Plastics & Rubber

Plastics & Rubber

On the way to rethink plastics

It’s easy to forget the good that plastic does for us every day. It keeps our food fresh. It keeps our homes warm. It even keeps us safer as we drive. And, as the BASF portfolio of plastics continues to evolve, we believe more than ever that plastics can continue to play a positive role in our lives by rethinking the way we MAKE, USE and RECYCLE them.

BASF goes K2025: a visual of BASF booth with visitors at K fair
We invite you to be part of our exciting journey towards the world's largest trade fair for plastics and rubber. Join us and experience our progress at first hand.

Some call it a transformation, we call it #OurPlasticsJourney.

Plastics prodcution still depends on fossil ressorces, and too much plastic waste still ends up in the environment. However, working alongside our customers and partners, we are taking on the challenge and do our part in co-creating solutions that reinvent the entire lifecycle of plastics together - from how we can produce plastics more resource-efficiently, to how we can use them better, to how we can give them a new life. 

All BASF's European production sites for engineering plastics, polystyrene, expandable polystyrene, polyurethane, thermoplastics polyurethanes, polyamides and specialty polymers are now certified by independent third parties according to the Operation Clean Sweep ® (OCS) standard. In total, 16 production plants for plastic pellets were certified at six BASF production sites in Europe. 

Visual of the Make topic from #OurPlasticsJourney showing a factory hall
The journey to net zero by 2050 is full of challenges and we constantly look for solutions to overcome them. Learn how we change the way we produce plastics more resource-efficiently.

Find out how
Visual of Use from #OurPlasticsJourney showing a car
In the USE phase of their lifecycle, plastics play out all their strengths. We innovate with our customers to enhance the sustainability contribution of our products.

Find out how
Visual of Recycle from #OurPlasticsJourney showing a recycling process
Together with partners we work on a variety of recycling projects with different maturity levels - from mechanical recycling to complementary chemical recycling.

Find out how

Discover how we are driving #OurPlasticsJourney across all three phases of the product lifecycle (Make, Use, Recycle) forward – from the use of alternative raw materials in production to improving our plastics in the use phase, to various recycling solutions. Use the filters below to find your topics of interest.

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# RECYCLE
RECYCLE - Unlocking potential through complementary recycling technologies
In BASF’s ChemCycling™ project, plastic waste is transformed into pyrolysis oil using a thermochemical process. The oil can be fed in the BASF Verbund, replacing fossil resources. Using a mass balance approach, new products are manufactured with it. These have the same properties as products from fossil raw materials. BASF works together with partners such as Quantafuel, a startup headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Quantafuel is specialized in the pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste and the integrated purification of the resulting oil. Dr. Michael Bachtler (right), who is working on BASF’s ChemCycling™ project, and Rasmus Kærsgaard (left), Plant Director at Quantafuel in Quantafuel’s pyrolysis and purification plant in Skive, Denmark.
Chemical Recycling
# RECYCLE
Recycled material
ChemCycling® 
Recycling plays an increasingly important role due to limited resources, growing sustainability requirements on the markets and regulatory developments.
Recycled material
The Mass Balance Approach
We continue to rely on the mass balance approach in our production: many BASF value chains begin in synthesis gas plants or steam crackers.
Miniature Circuit Breaker
Industries and products
Products
Electronics & Electric
Engineering plastics used in electrical applications (E/E) have to show excellent electrical performance, good mechanical properties as well as high dimensional stability under heat. In daily operation, they have to guarantee insulation and therefore secure handling. They have to reduce fire risk in the event of an electrical defect or exposure to external sources of ignition. With a lot of applications, the plastic is used for designing the exterior of components as well. This is why design requirements, e. g. for surface quality, haptics, and colors, are becoming more and more important.
Recycled material
# USE
Fighting plastic pollution
Takazuri and BASF are working together to expand climate-resilient construction in East Africa.
Fighting plastic pollution
Alliance to end plastic waste
No single organisation can solve the global plastic waste problem alone. That’s why BASF co-founded the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) in January 2019. Today the AEPW has around 60 different companies along the plastic value chain. The members have committed to investing in Alliance projects to help minimize and manage plastic waste and keep it out of our environment. 
Fighting plastic pollution
Preventing plastic pellet loss
Floating plastic bottles in the ocean, bags and fishing nets in the middle of the sea or carelessly disposed plastic products on the streets – almost everyone has seen the pictures. But pellets from plastic production also find their way into the environment. As partner of an initiative against pellet loss, BASF contributes to prevent this development.
Rays of sunlight and Green Forest
Emission reduction
Renewable material
Our Carbon Management
We want to live up to our responsibility for climate protection. One way we do this is with our products, which enable our customers to lower CO2 emissions.
The American coffee brand Bruvi® uses Ultrason® E 2010 to manufacture the extractor lens in its coffee brewers.
Photo: BASF SE
Industries and products
# USE
One of life’s great little pleasures
The American coffee brand Bruvi® now uses Ultrason® E 2010 to manufacture the extractor lens in its coffee brewers. The complex injection-molded component is part of Bruvi’s unique auto-optimized brewing technique, scanning the coffee pod and then automatically adjusting the brewing parameters to the specific recipe for the optimal brew of each individual coffee. The BASF polyethersulfone (PESU) contributes to the durability of the machine by its excellent mechanical strength, its high heat and steam resistance up to 180°C, as well as dimensional stability at varying temperatures. The food-contact approved thermoplastic meets Bruvi’s standards for ensuring tastier coffee and hygienic brewing: It does not affect the taste of the coffee or gives off any odors. This allows Ultrason® E 2010 to outperform other materials which are used in coffee machine applications.
External studies
Plastics – the fast Facts 2023
Plastics – the fast Facts shows preliminary global and European plastics production data. It also provides European plastics industry’s key economic figures, trade balance, top trade partners, and preliminary estimations of European plastics conversion.

You wonder what our new solutions and approaches look like in practice? Then discover our wide range of products and the different industries in which we are active:  

How to get involved?

 

The challenges are huge. Join us on #ourplasticsjourney and leave us a message below. Together, we can reach our goal faster.

So, let's join forces and Go!Create together.

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