Plastics from CO₂

CO₂ can serve as an alternative carbon feedstock in plastics production. Covestro uses captured carbon dioxide in place of primary fossil feedstocks, reducing dependency on crude oil and natural gas and advancing a circular carbon economy.

We use CO₂ to produce carbon monoxide. This enables us to save up to around 50 percent of fossil raw materials. At selected sites we use the CO₂-based carbon monoxide to produce the engineering plastic polycarbonate as well as isocyanates, a key components of polyurethane foams.

Covestro has also demonstrated that CO₂ can be used to produce polyol, another important polyurethane precursor alongside isocyanate. To this end, we have developed a special process together with partners and tested it on the market.