LANXESS and TotalEnergies Partner Up

LANXESS and TotalEnergies to Collaborate on Sustainable Styrene Specialty chemicals company LANXESS and French energy group TotalEnergies have entered into a collaboration on biocircular styrene supply. Unlike conventional styrene, the raw material used by TotalEnergies is based on a long-chain oil derived from tree resin and a by-product of pulp production. LANXESS uses styrene to produce sustainable ion exchange resins. These products are primarily applied in wastewater treatment and chemical process streams purification, as well as in the food industry. The sustainable source of styrene has been certified in accordance with the ISCC PLUS standard ("International Sustainability and Carbon Certification") mass balance approach. In the mass balance approach, certified and non-certified materials are physically mixed but kept separate on a bookkeeping basis. This method allows companies to document and track sustainable materials throughout the complex production process and provides full traceability across the entire supply chain. ISCC PLUS certification of styrene is an important requirement because LANXESS also markets its products in accordance with this certification standard and therefore relies on the same transparency for its raw materials. Marcel Beermann, Head of Global Supply and Logistics at LANXESS, stated: "Our customers increasingly want sustainable solutions, and low-carbon footprint raw materials are an important lever here. By forming a partnership with TotalEnergies, we can further expand the relevant offerings for our customers." Jean-François Renglet, Vice President of the Basic Chemicals Marketing Division of Total Refining and Chemicals, said: "We are pleased to have established this partnership with LANXESS, which demonstrates TotalEnergies' ability to provide sustainable products to its customers and help them reduce their carbon footprints. This is an excellent example of the direction taken by TotalEnergies' Refining and Chemicals division to develop lower carbon intensity products in line with TotalEnergies' Climate Ambition to reach Net Zero emissions by 2050 together with society," he explained. In addition to styrene, specialty chemicals company LANXESS already supplies many other sustainable equivalents of fossil raw materials. Biocircular acrylonitrile is used for another type of ion exchange resin. Preventive protective coatings are also available with sunflower oil-based various fatty acid mixtures. Prepolymers under the Adiprene Green brand contain starch-based polyether polyols. Mid-level Trimethylpropane Scopeblue consists of approximately half-sustainable N-butylaldehyde. Compound Tepex Scopeblue is flax and polylactic acid-based. And high-performance plastic Durethan Scopeblue uses biocircular cyclohexane and waste glass.

Target: climate-neutral across the entire value chain

In August of last year, LANXESS announced its plan to make its upstream and downstream supply chains climate-neutral by 2050 (Scope 3). This includes emissions indirectly generated, particularly in purchased raw materials and also in logistics and final products. For direct emissions in production (Scope 1) and energy sources (Scope 2), LANXESS set the target of being climate-neutral by 2040 three years ago. The renowned Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) had previously confirmed that LANXESS's climate targets are aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement. LANXESS launched the Net Zero Value Chain Program to achieve its Scope 3 targets. One pillar of the program is to source more sustainable raw materials that are bio-based, derived from recycling processes, or produced with renewable energy. LANXESS is also planning for "green" logistics and a growing climate-neutral product portfolio. Source