Circular Economy – a well-rounded approach

Climate change is accelerating, the Earth's resources are increasingly being depleted, and more and more waste is polluting nature and the environment: A major overall ecological crisis that must be mitigated – with the circular economy as a global guiding principle. It must replace the linear economy based on fossil raw materials.

Covestro is pursuing a unique vision: We want to fully align ourselves with circularity and thereby become a shaping force for the entire plastics industry. To drive this vision forward, we have embedded Circular Economy as a dedicated pillar within our new sustainability targets.

CO₂ emissions are rising, global warming continues, seven of nine planetary boundaries have been exceeded. Earth is at risk of becoming unbalanced – with far-reaching consequences not only for the environment, but also for socio-political stability and economic dynamism.

A key reason for this crisis-driven development is the prevailing production and consumption model (“Take-Make-Waste”): Economy and society consume too many raw materials, and use them for too short a while before disposing of them. At the end, we produce too much waste, much of which ends up in the environment in an uncontrolled manner.

The circular economy offers a way out. It aims to conserve resources, prolong life of products, reuse them, reduce or recycle unavoidable waste and biologically degrade products at the end of their life. This makes it the key to climate neutrality, resource conservation and environmental protection.

At the same time, in the face of increasing geopolitical conflicts and crises, the circular economy can contribute to increasing the resilience of national economies, industries and companies. Those who use materials longer and more efficiently and keep them in circulation reduce dependencies on raw material markets, supply chain risks and price fluctuations. In addition, regional value chains are strengthened, security of supply for critical raw materials is increased, and innovative business models are promoted that ensure long-term competitiveness.

The circular economy has very large untapped economic potential. Every year, an estimated 25 trillion euros in value loss is generated worldwide because the linear economy still prevails – that is almost one third of global gross domestic product.

The principles of the Circular Economy:

• Eco-design: Ensure that products are durable, repairable and recyclable during design phase.
• Maximum benefit: Use goods for a long time and multiple times, repair more.
• Waste avoidance: View discarded products and waste as resources and recycle them.
• Renewable carbon: Use biomass, recycled waste and CO₂ as resources instead of fossil-based raw materials such as oil, coal and gas.

The more comprehensively the circular economy is established, the more effectively the systemic crisis of climate change, resource depletion and environmental destruction can be combated to make the world a more environmentally and climate-friendly, healthier and cleaner place. 

The plastics industry and Covestro play a key role in the transformation to a circular economy. We want to make our own production more sustainable with circular processes and can thus support many other industries on their path to greater sustainability.

Our products are used in many important industries and are the key to solving pressing global challenges. However, they have so far been produced predominantly with carbon from fossil raw materials such as crude oil. This results in substantial CO₂ emissions across the entire production cycle. Overall, plastics cause around three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions over their life cycle.

To reduce this share , production must increasingly be converted to non-fossil, circular raw materials as a carbon source – a path that Covestro is taking to advance the circular economy. For example, we offer our customers circular products with alternative raw materials and thus help them make their own product range more environmentally and climate-friendly.

Our circular economy strategy encompasses four levers.

• We use alternative raw materials.
• We develop and apply innovative recycling technologies.
• We make our products circular from the outset.
• We advance joint solutions with partners.

The circular economy is a long-term project for us to shape the future together with our customers, suppliers and partners. That is why it is anchored in one of three pillars in our corporate strategy.

With our circular products and solutions, we want to help make the world more sustainable, more resilient and more livable – while at the same time enabling value creation for us and others.