Focus on Resins: BASF | 33


“Now, more and more customers are actively asking for the CO2 product. CO2


footprint as well.”


“The first step is maybe switching energy footprint of a is like becoming a currency and


brings a new dimension to competition – you have price and performance, and you now have the CO2


BASF’s Monomers division covers a lot of industries and applications, not just the woodworking sector but also construction products and textiles for instance.


CAMPAIGN


The frame for the new campaign is the Sustainability Roadmap, which promises customers that BASF will offer non-fossil- based resin options to the regular products, either bio-based or chemcycled using the mass balance principle. BASF’s intermediate step products come under several different categories, with the first being particularly relevant for the woodworking sector. LowPCF (Product Carbon Footprint)


– combines various factors, including integrated highly efficient production processes and the use of electricity or energy from renewable sources. ZeroPCF – A cradle-to-gate product carbon footprint of zero by using renewable raw materials in BASF’s production system via its biomass balance approach and using renewable energy. Biomass-balanced – In this methodology,


BASF replaces 100% of the fossil raw materials which are normally needed for resin production in the beginning of the value chain. To ensure transparency, compliance with mass balance standards like REDcert2 and ISCC PLUS is independently certified for each biomass balanced intermediate. Chemcycled – When customers buy a


Ccycled product, BASF replaces 100% of the fossil raw materials which are normally needed for production of the product with pyrolysis oil. The pyrolysis oil is derived from chemically recycled plastic waste like end-of- life tyres. Several customers in the wood-based panels industry have already taken advantage of BASF’s alternatives. Swiss Krono Group was the first manufacturer of wood-based materials to use Kauramin® BALANCE, for whose production 50% CO2


is saved, in the


production of its new biocomposite flooring product, demonstrated at BAU 2023. “We want to make these options affordable,” added Dr Aßmann. “I think our customers will transform step by step, and we want to offer solutions for every step.” BASF says this intermediate approach is


able to give a significantly lower product carbon footprint (PCF) compared to the global market average.


Above: The new biocomposite product from Swiss Krono with Kauramin BALANCE from BASF www.wbpionline.com | April/May 2024 | WBPI


to green to get a bit greener. In the end you want to switch your feedstock as well.” BASF keeps launching new alternative options for its portfolio. “Now we have these options, if customers choose to stay with regular products that’s fine, but if you want you can go for the other options then we have a certified carbon footprint for them.”


Dr Aßmann emphasised that these


alternative options gave the same performance as the standard BASF products. It’s effectively a drop-in solution but with the additional sustainability benefits. “But we are aware that some customers are looking for more visionary options and are willing to experiment with new eco binders and this we can support as well. We benefit from a network of 10,000 researchers at BASF and we have worked on it for a long time. “The target is to have a competitive


[alternative new eco binder option] we can present to our customers. But we don’t want to make the Lamborghini of binders which is barely affordable.” However, Dr Aßmann doesn’t see the regular urea melamine products disappearing anytime soon. “Urea melamine resins are very well established, very cost efficient and I think these products will remain. For this portfolio we offer low PCF and biomass balanced- based options.” BASF’s own carbon footprint calculator – the Strategic CO2 – gives a CO2


Transparency Tool (SCOTT) figure at the BASF gate, as


well as the carbon content and raw material demand for every product. Customers can use a digital app called “MyCarbonFootprint” to see the BASF resin orders they’ve placed and see what the total CO2


content is they’ve purchased. They can select alternative product options to calculate the CO2


footprint


reduction generated by these products. This allows customers to add this data to


their sales software, giving visibility on environmental impact across the business. Clients can report it, then mitigate it and


show investors they are preparing for a more sustainable future. The MyCarbonFootprint tool offers a unique opportunity to better understand where customers stand with their individual BASF shopping cart when it comes to sustainability. Customers can determine how adjustments in their purchasing portfolio affect their sustainability status in terms of CO2


emissions and the use of renewable raw materials.


Dr Aßmann said it was encouraging that it was seeing increasing turnover in the alternative product options, including in the woodworking sector. “With best-in-class production processes,


alternative feedstocks and full transparency about the environmental impact of our products we enable our customers to achieve their individual goals.” The separate research work on developing entirely new eco-binder systems is continuing and it is possible that in 2025 BASF may be ready for a product launch. The project is described as “advanced”. “I think the woodworking industry is really in a pole position towards a more circular, sustainable economy, pioneering the circularity with using recycled panels. It should really focus on the CO2


footprint of


its products. “The industry has the very best carbon footprint of all the building materials. They should celebrate it and show it proudly, make it a part of the product pitches. “Wood, energy and the chemicals are the three major components. Chemistry is the remaining part of the puzzle and that is where we bring these options. What material could ever possibly beat wood-based panels if you have all these three ingredients as sustainable as possible.” BASF is the first large chemical company to


make available to its customers the individual carbon footprints for all its sales products. ●


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