More sustainable basic chemicals from LANXESS

LANXESS now offers also more sustainable variants in its portfolio of polyols and oxidation products (POP). They are marked with the “Scopeblue” label. Photo: LANXESS

Shanghai, May 4, 2023 – Specialty chemicals company LANXESS has reached an important step toward more sustainability in its portfolio of polyols and oxidation products: The Advanced Industrial Intermediates (AII) business unit now offers more sustainable solutions for around 80 percent of its polyols and oxidation products (POP) portfolio. Seven of the nine products, including the chemicals trimethylolpropane (TMP), adipic acid (ADA), 1,6-hexanediol (HDO) and phthalic anhydride (PSA), have already successfully completed LANXESS’s internal Scopeblue certification. The remaining ones are to follow soon.

“As a result, we will be one of the first producers to offer our customers a choice between conventional products and products with an improved carbon footprint,” says Dr. Stephan Deutsch, Head of the Business Line POP at LANXESS. Sustainability is now much more than an end in itself for the chemical industry. “Already around 50 percent of our customers have set themselves fixed climate targets for the coming years, similar to LANXESS,” Deutsch continued. “We are therefore convinced that Scopeblue will open up important opportunities for us in the markets.”

With the Scopeblue brand label, LANXESS marks products that either exhibit a sustainable raw material content of more than 50 percent or offer a carbon footprint of less than half of that of their conventional counterparts. To demonstrate the use of sustainable raw materials along the entire value chain, LANXESS has had its production facilities in Krefeld-Uerdingen certified by TÜV Nord to the internationally recognized ISCC PLUS sustainability standard.

Sustainable and powerful

The new sustainable TMP Scopeblue contains around 54 percent n-butyraldehyde produced from biogas and offers the same properties as the conventional variant. “We have already produced the first batch of TMP Scopeblue for one of our largest customers. Currently, we are in talks with several other interested parties,” reports Dr. Maria Guixà, Global Marketing Manager TCM (Trimethylolpropane, Calcium Formate and Maleic Anhydride) at LANXESS. “As our product has a very broad application portfolio we see great potential here. Among others, TMP is used for the production of coatings, resins, UV-curable coatings as well as for polyurethane applications.”

Competitive advantage

The Scopeblue variants of adipic acid and 1,6-hexanediol, for example, are produced from bio-based or bio-circular cyclohexane. As a result, they have a significantly improved carbon footprint compared with conventionally manufactured products. “As early as 2021, we were able to offer a certified carbon footprint for our portfolio for the first time and generate added value for our customers through this transparency,” says David Berhorst, Head of Marketing AHP (adipic acid, 1,6-hexanediol, phthalic anhydride) at LANXESS. Thanks to the two nitrous oxide reduction facilities in the adipic acid plant, which decompose the nitrous oxide generated in the production process, LANXESS has already been able to manufacture these basic chemicals with significantly lower emissions than is usual in the market. “The use of bio-based raw materials now enables us to better support customer requests for more sustainable or even CO2-neutral products,” Berhorst explains.

Exploiting new opportunities

Raw materials offer the greatest leverage for further improving the carbon footprint of POP products. This is also emphasized by Eric Hendricks, Sustainability Manager at the Business Line POP. The company is therefore working on replacing more raw materials with “green” variants. “There is not yet an alternative for everything,” says Hendricks. “We are working on solutions here with partners along the entire value chain to position ourselves clearly and early on the supply side as well.”

The main demand for the sustainable POP products currently comes from Europe. But LANXESS also sees potential in the Asian and American markets – because competitors there do not yet have any green alternatives in their portfolios. “We definitely want to be an early mover in sustainability,” Deutsch summarizes. “The market will increasingly demand innovative, sustainable products in the coming years. And if we create the right basis for this with our products, which are at the very beginning of the value chain, there will be many new opportunities for our business.”

Further information on LANXESS’s Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit and its product portfolio is available at lanxess.com/en/Company/Corporate-Structure/Business-Units/Advanced-Industrial-Intermediates.

About LANXESS

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.1 billion in 2022. The company currently has about 13,100 employees in 33 countries. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives and consumer protection products. LANXESS is listed in the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good.

LANXESS China

On January 31, 2005, the company was initially listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and LANXESS Chemical (China) Co., Ltd. officially started operations. LANXESS now has 13 subsidiaries, 5 R&D centers and 5 production sites in Greater China. LANXESS works closely with its local partners to develop market-oriented solutions that meet local market needs.

Forward-Looking Statements

This company release contains certain forward-looking statements, including assumptions, opinions, expectations and views of the company or cited from third party sources. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause the actual results, financial position, development or performance of LANXESS AG to differ materially from the estimations expressed or implied herein. LANXESS AG does not guarantee that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors, nor does it accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the opinions expressed in this presentation or the actual occurrence of the forecast developments. No representation or warranty (expressed or implied) is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, any information, estimates, targets and opinions, contained herein, and no liability whatsoever is accepted as to any errors, omissions or misstatements contained herein, and accordingly, no representative of LANXESS AG or any of its affiliated companies or any of such person's officers, directors or employees accept any liability whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from the use of this document.

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