Germany's Covestro starts offering first climate-neutral polycarbonate

These Makrolon polycarbonate grades are climate-neutral from cradle to gate, thanks to the usage of renewable electricity for Covestro production processes and the introduction of raw materials coming from mass-balanced bio-waste and residues. Since receiving the ISCC Plus mass balance certification for two of its European sites at the end of last year, Covestro has been supplying polycarbonates partly sourced from renewable feedstock. They are attributed via the mass balance approach and lead to a significant carbon footprint reduction, the company said in a media statement.

Now, the company has acquired Guarantee of Origin certificates from unsubsidized photovoltaic renewable electricity plants located in Germany for its Uerdingen plant. They are allocated to the specific electricity needs of selected mass-balanced products for both chlorine electrolysis – essential to the production of polycarbonate – and other process steps. As a result, selected Makrolon RE grades become climate-neutral. These products are to be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2022.

“I am very proud of the launch of this climate-neutral product and its presentation at this important trade fair. This is another milestone in pursuing our sustainability vision: We are accompanying our customers in accelerating the transition to the circular economy, as well as helping to build an industrial ecology that favours circularity,” Sucheta Govil, chief commercial officer of Covestro said in a statement.

“It is an important milestone towards our vision to be fully circular. We have taken a big step forward to help our customers meet their sustainability targets, by offering a climate-neutral product that is at the same time a drop-in solution to speed up the transformation towards a circular future,” Lily Wang, head of the engineering plastics segment at Covestro said.

“Our climate-neutral Makrolon RE portfolio is a material of choice for customers looking for lower-carbon-footprint alternative raw materials. What’s more, they have the same good quality and performance as fossil-based polycarbonates, and are a drop-in replacement without the need to modify existing processes or workflows,” Jimena Ruesta, venture manager, sustainability solutions at Covestro’s engineering plastics segment said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)