Plastics from biological origin
Corn, beets, wood, straw, food waste – all of these contain carbon, the origin of all life. This chemical element is also a central building block for the production of plastics.
Covestro uses bio-based carbon as one complement in the transition of its production to the circular economy. In this way, we are replacing fossil-based raw materials such as crude oil, which contribute to climate change.
We offer our customers various products that are derived from bio-based raw materials, for example:
- Foams for car seats and interior components
- Hardeners for automotive and furniture coatings
- Dispersions for textile coatings
Our raw materials come from sources including organic waste and residues such as used cooking oil and fat, produced using the mass balance approach.
For example, we use renewable, mass-balance attributed phenol and acetone derived from biological waste and residues to produce high-performance plastic polycarbonate.
And we manufacture polyurethane foam from bio-based and bio-circular attributed benzene and toluene via mass balance.
Together with partners, we have also achieved an award-winning research success: the development and production of aniline entirely from biomass. One hundred percent of the carbon in this important basic chemical can be obtained from plant-based industrial sugar. To further develop this unique process, we have built a special pilot plant at our Leverkusen site.
