Dr. Thomas Narbeshuber
CEO
BASF SE
Responsible procurement is a critical element of turning out sustainable products and services. BASF also has its responsibilities in optimizing its input materials and resources from the aspect of sustainability considerations and there is also a shared responsibility in line with our customers’ requirements. This is why we encourage our customers to opt for more sustainable products, making it possible to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources when it comes to raw materials. In other words, we are making the responsibility for climate-friendly actions evident across our entire value chain.
MASS BALANCE
Industry: Pharmaceutical industry
Date: 2013
Climate change
Solutions of the macro-sustainability challenges
Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions per capita via climate friendly transport and buildings, and by increasing the proportion of renewable energy from 15% in the total energy mix
Further targets:
What´s the solution?
Working closely with TÜV SÜD (a third-party certification body), BASF has developed an innovative mass balance approach for the use of renewable feedstocks in the integrated production. The mass balance offers a way to utilize renewable raw materials in BASF’s existing system of integrated production known as Verbund. Under the mass balance approach, biomass – for instance, in the form of biogas or bio-naphtha from certified sustainable production – is used as a feedstock in place of fossil resources at the beginning of the value chain. And consequently our partners purchase more sustainable products and contribute through us to an increase in the proportion of renewable energy sources.
Business connection
Any customer who purchases a ton of mass-balanced product can therefore rest assured that BASF has used renewable feedstock to replace the corresponding amount of fossil raw materials needed to produce the product. Depending on the customer’s wishes, between 25% and 100% of the feedstock needed can be replaced. The benefit for the customer is that the formulation and quality of the product remain identical. We have further developed the process of manufacturing already existing products in this way, through responsible procurement.
Results
TÜV SÜD has issued certificates for BASF products such as superabsorbents, engineering plastics, dispersions and some intermediates. We review annually the entire value chain all the way to the end product on the basis of high quality standards. For suppliers as well as end customers, this assures the source of the raw materials and the sustainability of the concept. Therefore, by way of our products and solutions, through managing the concept of responsible procurement within our value chain in a shared scope of responsibility, we can increase the share of renewable energy sources used.