested €20 million (US$22 million) last October in Quantafuel, a specialist for the pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste and the purification of pyrolysis oil.

While saving fossil resources and reducing GHG emissions, Biomass Balance is independently certified by European REDcert2 and ensures identical product quality and properties.

“We enable [packaging manufacturers] to use more sustainable biomass in the existing production chain without changing processes. The transition starts with the production of our compounds. You choose – do you want us to use fossil fuels or biomass, or a bit of both?” the company offers.

Since 1990, BASF has halved its GHG emissions while doubling production volume. The company now targets carbon neutrality by 2030.

Edited by Anni Schleicher

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