Covestro Baytown driving circular economy

Contributed photos from Covestro Baytown

With its vision of becoming fully circular, Covestro intends to advance its sustainability efforts in support of its customers, as well as end consumers. The company is committed to reaching operational climate neutrality by 2035, with the goal of achieving net zero emissions from its own production and from purchased energy. With Covestro’s strategic program, the primary aim is to maximize the use of limited resources and manufacture plastics in a truly sustainable, climate-neutral way.

Ørsted, a leader in clean energy, and Covestro have established a virtual power purchase agreement for power from the planned Mockingbird Solar Center in Lamar County, Texas.

The company’s largest manufacturing site in the Americas, and third-largest globally, Covestro Baytown, is taking steps to further reduce its carbon footprint. In March, the site achieved a circularity milestone and earned International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS certification, expanding its product portfolio for the circular economy to the US region.

ISCC is a globally leading certification system that aims to encourage implementation of the highest sustainability requirements and is internationally recognized for biomass and bioenergy. With this certification, Covestro expands its portfolio to all major regions of the world. ISCC PLUS-certified products are made with a mass-balance approach that uses the existing production infrastructure while reducing the products’ carbon footprint. Covestro Baytown will begin manufacturing products with the suffix “CQ” which contain at least 25 percent alternative raw materials and is the first manufacturer of polyurethane and polycarbonate raw materials to receive this certification in the United States.

Covestro Chief Commercial Officer Sucheta Govil (front center) stands with part of the team who helped the Baytown site achieve ISCC PLUS certification.

Most recently, Covestro Baytown signed its first major renewable energy agreement for its US operations by entering into a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (vPPA) with clean energy provider Ørsted. Beginning in 2024, solar power from Ørsted's Mockingbird Solar Center in Lamar County, Texas will offset 70,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from Covestro's Baytown site, helping to reduce Scope 2 emissions. The agreement is equivalent to energy used to power more than 15,000 homes, and this project – which marks Covestro’s first renewable energy agreement in the United States – is critical to the company’s goal of becoming climate neutral.

“The progress Covestro Baytown has made in the last year towards our sustainability goals is truly remarkable,” said Head of Basic Chemicals Manufacturing Eric Hoffman. “We not only have milestones in place to become carbon-neutral, but concrete plans for reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions.”

On a smaller scale, but impactful nonetheless, Covestro Baytown is making strides with its internally focused Innovation & Sustainability Council. Launched in early 2020, the council meets monthly to measure sustainability efforts that align with the United Nations Development Goals, as well as discuss innovation projects at the site. The council has grown exponentially since its inception. After starting in Baytown, it has now expanded to include representatives from each of Covestro’s sites around the US in order to share lessons learned and best practices.

Process Engineer and Innovation & Sustainability Council Member Evan Yendell hosted a “composting tips” booth on-site as part of Covestro’s Earth Day Series and handed out seeds to employees.

Every month, the council shares sustainability tips with employees to encourage them to implement sustainability into their lives, not only at work, but within their homes as well. The council also now hosts Earth Day events and uses other opportunities to create and encourage a culture at the site that is excited about sustainability.

Regional Lead for Technical Goods Services and Sites North America Nikki Mason serves on Covestro Baytown’s Sustainability Committee and is passionate about the various, sustainable efforts being made at the site.

See all of the great articles and photos in Greater Baytown's July issue!

“As one of the steering committee members for our site Sustainability Committee, it is exciting to see all the ways that our company and site are contributing to tackling the topic of sustainability,” said Mason. “Sustainability is a key pillar for us to continue to find more efficient ways to do things and to do our part in helping the community and environment. It is also a great way to collaborate with our suppliers and customers since we all need to work together to be successful.”

Covestro is continuing its path to circularity, strategically and ambitiously working to reduce its carbon footprint, along with exploring additional opportunities for circularity in every aspect of the business. This includes recycling and repurposing byproducts and transforming waste streams into reusable products.

“As the chemical industry continues to grow and evolve over time, it is important that we act responsibly, and through sustainability find ways to get the most value out of each and every product,” said Mason.

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