Eco-Friendly Step in Active Oxygen Products

Environmental Progress in Active Oxygens Case studies demonstrate the green potential of Active Oxygen products across various growth sectors. Evonik's Active Oxygens business unit has released a new sustainability strategy aimed at expanding its beneficial handprint and reducing the environmental footprint of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid and persulfates. The strategy includes concrete steps to reduce carbon emissions in the production of these chemicals and increase resource efficiency, with the goal of achieving climate neutrality across the entire business unit by 2040. Active Oxygens also aims to promote these chemicals as environmentally friendly alternatives across various growth sectors. Hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid and persulfates are powerful oxidizers with applications across diverse industries. Because they rapidly decompose into harmless substances—mostly just oxygen and water—they are considered among the cleanest chemicals available. Yet in the production process, at the upstream stage, conventional production of these versatile compounds leaves a carbon footprint. Robert Katzer, Head of Strategic Marketing for the Active Oxygens business unit, said: "Global demand for hydrogen peroxide is growing seven to eight percent annually, driven by growth areas such as chemical synthesis, environmental applications, nutrition and electronics. This makes reducing this product's environmental footprint particularly urgent. Fortunately, the necessary technology exists and we have a step-by-step plan to meet this growing demand in a clean, green manner." One lever is the use of renewable sources. By the end of 2021, more than 80 percent of the electricity used in Active Oxygens' production facilities worldwide was already being supplied from renewable sources. The goal is for this share to exceed 90 percent in 2023. According to the strategy, new solutions for heat pumps and efficient energy use will also be implemented over the next ten years. The business unit aims to operate its first fully climate-neutral production facility by 2032. Additionally, Active Oxygens is pursuing ambitious plans to convert fossil-based raw materials in production processes, such as bio-based acetic acid and green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is produced through water electrolysis powered by renewable electricity. The business unit is currently exploring options for locally sourcing sustainable hydrogen at each of its facilities worldwide. The first facility is planned to begin using green hydrogen in 2026, with the remainder to follow shortly after. On the customer side, the use of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid and persulfates can contribute to greener industrial processes. Robert Katzer explained: "As the population grows, global mega-trends such as urbanization bring major changes. This is where our products can contribute to more sustainable solutions. For example, treating wastewater with hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid results in far fewer environmental residues compared to using other chemicals. It can also save energy: hydrogen peroxide can subject industrial wastewater to pre-treatment by oxidizing non-biodegradable pollutants that would otherwise need to be incinerated in an energy-intensive process. We are working with customers around the world to implement and scale the use of these technologies." Resource efficiency is also a focus for a more important use of hydrogen peroxide: chemical synthesis. For example, the traditional production of propylene oxide and propylene glycol can create unnecessary byproducts. Evonik Active Oxygens' proprietary technology, which uses hydrogen peroxide for the direct synthesis of these in-demand products, offers an innovative, sustainable and efficient alternative. Active Oxygens, a business unit of Evonik's Smart Materials division, sees its sustainability goals as particularly supporting the division's "Eco Solutions" growth area. Eco Solutions are applications that protect resources and enable environmentally friendly processes. Smart Materials aims to achieve EUR 900 million in sales from Eco Solutions by 2027. The new strategy also contributes to Evonik Group's overall sustainability approach. This approach is based on ambitious targets and core activities to translate them into measurable actions. Sustainability is an integral part of Evonik's strategy and business activities and those of all its business units, and the company systematically focuses on the impact of its activities across the entire value chain based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Supported by results from major independent rating and ranking organizations such as MSCI, Sustainalytics, EcoVadis and CDP, Evonik is one of the leading companies in the chemical industry for sustainability. Source