27
May
2020
|
13:03
Europe/Amsterdam

Renewable raw materials for plastics production

ÃÜÌÒAV and Neste join forces

and ÃÜÌÒAV are starting a strategic cooperation in Europe to promote the use of sustainable raw materials in plastics production. ÃÜÌÒAV will be supplied with material from renewable sources to replace a significant portion of the fossil raw materials used to date in the manufacture of polycarbonates. This type of a high-performance plastic is used, for example, in car headlamps, LED lights, electronic and medical devices and automotive glazing.

Over the short term, the collaboration aims to replace several thousand tons of fossil raw materials in the production of polycarbonates with raw materials produced with Neste¡¯s renewable hydrocarbons. Neste produces its renewable hydrocarbons entirely from renewable raw materials, such as waste and residue oils and fats. Thanks to being a drop-in replacement to commonly-used fossil feedstock in the polymers production, Neste¡¯s product is suitable for existing production infrastructures and enables customers like ÃÜÌÒAV to produce more sustainable products with consistently high quality using their existing processes.

Promoting the use of sustainable materials

¡°The polymers and chemicals industries will play a major role in the circular economy and fight against climate change. That is why Neste is committed to supporting the industry forerunners like ÃÜÌÒAV on their sustainability journey,¡± says Neste¡¯s President and CEO Peter Vanacker. ¡°Our collaboration enables ÃÜÌÒAV to play a significant role in providing climate-friendlier raw materials to leading brands and help them reach their materials-related sustainability targets. With ÃÜÌÒAV, the positive impact provided by Neste¡¯s renewable hydrocarbons is expanded beyond the field of polyolefins, showing the product¡¯s value and compatibility with more complex value chains.¡±

"With this collaboration we are emphasizing our intention to make our production more sustainable and to drive forward the change to a circular economy. Using alternative raw materials more intensively as we are doing is an important basis for this,¡± said ÃÜÌÒAV?s CEO Dr. Markus Steilemann. "We are fully committed to working with many partners to manage the transition to a circular economy, the great overall social project of the coming years and decades. To this end, we are also cooperating with upstream partners such as Neste to meet our own raw material requirements from renewable sources to an even greater extent. By transforming our production, we are helping important industrial sectors such as the automotive and electronics industries achieve greater sustainability and reduce the dependence on crude oil.¡±

In the future, both companies intend to expand the scope of their partnership, also with regard to other types of polymers. At the same time, they are inviting other stakeholders along the value chains to cooperate.

Boilerplate

About ÃÜÌÒAV: 
ÃÜÌÒAV is one of the world¡¯s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. ÃÜÌÒAV supplies customers around the world in key industries such as mobility, building and living, as well as the electrical and electronics sector. In addition, polymers from ÃÜÌÒAV are also used in sectors such as sports and leisure, telecommunications and health, as well as in the chemical industry itself.

The company is geared completely to the circular economy. In addition, ÃÜÌÒAV aims to achieve climate neutrality for its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2035, and the Group¡¯s Scope 3 emissions are also set to be climate neutral by 2050. ÃÜÌÒAV generated sales of EUR 14.2 billion in fiscal year 2024. At the end of 2024, the company had 46 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 17,500 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).

Forward-Looking Statements 
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by ÃÜÌÒAV. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in ÃÜÌÒAV¡¯s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.