LANXESS becomes climate neutral

LANXESS intends to become climate neutral by 2040. This climate target follows a clear strategy and some first major projects have already been started. Political support is also important. Climate neutrality: act now.

The Paris climate protection agreement seeks to limit the increase in the global average temperature to a maximum of two degrees Celsius in order to reduce the damage to people and the environment. LANXESS is committed to this United Nations climate target and is assuming its responsibility. Since its foundation in 2004, the specialty chemicals company has halved its emissions - from 6.5 million tons of CO2 equivalents to 3.2 million tons (see graphic). LANXESS is now taking the second step: the company will be climate neutral by 2040.

That means:

• drastically reduce emissions from the company's own sources,
• buy very low-emission or climate-neutral energy,
• reduce emissions from 3.2 million tons to below 300,000 tons by 2040 and neutralize these residual emissions by means of compensation measures

The milestones on climate neutrality have been set

Chemistry is one of the most energy-intensive industries. It has made great strides towards energy efficiency since 1990. As the Association of the Chemical Industry (VCI) reports, production has increased by around 69 percent since then. By contrast, energy consumption fell by 14 percent, and greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 48 percent. LANXESS has always formulated and achieved its own, even more ambitious milestones. The previous keys to LANXESS's climate success are primarily:

• Reduction of climate-damaging nitrous oxide emissions at the Krefeld-Uerdingen site,
• highly efficient energy generation and use at international locations
• a more climate-friendly product portfolio.

Three cornerstones for the ambitious climate target Implementing projects with a strong reduction lever, decoupling growth and emissions and promoting technology and process innovations - these are the three cornerstones for LANXESS to achieve climate neutrality. The company will continue to grow profitably - in a climate-friendly manner. There is a clear framework for this: Suppliers and possible acquisition candidates must fit the new climate strategy, and the carbon footprint becomes an important criterion for investments. In addition, the CO2 equivalent reduction will become the evaluation criterion in the bonus system for managers.

Implement coal exit, reduce nitrous oxide

LANXESS is planning an energy supply without coal. The group is starting this process at its locations in Nagda in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and Jhagadia (state of Gujarat). From 2024, 150,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents will be saved there every year (see graphic). LANXESS will also push ahead with the phase out of coal in the large chemical parks. Nitrous oxide (N₂O), or laughing gas for short, is a by-product of the manufacture of plastic intermediate products. It is harmless to humans, but damages the climate about 300 times more than carbon dioxide. At high temperatures, nitrous oxide can be broken down into its components nitrogen and oxygen and thus be completely neutralized. This is already happening at the Krefeld-Uerdingen site. The heat generated by the nitrous oxide reduction can be used there for production processes. In 2020, a plant for the reduction of nitrous oxide will also be built at the LANXESS site in Antwerp. From 2021, 150,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents will be saved there. A second nitrous oxide reduction plant is planned for 2023. In this way, greenhouse gas emissions will decrease by a total of 300,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents per year from 2024. With the award-winning plants in Krefeld-Uerdingen, LANXESS has become the technology leader in this area. Because the exhaust gas flows in Antwerp differ from those in Krefeld-Uerdingen, a special system was specially designed for this.