Factbook

With Neopor^® F 5 Mcycled™, BASF can offer an insulation raw material with a closed EPS recycling loop for the first time. Neopor^® Mcycled™ contains 10% mechanically recycled material and is suitable for numerous applications in buildings, particularly facade insulation. Both the recycled material used and the insulation raw material are REDcert²-certified.

BASF’s gas treatment customers can use the unique digital platform OASE^® connect to design the operation of their plants more efficiently. The tool stores sample analyses and teaches users about gas treatment technologies using e-learning materials. Linked to OASE connect is the innovative OASE digilab tool, which enables real-time analysis of the gas treating agents used. By optimizing the composition of the treating agents, the gas treatment operations can be run particularly efficiently.

BASF and Steelcase have collaborated on Steelcase’s new Flex Perch Stool, which has sustainability and circularity at the forefront of its design. This is the first furniture product for Steelcase, one of the world’s leading furniture manufacturers, that uses plastics derived from a chemical recycling process. The stool is made with BASF’s Ultramid^® B3EG6 Ccycled™, an injection moldable polyamide (nylon) 6 that utilizes a material from a waste stream generated during electronics production and is a one-for-one replacement for the 100% fossil-derived plastics.

With BASF’s Ultramid^® B Ccycled™ the German outdoor company VAUDE has developed sustainable outdoor pants that are of equal product quality to conventional ones. 100% of the fossil feedstock used to produce Ultramid B Ccycled has been replaced by pyrolysis oil from end-of-life tires in a certified mass balance approach. As these tires cannot be mechanically recycled, chemical recycling offers a route to a sustainable feedstock. The Higg Index, a tool for sustainability assessments for the apparel industry, shows that replacing the fossil feedstock reduces the carbon footprint by more than half compared with a garment made from conventional polyamide.

BASF offers a new Licity^® product range for lithium-ion battery manufacturing to pave the way for electric mobility. Licity^® anode binders are materials that improve battery performance with sustainability features, enabling higher capacity, an increased number of charge and discharge cycles, and reduced charging times. It is a new binder technology that pushes the capabilities of lithium-ion batteries, thus supporting the wider adoption of electric vehicles.

The plastics industry is seeking ways to incorporate higher content of recycled polymeric material in all major applications to meet sustainability goals. However, recycled plastics often contain impurities and contaminants that accelerate polymer degradation, which changes the material properties. The new IrgaCycle™ range includes additive solutions that can help increase the percentage of recycled content in several end-use applications such as packaging, automotive and mobility, and building and construction. These solutions address specific quality issues associated with recycled resins, such as limited processability, poor long-term thermal stability and insufficient protection from outdoor weathering.

BASF’s innovative high energy-density cathode active material (CAM), NCM-307, will balance sustainability, cost and performance in e-mobility applications. By eliminating cobalt and reducing nickel, battery cells with this CAM will offer significantly lower costs per kilowatt hour while achieving a volumetric energy density close to that of high-nickel materials. In addition, the impact of price fluctuation is mitigated and the product has an enhanced metal sustainability footprint.

With our FunTex technology for functional films, BASF has developed an innovative approach to surface solutions for various products, applications and industries. Our functional film solutions enhance surface drag, for example in aviation. The riblet structures of Novaflex Sharkskin significantly reduce frictional resistance of aircraft surfaces when flying and make the aircraft up to 3% more fuel-efficient, reducing CO₂ emissions. Similar concepts can also be used for wind energy applications.

With BASF’s new Verdessence™ product line we offer sustainably sourced biopolymers which are biodegradable and bio-based. Two recent launches are Verdessence™ Glucomannan, a cold processable rheology modifier, obtained from the tuber of the konjac plant, suitable for aqueous systems like gels, fluids and serums as well as novel formats such as patches, jellies and peel-off formulations. Verdessence™ Tara is a 100% plant-based rheology modifier that enables the creation of smooth and shapely textures. It is suitable for aqueous and emulsion systems acting as an effective thickener and texture enhancer.

BASF has launched the new enzyme product Natupulse^® TS for animal feed. Natupulse^® TS is a non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) enzyme. Adding β-mannanase to animal feed decreases digesta viscosity, thereby increasing the nutrient and energy digestibility and improving feed efficiency. In addition, Natupulse^® TS cleaves β-mannans, resulting in manno-oligosaccharides (MOS).

BASF tapped the Brazilian market with Pingo Doce™ watermelons, introducing not only high-quality seeds but also a new business model. BASF provides technical support to farmers and demonstrates best practices in efficient water management, fertilization and traceability to establish sustainable production. Regular quality controls are carried out to check the sweetness, color and size of the watermelons in order to reduce the amount of fruit rejected by supermarkets. This new approach delivers a product that benefits farmers, consumers and the environment alike.