BASF's Plastics Journey - Making the Transformation Go Faster

BASF, a global leader in the chemical industry, has a clear mission to create chemistry for a sustainable future. The three pillars of sustainability – the economy, environment, and society – are firmly anchored into our corporate purpose, strategy, targets and operations. We aim to be NetZero by 2050, and one thing we are doing to get there is aligning our product portfolio with climate protection, carbon neutrality, and circularity. Plastics and how to effectively recycle them and bring them back into the circular economy certainly plays a role for us. This article will explore how BASF is making strides in our plastics journey.

Sustainable Material Development

BASF is on a path to transform plastics and make the lifecycle more sustainable. We work with our R&D teams and with partners along the value chain to co-create new sustainable materials that make it easier to recycle at the end of life, as well as devising ways to take waste and turn it into a valuable resource. One recent example of the latter is the product Loopamid®, a high-quality polyamide co-created by BASF and Inditex, one of the world’s largest fashion retailers. It’s the first circular solution for nylon apparel made entirely from textile waste using chemical recycling. With 92 million tons of textile waste being landfilled every year, this innovation is quite timely and shows circular fashion in action. 

Recycling & Advanced Sorting Technologies

BASF is investing in recycling technologies to tackle the challenges associated with plastic waste. Mechanical recycling is the process of recovering plastic waste via sorting, shredding, melting, and transforming it into secondary raw materials for new applications. In North America, BASF has a mechanically recycled grade of polyamide called Nypel® that can be made from post-consumer recycled and/or post-industrial recycled materials. It is currently being used to produce air intake manifolds in automobiles. 

"BASF also partners with technology companies to scale chemical recycling as a complementing recycling technology that enables the recycling of plastic waste that cannot be recycled mechanically such as mixed plastic waste or end-of-life tires"

BASF also partners with technology companies to scale chemical recycling as a complementing recycling technology that enables the recycling of plastic waste that cannot be recycled mechanically such as mixed plastic waste or end-of-life tires. Through this process, plastic waste is transformed back into its basic chemical components as a secondary raw material called pyrolysis oil. Using this alternative feedstock in chemical production accelerates the transition away from fossil raw materials without compromising the performance of the products. In ChemCycling®, we use a third party audited mass balance approach (REDcert2 and/or ISCC plus) to ensure that the share of recycled feedstock is attributed correctly to the customer product. Mass balance is not a new approach and has been used for years for other products like chocolate bars, coffee, paper, and shampoo. 

An example of ChemCycling® in action is our Ultramid® Ccycled™ polyamide 6 that was used with VAUDE, an outdoor apparel company, for their recycled pants. We were able to save fossil-based raw materials while also offering a reduced carbon footprint to our customers. We also use chemcycled polyamide in exterior automotive applications.

BASF also invests in advanced sorting technologies with our subsidiary trinamiX. 

To recycle effectively, you need to be able to sort accurately. trinamiX has a handheld solution that is a high-performance spectrometer that detects a broad range of plastic types and can distinguish them on the spot and within seconds with one tap on a portable device. This technology can not only be critical in the recycling stage but also in a product’s design phase. If you are a product designer wouldn’t having the ability to determine whether or not a certain plastic type can be easily sorted and thus recycled at the beginning of a product lifecycle be invaluable?

Collaborative Initiatives

BASF recognizes that collaboration is crucial in driving plastics recycling. Our value chain partners are an important part of the solution. We actively partner with various stakeholders, including governments, NGOs, and customers.

BASF is a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW). When the alliance was formed in 2019, nearly 30 companies from the plastics and consumer goods value chain committed over $1 billion to help end plastic waste in the environment. Today. the alliance is made up of some seventy companies from across the plastics value chain including brand owners, resin producers, converters, waste managers, recyclers and technology providers and there are 39 projects in development. 

BASF is also a member of the World Plastics Council (WPC), a global organization of key leaders in the plastics industry. The WPC promotes industry topics of global relevance like the responsible use of plastics, efficient waste management and solutions to marine littering.