BASF and BMW Group Rely on Renewable Raw Materials for Bio-based Automotive Coatings

The BMW Group is the first car manufacturer to trust more sustainable automotive OEM coatings certified by BASF's biomass balance approach. The BMW Group has chosen to use BASF Coatings' CathoGuard® 800 ReSource e-coat at its plants in Leipzig, Germany and Rosslyn, South Africa, and iGloss® matt ReSource varnish throughout Europe. Using these more sustainable versions of the product in vehicle coatings could reduce CO2 emissions by about 40 percent per coat; by 2030, this would reduce the amount of CO2 emitted by factories by more than 15,000 metric tons.

"As the largest chemical supplier to the automotive industry, we realize that we have a responsibility to provide our customers with innovative, eco-efficient solutions. The biomass balance approach allows us to make our coating solutions more sustainable, while remaining the same We are delighted that the BMW Group has chosen to play a pioneering role in the automotive industry, where our products play a key role in helping it achieve its ambitious sustainability goals,” said Dr. Markus Kamieth, Member of the Executive Board of BASF.

“By reducing the use of fossil raw materials, we can protect natural resources and reduce CO2 emissions at the same time. To achieve this, we are increasingly relying on sustainable innovations in our supplier network.” Responsible for Procurement and Supplier Network "Innovative coatings based on renewable raw materials are an important step in this direction," said Joachim Post, Member of the Management Board of BMW AG.

The BMW Group's plants in Leipzig and Rosslyn produce an average of about 250,000 cars a year.

As corrosion protection technology with optimal edge protection, CathoGuard 800 e-coat helps millions of vehicles to last longer. Its biomass-balanced version, CathoGuard 800 ReSource, adds a reduced carbon footprint for material efficiency in electrocoat applications without changing the product formulation.

In BASF's biomass balance approach, renewable raw materials such as bio-based naphtha and biomethane from organic waste are used as raw materials in the manufacture of primary chemical products and fed into integrated production. The proportion of bio-based raw materials is then arithmetically allocated to certain sales products according to a certified method. This attribution model is comparable to the green power principle. An independent certification confirms that BASF has replaced the amount of fossil resources required for the sale of biomass-balanced products with renewable raw materials.

BASF's Coatings division is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative coatings and applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. The portfolio is complemented by Beyond Coating Solutions, enabling new applications with innovative surfaces. We create advanced performance solutions and drive performance, design and new applications to meet the needs of our global partners. BASF shares the skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating collaborative networks in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific. In 2021, the global sales of the coatings division will be approximately EUR 3.44 billion.