Innovating for a sustainable future

That's why innovation and sustainability go hand in hand at Covestro. Because our vision is to fully align the company with the circular economy. To achieve this goal, sustainability is an integral part of our innovation strategy.

We contribute to a more sustainable future with innovative products, technologies and solutions. We pool knowledge, resources and competencies in such a way that our experts in the field of innovation and sustainability can constantly fill our innovation pipeline with new developments that contribute to the circular economy. This is our recipe for success in realizing our corporate vision.

Innovative plastics are an integral part of everyday life and numerous important industries. As one of the world's leading manufacturers of polymer materials such as polycarbonate and polyurethane, Covestro is paving the way for the circular economy by continuously improving existing products and developing sustainable innovations. With their unique properties, versatility and stability, plastics can help find solutions to challenges such as climate change and global trends such as urbanization and mobility change.

Covestro is setting new standards in the development and production of plastics and intermediate products for growth industries such as the automotive, construction and electrical industries. A steadily growing portfolio of more than 10,000 products and a strong international network of research and development centers testify to our innovative strength.

For us, sustainable innovations go beyond products – with customer-oriented services, new business models and process efficiency. In doing so, it is our central concern to always create added value – in the form of growth, profit margins and, above all, benefits for society and the environment.

We always think innovation and sustainability together, making a decisive contribution to translating regulatory and policy developments into future opportunities for more impactful and sustainable innovations.

Our material innovations enable or improve countless products and technologies that surround us each day. Often, they replace a traditionally used component, making the overall application more sustainable or efficient. One example is a new hardener we developed for automotive coatings. Because its carbon is sourced from bio-based, renewable materials instead of the conventional fossil fuels, it reduces the carbon footprint of the coating – and, consequently, of the vehicle on the whole.

Customer-focused, forward-looking services are another important aspect in our broad understanding of innovation. Take, for instance, our technical customer services, where we help to optimize individual customer production tasks for the benefit of their business. Or our innovative logistics concepts: Covestro supports its customers’ order management processes by taking external factors, such as extreme weather conditions, into consideration in the delivery process. This enhances the reliability of supply as much as possible and prevents bottlenecks.

Innovation at Covestro also comes in the form of new business models. Very often it is not revolutionary ideas, but rather simple things that no one has ever thought of before. One example of an innovative business model originated in the fashion industry. Covestro developed a process for fabricating a woven fabric with a polyurethane coating that is suitable for use in clothing and shoes. It is much more eco-friendly and safer than the conventional method. The process is part of a new holistic program that connects the whole value chain – suppliers, manufacturers and brand owners.

Covestro optimizes its own processes by so-called functional innovations. For example, we have developed our own energy management system to run our production plants as energy-efficiently as possible. As a result, our company has reduced energy consumption per facility by an average of ten percent.