May 12, 2022
The BMW Group is the first OEM automaker to use BASF paints certified according to the biomass balance approach. BASF Coatings’ CathoGuard 800 ReSource e-coat will be used at the automaker’s plants in Leipzig, Germany, and Rosslyn, South Aftrica, and the iGloss matt ReSource clearcoat throughout Europe.
These sustainable product versions for vehicle coatings enable C02 avoidance of about 40 per cent per coating layer and reduce the amount of C02 emitted in the plants by more than 15,000 metric tons by 2030.
“The biomass balance approach allows us to make our coatings solutions even more sustainable while retaining the same quality. We are delighted that the BMW Group has chosen to play a pioneering role in the automotive industry and that our products play a key part in helping it achieve its ambitious sustainability goals,” said Dr. Markus Kamieth, member of the board of executive directors of BASF SE.
The CathoGuard 800 e-coat, a corrosion protection technology with optimum protection of edges, helps extend the life of vehicles on the road. Its biomass-balanced version, CathoGuard 800 ReSource, adds a reduced carbon footprint to the e-coat application’s material efficiency, without changing the product’s formulation. In BASF’s biomass balance approach, renewable raw materials like bio-based naphtha and biomethane from organic waste are used as raw materials when manufacturing primary chemical products and are fed into the production Verbund. The proportion of bio-based raw materials is then arithmetically assigned to certain sales products according to a certified method. This attribution model is comparable with the principle of green electricity. An independent certification confirms that BASF has replaced the quantities of fossil resources required for the biomass balanced product sold with renewable raw materials.
“By reducing our use of fossil raw materials, we can conserve natural resources and lower CO2 emissions at the same time. To achieve this, we are increasingly relying on sustainability innovations in our supplier network,” said Joachim Post, member of the board of management of BMW AG, responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network. “Innovative paints based on renewable raw materials are an important step in this direction.”
BASF’s innovative production process makes it possible to replace petroleum-based precursors with renewable raw materials from organic waste, starting in the early stages of paint production. This not only reduces consumption of fossil resources, but also avoids the CO2 emissions associated with the production, transport and processing of crude oil.
The BMW Group produces an average of around 250,000 vehicles every year at its plants in Leipzig and Rosslyn.
