How can chemistry become more environmentally friendly? Franziska Brantner from Covestro has now researched this question. The Federal Chairman of the Green Party toured, among other things, the biotechnology center of a plastics company. Here, aniline from renewable raw materials is researched and important raw materials are produced on a pilot scale. It is a component of MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate), one of Covestro’s main products, which can be found as an insulating material in almost every refrigerator and building.
Covestro estimates its aniline demand at approximately one million tons per year; in the “long term” the substance should be obtained exclusively from alternative sources. Chempark is currently working on producing bioaniline on a “semi-industrial scale,” it reported on Thursday.
Brantner was impressed: “Especially given the changing framework conditions and the increasing pressure on our economy to adapt, it is clear that a strong industry needs innovation, further development of business models and new paths such as the circular economy.” Covestro CEO Markus Steileman said the Green Party’s visit shows “that the issues that concern us as a chemical company are also reflected in politics.” (tk)