Covestro finishes digitalization of product-specific life cycle assessments
Digitization

Covestro finishes digitalization of product-specific life cycle assessments

Annual update of environmental data for approx. 50,000 finished products available within the second half of 2025

  • By ICN Bureau | January 30, 2025

Covestro is focusing on more data-centric business management to achieve digital transformation and to offer its customers transparency for its products.

The climate impact of Covestro in the manufacture of its products can be assessed using the product carbon footprint from cradle to gate, which can now be calculated automatically for about 50,000 finished products. The methodology for the automated calculation of life cycle assessment (LCA) of Covestro including the product carbon footprint (PCF) is certified by TÜV Rheinland. It complies with relevant ISO standards and Together for Sustainability (TfS).

“Digitalization enables us to gather and process larger data sets automated, while reflecting timely changes at our production sites. No more manual Excel lists and manual calculations. This increases efficiency and makes annual data updates easier. Only through digitalization we can access and analyze real data efficiently enough,” says Dr. Torsten Heinemann, Global Head of Group Innovation and Sustainability. Digitalization is also the basis for data sharing along the value chain. For example, the data from Covestro tool may be integrated into exchange platforms like Catena-X or SiGreen to enable a harmonized data exchange with partners up- and downstream.

Covestro determines the specific product carbon footprint and further environmental impact categories for its products. Covestro will provide its customers with LCA data on the products in sale, thereby contributing to emissions assessments and potential subsequent emissions reductions on the customers’ side.

With this milestone achieved, Covestro demonstrates its willingness to walk towards full circularity and climate neutrality by improving data accuracy.

Raw material impact data are collected directly from suppliers or are taken from external databases, while other input data, such as energy consumption and waste, are sourced from company Enterprise Resource Planning systems, such as SAP. In addition to the carbon footprint, Covestro offers five other environmental impact categories that the company considers to be key, amongst others the acidification- or photochemical ozone creation potential.

“We announced in Summer 2023 that we started the process. Within this year, we will have data for the around 50,000 products, based on our present product portfolio. They will be updated annually from now on. This means we are going beyond the current market standard and demonstrating our leadership in driving this topic forward” says Heinemann.

Covestro is sharing data to drive the entire value chain towards a circular economy. By calculating LCAs and increasing transparency, all stakeholders can collaborate more effectively to identify opportunities for reducing environmental impact—especially greenhouse gas emissions—and advancing sustainability goals.

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