Beyond the Bin: The Next Life of Plastics Begins at K 2025
As the world’s largest trade fair for plastics and rubber again comes to Düsseldorf this October 8th to 15th, BASF is once more on board – as it has been for every single K-Fair since the first one in 1952.
“This year, we manifest our commitment to the plastics industry, and we continue our commitment to sustainability and innovation through our global campaign, #OurPlasticsJourney. More than just a tagline, it reflects our ambition to transform the plastics industry. This journey takes time, but the destination is clear: a circular economy of plastics,” emphasizes Martin Jung, President of BASF Performance Materials.
During the K-Preview press conference of June 17, BASF has revealed the first impression of what customers can look forward to at K 2025: pioneering applications designed to customers’ requirements and highlighting genuine progress in circularity in multiple business areas and industries.
A product portfolio evolving toward a lower carbon footprint
BASF launched its LowPCF and ZeroPCF portfolios at K 2022 as ways to employ renewable electricity, low-emission steam, and renewable raw materials in a mass balance approach to lower the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) by at least 30%. VAUDE’s bike backpack, which uses Ultramid ZeroPCF—the first polyamide 6 in the market to reach a CO2 footprint of net zero—is a recent example of a ZeroPCF product innovation.
Building on this, BASF has now launched a reduced PCF product range, rPCF, aimed at PCF improvements using renewable electricity and steam alongside the production process. The offering is now available in BASF’s Engineering Plastics and Thermoplastic Polyurethanes sustainability toolbox. It follows BASF’s achievement of completely switching all its European Performance Materials plants to renewable electricity powered by solar and wind energy.
Make becomes circular
While technology and processes are major levers of transformation, the use of alternative raw materials is equally essential. At K 2025, BASF will showcase products for which fossil resources are replaced with renewable feedstock at the beginning of the production process using the Biomass Balance approach. This helps reducing the carbon footprint of:
- Siemens circuit breaker SIRIUS 3RV2: Ultramid BMB and Ultradur BMB
- Certified compostable and soil-biodegradable biopolymers: ecovio and Ecoflex BMB
- ZARA bodysuit: Ultramid BMB
Additionally, BASF replaces fossil resources with feedstock from the chemical recycling of plastic waste in a mass balance approach for its Ccycled portfolio:
- KASK safety helmet: Neopor Ccycled
- Oysho sports leggings: Ultramid Ccycled
Transformation is not only about materials, but also about data. As the industry moves toward greater transparency and accountability, digital tools become essential to enable and accelerate the green transformation. To support this, BASF offers the PACIFIC app that provides standardization and interoperability in PCF data exchanges of plastic materials. Designed for ease of use, the PACIFIC app is seeing growing adoption across stakeholders in the value chain.
“With rPCF, we are giving customers flexibility to customize their products’ carbon footprint by opting for renewable energies in our production process. This is a logical next step in both their green transformation and ours,”- Alexander Weiser, Senior Vice President, Head of BASF.
Use of plastics’ strengths
Plastics bring unique benefits to many applications that often extend their lifespan. This is particularly important for future technologies, such as the production of green hydrogen. For example, Ultrason S3010 (PSU: polysulfone) enables the production of larger, more robust and durable parts like frames in stacks for alkaline electrolyzers developed by Stargate Hydrogen.
In high-performance household appliances like the latest Thermomix by Vorwerk Elektrowerke, BASF’s engineering plastics, Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE), and testing capabilities support complex applications. Several parts are made of either Ultramid Advanced N (PPA: polyphthalamide) or Ultramid A (PA66: polyamide 66), selected for their high temperature stability and mechanical strength respectively.
In the eMobility sector, BASF has developed a next-generation battery demonstrator featuring advanced plastic material solutions to enhance lightweighting, thermal management, safety and performance.
Recycle is the new Make
As part of its commitment to a circular plastics economy, BASF is scaling up complementary recycling technologies to give waste a second life. Across various industries – packaging, furniture, appliances, textiles and vehicles – new solutions demonstrate how recycling becomes an engine of innovation.
To support efficient recycling processes, BASF subsidiary trinamiX provides a handheld tool for fast and reliable identification of different plastic and textile types. The trinamiX Mobile NIR Spectroscopy Solution facilitates cleaner sorting and improved recycling outcomes.
For paper-based food packaging, BASF extends the end-of-life options to organic recycling. Its tailored certified home and industrial compostable ecovio allows coating on paper food articles to achieve necessary barrier properties, especially for liquid and fatty ingredients.
As a leader in the polyurethanes (PU) business for more than 60 years, BASF is committed to demonstrating PU’s versatility and recyclability:
- Together with its long-standing partner Vitra, BASF is showcasing the world’s first economically recyclable flexible foam for furniture.
- In collaboration with Krauss Maffei, Rampf and Liebherr, BASF is also developing an efficient chemical recycling process to return polyurethane to the same material cycle. In a stable, continuous industrial depolymerization process, recycled polyols are produced, which can be used to manufacture new PU rigid foams as insulation material in refrigerators. By using post-consumer waste from end-of-life refrigerators as feedstock, the consumption of fossil resources can be significantly reduced.
Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) also enter the circular economy: the new Elastollan RC grades include up to 100% recycled content with close to virgin performance by re-using post-industrial and post-consumer TPU waste.
Editor in Chief
With loopamid, BASF has developed an innovative solution to improve circularity in the fashion industry and recycle post-industrial and post-consumer polyamide 6 textile waste over multiple times.
Finally, BASF is advancing numerous projects in the recycling of automotive plastics via mechanical recycling, solvent based recycling, depolymerization and high temperature recycling such as gasification.
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