MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF South East Asia has joined ZDHC Foundation as a ‘Contributor’ in its chemical industry category. The partnership with the Foundation and its extensive pool of experts from organisations in textile, apparel, leather & footwear industry underlines BASF’s commitment to being an industry leader in driving sustainable chemistry, innovation and best practices, said Fibre2Fashion.
Additionally, Haptex is the first BASF material solution that has received the Eco Passport by Oeko-Tex certification for production of synthetic leather. Haptex, BASF’s first PU solution made without the use of organic solvents, has been certified Eco Passport by Oeko-Tex, an independent certification system for chemicals in the apparel, textile and leather industries. During a multi-stage process, Eco Passport analyses whether each ingredient in a chemical product meets international statutory requirements and is not harmful to human health. On-site inspections will also validate claims that suppliers are using safer and better chemistry according to industry best practices.
"The partnership with ZDHC represents BASF’s leadership in driving sustainability in chemicals and leather manufacturing. Through collaboration with partners, standard-setting and implementation, we are helping to protect the environment by reducing the industry’s chemical footprint across the textile, leather and footwear value chain,” said Andy Postlethwaite, senior vice president, BASF Performance Materials Asia Pacific. “We are pleased to know that Haptex meets the green standard of ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (ZDHC MRSL) Level 3 conformance, which is the highest level in the Roadmap to Zero programme."
ZDHC MRSL Conformance indicates that Eco Passport certified chemical substances conform to ZDHC standards. The ZDHC MRSL covers chemical substances that are limited or banned from intentional use in the production of apparel and footwear materials to protect workers, consumers, and the environment.
BASF creates chemistry for a sustainable future. It combines economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 117,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Its portfolio is organised into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions.
The ZDHC Foundation oversees implementation of the Roadmap to Zero Programme and is a global multi-stakeholder initiative of more than 160 contributors within the fashion and footwear industry. The vision is widespread implementation of sustainable chemistry, driving innovations and best practices to protect consumers, workers and the environment. ZDHC uses collaborative engagement to drive a holistic, industry focused and practical approach to sustainable chemical management. ZDHC guidelines, platforms and solutions drive large-scale industry wide implementation that advances the industry as a whole towards the zero discharge of hazardous chemicals.
As MRC reported earlier, BASF Total's cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, is undergoing maintenance and expected to restart on 23 July, 2020, according to the company's statement in a filing with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). An unexpected outage occurred at BASF Total Petrochemical’s joint-venture (JV) olefins unit at Port Arthur, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, 11 June, 2020. The cause of the outage is being investigated, with a compressor shutdown cited as a possible factor, according to TCEQ filing. The JV’s steam cracker at Port Arthur has a production capacity of more than 1 million metric tons/year of ethylene and 544,000 metric tons/year of propylene, according to IHS Markit data.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of EUR59 billion in 2019.
MRC