BASF will start providing its customers with the total carbon footprints of all its products, with the aim of helping them to better measure and lower their CO2 emissions.
Each item’s Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) comprises all product-related greenhouse gas emissions that occur until the BASF product leaves the factory gate for the customer: from the purchased raw material to the use of energy in production processes.
The PCF calculation is based on substantial data from the collection of emissions in BASF's own production network and high-quality average data for purchased raw materials and purchased energy. The methodology follows general standards for life cycle analysis such as ISO 14044 and ISO 14067, as well as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Standard.
BASF has been calculating PCFs for individual products since 2007. Through the use of a digital solution developed in-house, the company will now be able to calculate the PCF for all its approximately 45,000 sales products based on a global level.
BASF will start with selected product and customer segments in the coming months and plans to make PCF data available for the entire portfolio by the end of 2021.
The company also says that it is committed to the introduction of product-specific guidelines for the calculation of PCFs in the chemical industry, in order to create an industry-wide level playing field and comparability for products.
“Sustainability and digitalization are core elements of our corporate strategy, which we are consistently implementing. By calculating the CO2 footprint, we bring both together and create much greater transparency for our customers regarding the specific emissions for each BASF product.
“This enables us to develop plans together with our customers to reduce CO2 emissions along the value chain up to the final consumer product,” said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF SE.
“Climate protection issues are also becoming increasingly important for our customers. In the future, we will be able to support them with reliable data so that they can achieve their climate targets,” added Christoph Jäkel, head of corporate sustainability.
“With the help of PCFs, our customers can identify where the levers for avoiding greenhouse gas emissions are. We are already offering them the opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint of selected products by using alternative raw materials and renewable energies”.
