#OurPlasticsJourney: BASF to showcase the sustainable future of plastics at K 2025

• #OurPlasticsJourney, a comprehensive roadmap of innovation, circularity and emissions reduction in high-performance plastics
• Reduced PCF portfolio “rPCF” introduced to the market
• Numerous product highlights along the lifecycle of plastics
• BASF at K 2025: Hall 5 Booth C21/D21, Messe Düsseldorf, Germany

Ludwigshafen, Germany, 17 June 2025. As the world’s leading trade fair for plastics and rubber returns to Düsseldorf this October 8^th to 15^th, BASF is again on board – just as it has been since the very first K-Fair in 1952.

“This year, we manifest our commitment to the plastics industry, and we continue our commitment to sustainability and innovation through our global campaign, #OurPlasticsJourney. More than just a tagline, it reflects our ambition to transform the plastics industry. This journey takes time, but the destination is clear: a circular economy of plastics,” emphasizes Martin Jung, President of BASF Performance Materials.

At the K-Preview  press conference on June 17, BASF has unveiled a first glimpse of what visitors can expect at K 2025: innovative applications tailored to customers’ needs and showcasing real progress in circularity across various businesses and industries.

A product portfolio evolving toward a lower carbon footprint                               

At K 2022, BASF introduced its LowPCF and ZeroPCF portfolios as solutions to reduce the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) by a minimum of 30%, through the use of renewable electricity, low-emission steam and renewable raw materials, in a mass balance approach. A current example for a ZeroPCF product innovation is VAUDE’s bike bag using Ultramid^® ZeroPCF, the first polyamide 6 in the industry to achieve a CO₂ footprint of net zero. 

Building on this, BASF has now launched a reduced PCF product range, rPCF, aimed at PCF improvements using renewable electricity and steam alongside the production process. The offering is now available in BASF's Engineering Plastics and Thermoplastic Polyurethanes sustainability toolbox. It follows BASF’s achievement of completely switching all its European Performance Materials plants to renewable electricity powered by solar and wind energy. “With rPCF, we are giving customers flexibility to customize their products’ carbon footprint by opting for renewable energies in our production process. This is a logical next step in both their green transformation and ours,” adds Alexander Weiser, Senior Vice President, Head of BASF Performance Materials Europe.

Make becomes circular

While technology and processes are major levers of transformation, the use of alternative raw materials is equally essential. At K 2025, BASF will showcase products for which fossil resources are replaced with renewable feedstock at the beginning of the production process using the Biomass Balance approach. This helps reducing the carbon footprint of:

• Siemens circuit breaker SIRIUS 3RV2: Ultramid^® BMB and Ultradur^® BMB
• Certified compostable and soil-biodegradable biopolymers: ecovio^® and ecoflex^® BMB
• ZARA bodysuit: Ultramid^® BMB

Additionally, BASF replaces fossil resources with feedstock from the chemical recycling of plastic waste in a mass balance approach for its Ccycled^® portfolio:

• KASK safety helmet: Neopor^® Ccycled^®
• Oysho sports leggings: Ultramid^® Ccycled^®

Transformation is not only about materials, but also about data. As the industry moves toward greater transparency and accountability, digital tools become essential to enable and accelerate the green transformation. To support this, BASF offers the PACIFIC app that provides standardization and interoperability in PCF data exchanges of plastic materials. Designed for ease of use, the PACIFIC app is seeing growing adoption across stakeholders in the value chain.

Use of plastics’ strengths

Plastics bring unique benefits to many applications that often extend their lifespan. This is particularly important for future technologies, such as the production of green hydrogen. For example, Ultrason^® S3010 (PSU: polysulfone) enables the production of larger, more robust and durable parts like frames in stacks for alkaline electrolyzers developed by Stargate Hydrogen.

In high-performance household appliances like the latest Thermomix by Vorwerk Elektrowerke, BASF’s engineering plastics, Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE), and testing capabilities support complex applications. Several parts are made of either Ultramid^® Advanced N (PPA: polyphthalamide) or Ultramid^® A (PA66: polyamide 66), selected for their high temperature stability and mechanical strength respectively.

In the eMobility sector, BASF has developed a next-generation battery demonstrator featuring advanced plastic material solutions to enhance lightweighting, thermal management, safety and performance.

Recycle is the new Make

As part of its commitment to a circular plastics economy, BASF is scaling up complementary recycling technologies to give waste a second life. Across various industries – packaging, furniture, appliances, textiles and vehicles – new solutions demonstrate how recycling becomes an engine of innovation.

To support efficient recycling processes, BASF subsidiary trinamiX provides a handheld tool for fast and reliable identification of different plastic and textile types. The trinamiX Mobile NIR Spectroscopy Solution facilitates cleaner sorting and improved recycling outcomes.

For paper-based food packaging, BASF extends the end-of-life options to organic recycling. Its tailored certified home and industrial compostable ecovio^® allows coating on paper food articles to achieve necessary barrier properties, especially for liquid and fatty ingredients.

As a leader in the polyurethanes (PU) business for more than 60 years, BASF is committed to demonstrating PU’s versatility and recyclability:

• Together with its long-standing partner Vitra, BASF is showcasing the world’s first economically recyclable flexible foam for furniture.
• In collaboration with Krauss Maffei, Rampf and Liebherr, BASF is also developing an efficient chemical recycling process to return polyurethane to the same material cycle. In a stable, continuous industrial depolymerization process, recycled polyols are produced, which can be used to manufacture new PU rigid foams as insulation material in refrigerators. By using post-consumer waste from end-of-life refrigerators as feedstock, the consumption of fossil resources can be significantly reduced.

Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) also enter the circular economy: the new Elastollan^® RC grades include up to 100% recycled content with close to virgin performance by re-using post-industrial and post-consumer TPU waste.

With loopamid^®, BASF has developed an innovative solution to improve circularity in the fashion industry and recycle post-industrial and post-consumer polyamide 6 textile waste over multiple times.

Finally, BASF is advancing numerous projects in the recycling of automotive plastics via mechanical recycling, solvent based recycling, depolymerization and high temperature recycling such as gasification.

Join the conversation

BASF’s booth at K 2025 will also host live sessions such as #OurPlasticsDialogues — bringing together industry voices, partners, and customers to explore challenges and opportunities ahead.

This year’s K-Fair theme, “The Power of Plastics!”, aligns perfectly with BASF’s vision to lead purposeful transformation across the plastics value chain.

For over seven decades, BASF’s booth at K has been a central hub for materials, innovations and co-creations and a platform for personal exchange. This year, BASF will be present with six different teams: Performance Materials, Monomers, Styrenic Foams, Plasticizers, Plastic Additives and trinamiX.
 

About BASF at K 2025: Welcome to #OurPlasticsJourney!

#OurPlasticsJourney continues in 2025 at K! Join us at our booth in Hall 5, C21/D21 and discover how to start your green transformation. At BASF, we look at the entire lifecycle of plastics with Make, Use and Recycle. Come and explore sustainability and innovation in high-performance plastics at K 2025. K is the #1 trade fair for plastics and rubber and will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from October 8 – 15, 2025. Visit plastics.basf.com/K2025.
 

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. Our ambition: We want to be the preferred chemical company to enable our customers’ green transformation. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises, as core businesses, the segments Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, and Nutrition & Care; our standalone businesses are bundled in the segments Surface Technologies and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €65.3 billion in 2024. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com

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