MDI and TDI of Covestro’s largest production base in North America obtained ISCC PLUS certification

With the ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) PLUS certification for its production site in Baytown, Texas, USA, Covestro is significantly expanding the scope of its circular economy product portfolio. The Baytown facility is the company’s largest operating facility in North and South America and its third largest worldwide. This latest achievement is significant, as all major Covestro sites are now certified to the internationally recognized ISCC PLUS standard. In addition to Baytown, certified factories include Leverkusen, Dormagen, Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany), Shanghai (China), Changhua (Taiwan), Map Ta Phut (Thailand), Antwerp (Belgium ) and Filago (Italy).

Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer at Covestro, said: “With this new milestone, we will soon be able to serve a broad range of customers around the world with a more accessible and sustainable product portfolio. Customers in North America can now take advantage of Ground-breaking, quality-balanced materials derived from recycled and bio-belonging products to reduce their carbon footprint and scope 3 carbon emissions”.

Covestro is the first manufacturer of polyurethane and polycarbonate raw materials in the United States to receive this certification. The certification is an important milestone for both Covestro and the industries it serves, including automotive, construction, comfort, electronics and appliances, which now have access to ISCC PLUS made from more sustainable raw materials in North America Certified products.

To emphasize how these products support the company’s vision of being fully circular, and customers towards greater sustainability, Covestro has launched a specially branded product range with the suffix “CQ”. CQ, short for “Circular Smart”, is a portfolio of products in which at least 25% of the alternative raw materials come from biomass or recycled plastics.

Covestro has also introduced the name Evocycle® CQ for all evolved recycling processes. The first project in this direction is the Evocycle® CQ mattress, representing an innovative chemical recycling technology for polyurethane mattress foam. Covestro currently has more than hundreds of CQ products and is continuously expanding this product portfolio.

ISCC PLUS certified products manufactured at Covestro’s Baytown facility will include:
– MDI–mainly used in the production of rigid polyurethane foam for high-efficiency insulation of refrigeration equipment and buildings
– TDI – flexible foam for the automotive and furniture industries
– Makrolon® RE – Polycarbonate, an advanced plastic used in the automotive, electronics and medical industries, among others.
– HDI, IPDI, Desmodur® W and Desmodur® Z – used in various coatings and adhesives.

Covestro expects to begin supplying some ISCC PLUS certified products from its Baytown plant in the second half of 2023. These products will be produced using a mass balance method. Sustainable raw materials will be accounted for throughout the value chain and production process, providing accurate attribution to the final product. Existing production infrastructure will be utilized while reducing the carbon footprint of the final product.