BASF showcases the sustainable future of plastics at K 2025
When the world‘s leading trade fair for plastics and rubber returns to Düsseldorf, BASF will be back on board – as it has been since the first K trade fair in 1952. “This year, we are reinforcing our commitment to the plastics industry and continuing our dedication to sustainability and innovation with our global campaign #OurPlasticsJourney. This is more than just a slogan. It reflects our ambition to transform the plastics industry. This journey will take time, but the goal is clear: a circular economy for plastics,” emphasizes Martin Jung, President of BASF Performance Materials.
At the K Preview press conference on June 17, BASF provided a first glimpse of what visitors can expect at K 2025: innovative applications tailored to customer needs and demonstrating real progress in the circular economy for various business areas and industries.
A product portfolio on the path to a lower Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)
At K 2022, BASF presented LowPCF and ZeroPCF portfolios as solutions for reducing the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) by at least 30 % through the use of renewable electricity, low-emission steam and renewable raw materials using the mass balance approach. A current example of a ZeroPCF product innovation is VAUDE‘s bicycle backpack made with Ultramid® ZeroPCF, the industry‘s first polyamide 6 to achieve a net-zero Product Carbon Footprint.
Building on this, BASF has now launched a PCF-reduced product range, rPCF, which aims to improve PCF through the use of renewable electricity and low-emission steam throughout the production process. The offering is now available in the Sustainability Toolbox for engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethanes. BASF had already converted all of its European Performance Materials production sites to renewable electricity generated from solar and wind energy. “With rPCF, we give our customers the flexibility to customize the Product Carbon Footprint of their products by choosing renewable energy in our production process. This is a logical next step in both their and our green transformation,” adds Alexander Weiser, head of Performance Materials Europe at BASF.
Making it circular
While technology and processes are important levers of transformation, the use of alternative raw materials is equally essential. At K 2025, BASF will showcase products in which fossil resources are replaced by renewable raw materials at the beginning of the production process according to the biomass balance approach. This helps to reduce the carbon footprint of the following products:
Siemens SIRIUS 3RV2 circuit breaker: Ultramid® BMB and Ultradur® BMB
Certified compostable and biodegradable biopolymers: ecovio® and ecoflex® BMB
ZARA Body: Ultramid® BMB
In addition, BASF is replacing fossil resources with raw materials from the chemical recycling of plastic waste in accordance with a mass balance approach for its Ccycled® portfolio:
KASK safety helmet: Neopor® Ccycled®
Oysho sports leggings: Ultramid® Ccycled®
The transformation requires not only materials, but also data. As the industry moves toward greater transparency and responsibility, digital tools are becoming essential to enable and accelerate the green transformation. To support this, BASF offers the PACIFIC app, which enables standardization and interoperability in PCF data exchange for plastics. The PACIFIC app has been designed for ease of use and is gaining increasing acceptance among stakeholders in the value chain.
Leveraging the strengths of plastics
Plastics offer unique advantages for many applications, including extending their service life. This is particularly important for future technologies, such as the production of green hydrogen. Ultrason®S3010 (PSU: polysulfone) enables the manufacture of larger, more robust, and more durable components such as frames in stacks for alkaline electrolysers, as developed by Stargate Hydrogen.
In high-performance household appliances such as the new Thermomix from Vorwerk Elektrowerke, BASF‘s engineering plastics, computer-aided engineering (CAE) and component testing enable complex applications. Several parts are made of Ultramid® Advanced N (PPA: polyphthalamide) or Ultramid® A (PA66: polyamide 66), which were selected for their high temperature stability and mechanical strength.
In the field of electromobility, BASF has developed a next-generation battery demonstrator that shows how advanced plastic solutions can reduce weight and improve thermal management, safety and performance.
Recycling is the new manufacturing
As part of its commitment to a circular plastics economy, BASF is expanding complementary recycling technologies to give waste products a second life. In various industries – packaging, furniture, household appliances, textiles, and vehicles – new solutions are demonstrating how recycling is becoming a driver of innovation.
To support efficient recycling processes, BASF subsidiary trinamiX offers a handheld spectrometer for fast and reliable identification of different types of plastics and textiles. The mobile NIR spectroscopy solution from trinamiX enables more precise sorting and improved recycling results.
For paper-based food packaging, BASF is expanding end-of-life options to include organic recycling. With the tailor-made, certified home and industrial compostable ecovio®, paper food packaging can be coated to achieve the necessary barrier properties, especially for liquid and fatty ingredients.
BASF has been a leader in polyurethanes (PU) for more than 60 years and has made it its mission to demonstrate the versatility and recyclability of PU.
Together with its long-standing partner Vitra, BASF is presenting the world‘s first economically recyclable soft foam for furniture.
In cooperation with KraussMaffei, Rampf, and Liebherr, BASF is also developing an efficient chemical recycling process to return polyurethane to the same material cycle. In a stable, continuous industrial depolymerization process, recycled polyols are produced that can be used to manufacture new PU rigid foams for use as insulation in refrigerators. By using post-consumer waste from old refrigerators as a raw material, the consumption of fossil resources can be significantly reduced.
Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) are also entering the circular economy: The new Elastollan® RC grades contain up to 100 % recycled material with near-new properties through the reuse of post-industrial and post-consumer TPU waste.
With loopamid®, BASF has developed an innovative solution to improve recyclability in the fashion industry and recycle post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste from polyamide 6 multiple times.
Last but not least, BASF is driving forward numerous projects in the field of automotive plastics recycling through mechanical recycling, solvent-based recycling, depolymerization, and high-temperature recycling such as gasification.
Join the discussion at K 2025
Industry experts, customers, and partners will come together at the BASF booth and explore the challenges and opportunities of the future in live sessions such as #OurPlasticsDialogues.
This year‘s K motto, “The Power of Plastics!”, fits perfectly with BASF‘s vision of leading the targeted transformation of the entire plastics value chain.
For over seven decades, the BASF booth at K has been a central platform for materials, innovations, co-creations – and personal exchange. This year, BASF will be represented by six different teams: Performance Materials, Monomers, Styrene Foams, Plasticizers, Plastic Additives and trinamiX.
Hall 5, Stand C21/D21
