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BASF sets new ambitious goals for environment, health and safety

Published 13 years ago | About a 3 minute read

BASF has established new ambitious environmental, health and safety goals. The company wants to increase its energy efficiency – defined as the amount of sales products in relation to the primary energy demand – worldwide by 35 percent by 2020, compared to the previous goal of 25 percent. In addition, BASF aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per ton of sales product by 40 percent, originally set at 25 percent. Within the area of occupational health, BASF will measure its performance with a new, expanded indicator, the “Health Performance Index.” Safety will continue to remain the top priority for BASF. “Since BASF operates in an energy-intensive industry, our success depends on securing a long-term, competitive supply of energy and raw materials. Therefore, we are constantly working on boosting our worldwide energy efficiency,” said Margret Suckale, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF. In 2011, BASF increased the energy efficiency of its production processes by 26 percent, compared to 2002. The use of power plants with power-heat-technologies and other individual projects helped the company exceed its goal of improving its energy efficiency. “Our new ambitious goal is to improve the energy efficiency of our production processes by 35 percent by 2020,” explained Dr. Ulrich von Deessen, President of BASF’s Competence Center Environment, Health and Safety. For that reason, BASF will continue to optimize processes within its businesses and invest in new plants. “We also aim to further reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our production and within the whole value chain,” said von Deessen. In 2011 – as in 2010 – BASF already reached its goal of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions per metric ton of sales product by around 35 percent compared to 2002. The new goal is to lower the emissions per ton of sales product by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 2002. Overall, the company decreased its greenhouse gas emissions within the chemical business by 42 percent since 1990 due to numerous improvements in the production. Emissions to air and water reduced: BASF also succeeded in further reducing emissions to air and water compared to 2002. In 2011, around 61 percent less air pollutants were emitted (excluding the oil and gas production). Emissions of organic substances to water decreased by approximately 74 percent, nitrogen by 87 percent and heavy metals by around 61 percent. Within the oil and gas business, the BASF Group company Wintershall aims to discontinue the continuous flaring of associated gas within its routine operations by the end of 2012 at all of its production facilities. A new goal for Wintershall is to improve the energy efficiency of natural gas transportation: By 2020, it aims to reduce carbon emissions related to the amount and distance of transported natural gas by 10 percent compared with 2010. This will be accomplished through, for example, a more energy-efficient gas pipeline layout and the more intensive reuse of waste heat in the WINGAS Group’s transportation network. Additional new environmental goals were set by BASF for the responsible use of water as a resource. By 2020, the company plans to cut in half the current amount of drinking water it uses for production compared to 2010. It also intends to establish sustainable water management systems at all production sites in areas of water stress. In the last years BASF played a decisive role in the development of the European Water Stewardship Standard, a voluntary European industry standard for the responsible use of water. Focus on health and safety: Health protection will be measured by BASF worldwide with the help of a new “Health Performance Index.” The index comprises five criteria: reported cases of occupational diseases, medical emergency planning, first aid, preventive medicine and health promotion. “We never compromise on safety in daily work, plant, transportation, and product safety,” emphasized von Deessen. To improve occupational and transportation safety, the company wants to reduce the number of accidents by 2020: work-related accidents by 80 percent (base year: 2002) and transport accidents by 70 percent (base year: 2003). www.basf.com.