Covestro has received ISCC Plus mass balance certification for its Antwerp, Belgium, and Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany, sites. This means the company can now offer its customers large product volumes of polycarbonate made from renewable attributed raw materials in the same good quality as fossil-based polycarbonate. The polyurethane raw material methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) from Krefeld-Uerdingen and its precursor aniline from the Antwerp plant are now also available with ISCC Plus certification.
„With the mass balance certification across the entire value chain, we want to achieve complete transparency, also for our customers,“ said Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Covestro. „At the same time, we are helping them to reduce their own carbon footprint and are offering them a drop-in solution that they can instantly implement in their existing production processes without the need for technical modifications.”
„With the gradual conversion of our production to renewable raw materials, we are helping to drive carbon in circles and are coming closer to our vision of circularity,“ said Dr. Klaus Schäfer, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Covestro. „The raw materials we use meet the high sustainability requirements of the ISCC Plus Standard throughout the entire supply chain.“
As part of a strategic cooperation, Covestro received a first shipment of ISCC-Plus certified phenol from Borealis in October 2020, which was produced from renewable hydrocarbons from Neste. Phenol is an intermediate product for polycarbonate. Consequently, this means that the supply chain from the originally used waste and residual oils and fats to the plastic is now fully ISCC Plus certified.
According to Covestro, the certification strengthens the use of alternative raw materials at the company. Gradually converting to renewable raw material sources is part of a comprehensive programme with which Covestro, in collaboration with its partners, aims to drive forward the transition to a Circular Economy and become fully circular itself.
ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) is an internationally recognised system for the sustainability certification of biomass and bioenergy. The standard applies to all stages of the value chain and is recognised worldwide. ISCC Plus includes further certification options for technical-chemical applications, including plastics made from biomass.