More Change Maker stories from around the world

Gabriela Uchôna dos Santos, 28, works in Technical Service at the site in São Paulo, Brazil. She is passio­nate about our customers. She works closely with them to develop inno­vative solutions tailored to their needs. As part of a project to produce more eco-friendly cleaning agents, she worked in a team on a preser­vative of natural origin – one of the few ingre­dients that has mainly been produced syntheti­cally until now. The basis: terpenes extracted from orange peel. No other country produces more oranges than Brazil. So why not use the peel? The preser­vative Lutensit® EcoCitrus can be used in a variety of household cleaners and deter­gents to effectively counter­act bacteria and fungi in an environ­mentally friendly way. By using recycled and renewable raw materials instead of fossil ones, Gabriela wants to contribute to more sustaina­bility and environ­mental compati­bility in the home care industry.

Rutger Leenknecht, 27, is an expert in carbon management at our Verbund site Antwerp, Belgium. Inspired by his grandfather, a chemistry professor, Rutger decided to become a chemical engineer. It all starts with chemistry. Chemistry is the industry of industries. Rutger is convinced that a significant contribution to society and environ­mental protection can be made here, at the beginning of the value chain. As part of the team, he is working to reduce green­house gas emissions such as CO₂ and nitrogen dioxide in production. Coordi­nation between different production plants and supply units is crucial here – Rutger wants to reuse the energy that one plant releases as a resource elsewhere. These optimi­zation measures help BASF to conti­nuously reduce the carbon foot­print and use resources efficiently.

Jade Rodriguero Dino, 27, works in the Plastics Additives division at BASF in São Paulo. Her role in product management involves advising customers in South America on how to make plastics recycling more efficient with the support of the Brazilian brand B-Cycle^®. Efficient and quality sorting of plastic waste on-site is a key element of the circular economy. One solution is the mobile near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy solution from the BASF subsidiary trinamiX. It identifies plastics at the touch of a button and thus contributes to quality assurance in recycling plants worldwide. This technology, combined with the IrgaCycle^® additive portfolio, contributes to giving plastics a new life.

Linde Eysermans, 25, studied energy engineering and works as a utility manager at BASF in Belgium. Her role primarily involves ensuring a reliable supply of electricity for the Antwerp site’s operations, while also monitoring and settling consumption levels. By 2050, BASF aims to achieve net-zero CO₂ emissions for production and energy purchases. BASF is actively exploring new electricity-based production processes to reach this goal. As part of its sustainability initiatives, there is an increasing demand for green electricity at BASF Antwerp. On one hand, Linde and her colleagues are working to significantly expand the electricity grid’s capacity to meet the growing need for electricity. This is a significant undertaking given the size of the Antwerp Verbund site. On the other hand, there is a specific focus on sourcing green electricity. This involves investments in wind farms, solar parks, and green electricity contracts, with the overarching goal of achieving a global proportion of at least 60 percent green electricity by 2030.

Wan Chen, 29, works at the BASF Innovation Campus Shanghai. BASF is developing recycling technologies for various waste streams and thus strengthening the circular economy. Wan is part of this. She has a doctorate in chemical engineering and is carrying out process research and scaling up the chemical recycling of plastic waste. For Wan, chemistry is not just a process, but an art form. Chemists solve complex problems and create something new in the process.