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BASF’s biomass balance approach

BASF has broken new ground with the development of the biomass balance process for the use of renewable raw materials in the chemical industry. This approach allows fossil raw materials to be replaced by renewable raw materials in BASF's Production Verbund. In contrast, certificate trading completely separates the use of biomass from in-house product manufacture.

Saving fossil resources in the production of EPS with biomass balance
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How does the biomass balance approach work?

Infographic describing BASF production approach. starting with feedstock which includes fossil and renewable feed-stock to verbund production site to products displayed in blue tube and green tube
Resources and Documents

  1. White Paper “Enabling a circular economy for chemicals with the mass balance approach” from the Ellen MacArthour Foundation Co-Project on Mass Balance (2019)

     

  2. PlasticsEurope position paper on the "Mass balance approach to accelerate the use of renewable feedstocks in chemical processes" (29 January 2020)

     

  3. Study “A methodology for integrating the biomass balance approach into life cycle assessment with an application in the chemicals sector” by Adisa Azapagic et al. in “Science of the total environment” (2019)

Certified renewable feedstock

In the biomass balance approach, renewable resources such as bio-naphtha or biomethane derived from organic waste, crops or vegetable oils are used as feedstock in the very first steps of chemical production. The bio-based feedstock amount is then allocated to specific products sold by means of the certified method. 

collage of close up shot of knots in wood, close up shot of green wheat stock with basf logo in the back and dome shaped production plant

Independent certification

BASF has established a closed chain of custody from the renewable feedstock it uses through to the final product. An independent certification confirms that BASF has replaced the required quantities of fossil resources for the biomass balanced product with renewable feedstock. BASF’s biomass-balanced products are certified according to either the Redcert2 or the ISCC Plus certification scheme.

Redcert logo with blue crescent and green leaf
Biomass Balance