General information

BASF stands for chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 111,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute worldwide to the success of our customers from almost all industries and in almost all countries of the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. BASF achieved global sales of €87.3 billion in 2022. As one of the world’s largest chemical companies, BASF is represented in 91 countries. We operate 239 production sites worldwide. At our Ludwigshafen site, the foundation stone was laid in 1865 for the Verbund concept, which remains a key strength of BASF today. Further information at www.basf.com

Expectations of progress through the project

Humanity is facing enormous challenges. Climate change is progressing, natural resources are becoming scarcer, the pressure on ecosystems is increasing, and the growing world population needs to be fed. Therefore, solutions for a sustainable future are needed more urgently than ever. We are, therefore, gradually converting our energy and raw material supply from fossil to renewable sources. We are adapting our Verbund structure to the new circumstances as the basis for resource-efficient, safe, and reliable production. We are developing new, pioneering CO2-free, low-CO2 production processes, particularly for emission-intensive basic chemicals such as hydrogen, olefins, and aromatics. Basic chemicals are responsible for around 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the chemical industry in Europe – but they are also the indispensable starting point for all the innovative products that enable our customers and partners to protect the climate and make our everyday lives easier. In addition, we want to reduce our material and CO2 footprint further and are shifting our raw material base even more towards non-fossil alternatives such as bio-based or renewable raw materials. For example, we feed biomethane or bio-naphtha into our Verbund as a substitute for fossil raw materials. We also want to feed other by-products of fuel production into our production network to create value. Using the so-called mass balance approach, the quantity of renewable raw materials used can be mathematically allocated to many end products. We want to continuously increase the proportion of renewable raw materials in our value chains. As with the use of fossil raw materials, we also consider economic criteria, aspects of supply, process, and product safety, as well as possible effects on sustainability issues in the value chain. We want to play a responsible role in shaping the social transformation towards climate neutrality.