Mitsui Chemicals And Mitsui & Co. Deliver Asia's First Certified Renewable Raw Materials to Covestro

● ISCC Plus mass balance certified, biomass-based feedstock for phenol and acetone

● Important raw material for the production of polycarbonate

● The first batch of 1500 tons of phenol produced based on the mass balance method has been delivered in Shanghai

● Acetone will also be delivered later and will be supplied to the base in Thailand

Covestro has entered into an agreement with Mitsui Chemicals to source its raw materials, phenol and acetone, produced by its ISCC Plus-certified mass balance-based method. The two raw materials will be supplied to Covestro's bases in Shanghai and Mata, Thailand, for the production of polycarbonate. As a high-performance plastic, polycarbonate is used in automotive headlights, LED lighting, electronic and medical devices, and automotive windows. Japan's Mitsui Chemicals and Mitsui & Co. are already long-term suppliers of Covestro.

"With this agreement, Covestro, Mitsui Chemicals and Mitsui & Co. take their partnership to a new level, with the goal of providing customers across the entire process chain with more sustainable raw materials based on renewable resources that are certified for mass balance. "We are delighted that our production sites in Asia are also gradually shifting to products based on renewable raw materials, and in this way we are helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals," said Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer of Covestro. , and provide them with solutions that can be applied directly to existing production processes without major technical modifications.”

The first batch of phenol produced by Mitsui Chemicals based on the mass balance method has recently arrived at Covestro's integrated production site in Caojing, Shanghai from its Osaka facility. More deliveries will follow, including acetone produced based on the mass balance method. Mitsui Chemicals produces phenol and acetone products that contain a share of biomass feedstocks using biomass feedstocks from waste and residues as raw materials.

"In order to realize a circular economy, we are not only exploring the development of plastic recycling, but also focusing on the transition to biomass raw materials," said Masahiro Yoshino, Senior Managing Director and Head of the Basic Materials Business Division of Mitsui Chemicals. First shipment and delivery of mass balance certified, bio-based phenol. With our materials contributing to the realization of a sustainable society, we look forward to working with you to steadily advance the use of biomass throughout society.”

"With our long-term partnership with Covestro and Mitsui Chemicals, we have successfully delivered the first batch of renewable phenol in Asia," said Takuchi Furuya, Chief Operating Officer, Basic Materials Division, Mitsui & Co. Targeted customers provide solutions and this is just the beginning of our journey.”

In the mass balance approach, bio-based raw materials are introduced at an early stage of production and mathematically allocated to the final product. This saves the use of fossil raw materials and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the quality of the mass-balanced product remains the same as the purified stone-based product.

ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) is an internationally recognized sustainable development certification system for biomass and bioenergy products. ISCC Plus offers additional certification options for technical chemical applications such as biomass-based plastics.