Covestro & BASF: Pioneering improved sustainability together

1. What role does partnership play when it comes to driving forward sustainability and circularity?

At BASF, our ambition is to be the preferred chemical company to enable our customers’ green transformation. We typically offer our solutions to customers at an early stage in the value chain, giving them the opportunity to develop their products accordingly. We can provide the foundation to products with improved sustainability to meet, for example, stricter legislation or end consumer expectations. But no one can do it alone – we all need strong partnerships because improving circularity requires collaboration across the entire value chain.

That’s why we believe that the best way to achieve ambitious sustainability goals is to partner with like-minded companies. Supplying Covestro with our bio-based 2-Octyl Acrylate is one of the ways to demonstrate the possibilities of using bio-based monomers at industrial scale. Via Covestro’s CQ portfolio, we can now support even more customers on their sustainability journeys.

2. What are the key ingredients of successful product solutions that are more circular and sustainable?

For us at BASF, success means being able to offer a broad product portfolio with different sustainability attributes that address customers’ demands. Within a broad range of sustainable solutions, transparency is always crucial for our customers. They need to understand exactly what makes up our products, the impact they have and to what extent they meet internationally agreed industry-wide standards.

In our acrylics portfolio, we want to demonstrate this transparency with our bio-based 2-Octyl Acrylate by meeting three important conditions: 

Firstly, 14C-traceable carbon content, so customers can measure the amount of bio-based content with confidence. Secondly, feedstocks that aren’t replacing food or feed crops. And thirdly, a proven reduction in product carbon footprint. With 73% TÜV-certified 14C-traceable bio-based content, a lower carbon footprint than fossil-based alternative acrylates, and a non-edible feedstock based on castor oil, our high purity 2-Octyl Acrylate meets these important requirements.

Another key ingredient for market success is supply reliability, to help spread circular solutions at a broader scale. By using 2-Octyl Acrylate in its broad CQ portfolio, Covestro is helping to do just that. And of course, the product still needs to maintain the high performance that customers expect. Customer feedback on 2-Octyl Acrylate shows that its performance matches or exceeds that of fossil-based alternatives, with improved scrub resistance in coatings, higher shear resistance in adhesives, and excellent weatherability. This high performance is essential to ensuring not only widespread uptake but also trust that more sustainable products do not compromise on quality.

3. How can BASF and Covestro help each other pioneer increased sustainability in the chemical industry?

The challenge of improving sustainability and circularity is the interdependence of supply and demand. It's no good if a manufacturer wants to use a bio-based acrylic but has no supplier, or if a supplier has a bio-based product but no customer!

That’s why we believe partnerships like the one between BASF and Covestro are essential to drive the sustainability transformation. By using 2-Octyl Acrylate in its CQ portfolio of products, Covestro can offer increased circularity, plus excellent performance and traceability, to its customers.

At the same time, Covestro also acts as a first mover, demonstrating the potential of this ingredient in a wide range of applications at scale. Ultimately, we hope this will help to increase uptake of more sustainable solutions across the chemicals and coatings market.