Covestro’s New Shanghai PUD Factory is Expected to Start Supply in the First Quarter of 2024

Covestro announced that it will begin supplying a series of low-carbon footprint waterborne polyurethane dispersions (PUD) to the Asia-Pacific market in the first quarter of 2024. This series of products will be produced and supplied by Covestro's Shanghai integrated base, and the share of alternative raw materials for its solid content can reach up to 80%. This low-carbon footprint PUD can be widely used in automotive interior adhesives, footwear adhesives, consumer electronics coatings and other emerging fields, helping various value chains reduce their carbon footprint and support the transition to a circular economy.

This low carbon footprint PUD contains alternative raw materials derived from biowaste and residues, which are allocated to the PUD products through a mass balance approach. Mass balancing is a chain-of-custody approach that allows fossil-based and alternative raw materials to be blended in production but kept separate in bookkeeping. This method tracks materials through the value chain and allocates alternative raw materials to selected end products, with the entire process certified by ISCC PLUS. Covestro's Shanghai integrated base has obtained ISCC PLUS certification in 2021.

PUDs produced based on mass balance methods are ready-to-use solutions that can be directly applied in production. Customers can achieve a smooth transition from using fossil-based raw materials to more sustainable solutions without changing existing production processes or technologies, while ensuring product quality and performance are equivalent to fossil-based materials.

Anand Khot, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Covestro Coatings & Adhesives, said: “As we continue to expand our product portfolio to become more sustainable, Covestro’s ability to support customers and partners in their transition to a circular economy also continuously strengthening. While meeting the growing demand for more sustainable PUD in the Asian market, we continue to build stronger supply and innovation capabilities to better serve our global customers."

With its mature experience in supplying low-carbon footprint quality-balanced products and bio-based products accumulated globally, Covestro will bring more sustainable coatings and adhesives raw materials with the suffix "CQ" (Circular Intelligence) to the Asia-Pacific market, include PUD, water-based acrylic, polyester and other products. CQ is used to label Covestro products that contain at least 25% alternative non-fossil-based raw materials.

In addition, Covestro is actively promoting the use of more renewable electricity at its production sites, which will also help expand its product line of low-carbon coatings and adhesive raw materials. For example, Covestro's Shanghai integrated base has signed several green power purchase agreements, and green power currently covers about 45% of the base's power needs.