Covestro supports climate targets of the automotive industry

The automotive industry is currently facing major challenges: It has to do its share to meet the European Union's stricter climate targets, preserve natural resources and increase the lifespan of vehicles. Concurrently, consumers' demands regarding the design, comfort and functionality of automobiles are also increasing. Covestro is working towards innovative and more sustainable material solutions and recycling technologies to meet these requirements and build a Circular Economy, and will be showcasing them at the VDI PIAE 2021 international trade congress on September 8 and 9.

"Our aim is to introduce the world's first climate-neutral polycarbonate plastics this year," Jochen Hardt, Marketing Mobility Covestro, told media representatives. "This is an important step in achieving our vision of becoming fully circular. At the same time, we offer products and solutions that combine outstanding performance, cost efficiency and sustainability designed to help our customers in the mobility industry succeed in achieving their sustainability goals."

World's first climate-neutral polycarbonate

The polycarbonates are climate neutral "from the cradle to the factory gate¹" thanks to the introduction of raw materials sourced from mass-balanced biowaste and residues², as well as renewable energy accumulated during the production process. Covestro is already offering ISCC Plus-certified polycarbonates, which are attributed to renewable raw materials using the mass balance approach and enable a considerable reduction in the carbon footprint.

By incorporating renewable energy, Covestro will probably fully reduce CO₂ emissions from the cradle to the factory gate for these selected products. The products have the same high quality and performance as fossil-based polycarbonates and are a drop-in replacement without having to change existing processes or workflows.

Covestro has also collaborated with partners to develop polyurethane raw materials in which up to 20 percent of the petroleum-based raw materials previously used are replaced by the climate gas CO₂. Applications of such polyols, called cardyon^®, are also currently being developed in the automotive sector. Partially bio-based precursors for automotive clear coatings from the Desmodur^® N range also contribute to circularity as alternative raw materials.

Innovative recycling technologies

Plastics recyclates are an important building block in significantly reducing a car's carbon footprint from raw material and component production through the use phase to recycling. In addition, Covestro is increasingly driving forward the development of chemical recycling technologies. A decisive factor in the success of such developments is that the products satisfy the high quality requirements and specifications of the automotive industry. Covestro supports the mechanical and chemical recycling of plastics through its role as a member in associations such as the Circularise Plastics project group. This group's goal is to establish a new standard for the traceability of plastics back to the raw material.

_{¹ Cradle-to-Gate is an assessment of a partial product lifecycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate. This assessment is based on Covestro's internal calculations and is currently being externally validated.
² The calculation of the carbon footprint takes biogenic carbon uptake into account.}

The Maezio^® brand of continuous fiber-reinforced polycarbonate composites (CFRTPs) developed by Covestro are characterized by their extremely light weight, very high strength and exceptional flexibility of design. This means that waste generated during the production of composites also becomes a valuable raw material. However, because they consist of different materials that cannot be easily separated from one another, the recycling of composites is a challenge. Covestro is cooperating with recycling specialist carboNXT^® on this. It has developed a process that allows the waste to be processed on an industrial scale.

"We are very excited about this joint solution, as we cannot process the materials ourselves for technical reasons," explains Lisa Ketelsen, Head of Thermoplastic Composites at Covestro. "By recycling according to type at our partner's plant, the raw materials can be converted back into valuable products with similarly good properties as those characteristic of virgin materials. The recycling of materials makes it possible to use them again in other products. In this way, we save raw material resources and contribute to the focus on the circular economy."

"Our company has many years of experience in recycling carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastics and has the necessary plant technologies to process such waste. We were therefore the partner of choice for this task," says Tim Rademacker, general manager at Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials and responsible for the carbon fiber recycling business. "From the processed waste, we produce high-quality new compounds of carbon fiber-reinforced polycarbonate for Covestro at CarboNXT^®."