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Circular Economy
Circular Feedstocks

Sustainability

Circular feedstocks

As part of our efforts to achieve greater sustainability, we continuously check whether fossil and petrochemical resources can be replaced by renewable or recycling-based alternatives. When making our decisions, we take into account economic, environmental and social aspects as well as other important criteria such as security of supply and process and product safety.

The Mass Balance Approach
We continue to rely on the mass balance approach in our production: many BASF value chains begin in synthesis gas plants or steam crackers.
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Responsible Sourcing
As a global business, we have a responsibility to manage our supply chain carefully. We connect with our suppliers to source responsibly.
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In BASF’s ChemCycling™ project, plastic waste is transformed into pyrolysis oil using a thermochemical process. The oil can be fed in the BASF Verbund, replacing fossil resources. Using a mass balance approach, new products are manufactured with it. These have the same properties as products from fossil raw materials. BASF works together with partners such as Quantafuel, a startup headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Quantafuel is specialized in the pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste and the integrated purification of the resulting oil. Dr. Michael Bachtler (right), who is working on BASF’s ChemCycling™ project, and Rasmus Kærsgaard (left), Plant Director at Quantafuel in Quantafuel’s pyrolysis and purification plant in Skive, Denmark.
ChemCycling® 
Recycling plays an increasingly important role due to limited resources, growing sustainability requirements on the markets and regulatory developments.
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Mechanical recycling
Mechanical recycling is an essential part of the circular economy. It can be applied to different classes of materials such as plastics, lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles or metals.
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We will continue to increase the volume of renewable and recycled feedstocks from sustainable sources which we already use as drop-in solution. In a challenging environment with limited availability of alternative raw materials, we still aim to process 250,000 metric tons of recycled and waste-based raw materials, such as pyrolysis oil from mixed plastic waste or end-of-life tires, in our production plants annually from 2025. The certified mass balance approach enables us to offer products with an allocated share of renewable or recycled feedstock. Customers can choose these products if they want to contribute to saving fossil resources and a lower carbon footprint. We also offer a bio-based portfolio, e.g. for personal care, nutrition or plastics.