Product carbon footprints sums up the total greenhouse gas emissions generated by a product throughout its life cycle. Within the plastics industry, customers are increasingly interested in knowing more about the carbon footprint of the various plastic materials they use. Having this information available is a key part of reducing carbon emissions in order to comply with the sustainability goals to which the industry has committed. Only through an improved CO2 transparency in the value chain will customers be able to successefully work to achieve their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
BASF is now offering its plastic additives customers product carbon footprints (PCFs) for several antioxidants and light stabilisers as a premium service within its portfolio of Valeras products, the brand name under which the company has combined its range of sustainable plastic additives.
BASF has developed proprietary digital solution and validated calculations that enable the company to provide cradle-to-gate PCFs. A cradle-to-gate PCF comprises all the processes from extraction of resources through manufacturing of precursors and the making of the final product itself up to the point where it leaves the company gate. By contrast, a cradle-to-grave PCF covers the complete life cycle of the product, including the emissions from the use phase and end-of-life of the product.
“BASF aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. At the same time, we are continuously working with our customers to help them reach their climate targets. With this digital solution, we create greater transparency with high quality PCFs to enable them to satisfy their customer requests and validate sustainability claims for creating low-carbon plastics,” said Dr. Achim Sties, Senior Vice President, Performance Chemicals Europe, BASF.
The PCFs will be available as a premium service through a new online customer portal named myPlasticAdditives containing a broad library of regulatory, sustainability and technical information. This online portal will help customers drive efficiency and improve business processes with BASF support at their fingertips. Registration for an account is available at myPlasticAdditives.basf.com.
The first wave of available calculations includes products in the Irganox, Tinuvin and Chimassorb portfolios; further products will follow.