BASF participated in the first Sustainable Brands Conference to be held in Africa

Johannesburg, May 20, 2016. For a number of years, BASF has sponsored Sustainable Brands Conferences globally. Recently the company was a Silver Sponsor at the Sustainability Conference in Cape Town, South Africa (SB’16 Cape Town) 14 - 17 May 2016. This was the inaugural conference on the African continent.

SB’16 Cape Town was an international gathering to evaluate the opportunities for brands to adapt and thrive in a fast changing world and display HOW inspirational and active partnerships can drive business success and activate positive social and environmental change.

Astrid Palmieri, Sustainability Coordinator for Europe and Sustainability Manager at BASF Italy, provided first-hand information on how steering the portfolio toward sustainability is driving profitable growth for BASF and sustainable value for its customers. Palmieri spoke about how the BASF Sustainable Solution Steering^® method is changing the company’s business strategies. “Sustainability is integral to BASF’s “We create chemistry” strategy and a major growth driver. This means not only taking customer needs and expectations into consideration – but most importantly contributing to a more sustainable future where being environmentally and socially responsible goes hand in hand with running a profitable business.”

The conference was also attended and represented by brands such as P&G, Woolworths, FSC and many other organizations in the non-governmental and volunteer sectors. Another interesting element of the conference were the display stands which were made mostly of sustainable materials.

Southern African Country Cluster Head Joan Maria Garcia Girona lauded the importance of BASF’s participation in this conference – "Occasions such as these are important to highlight BASF’s commitment to understand the evolving  societal and customer expectations and discussions around sustainability, so we seek opportunities to not only learn but contribute at such events”, he said.

Additional information on sustainability at BASF is available on www.basf.com/sustainability.