The American Chemistry Council (ACC) recognized BASF’s TDI plant at Geismar, Louisiana site with the 2019 Responsible Care award for waste minimization, reuse and recycling.
The toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant team and the company’s Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) experts worked diligently together to turn the challenge of recycling nickel catalyst into an opportunity for reuse.
“The award recognizes BASF’s commitment to sustainability and our engagement for waste reduction,” said Geert Janssens, Vice President of Isocyanate Operations, Monomers Division, North America. “We create chemistry by making the best use of available resources. Our efforts at Geismar site are a winning example of doing just that.”
The diaminotoluene (TDA) production process within the TDI plant uses a nickel catalyst. The nickel, which becomes contaminated with TDA residue, used to be disposed after usage. In 2015, BASF implemented the new reclamation process in which the nickel catalyst is washed and sent to the reclamation facility for reuse. Since then, the process improvement has saved more than $300,000.
“We want to make sure we are taking the right measures from an environmental and a sustainability standpoint,” said Shontel Stewart, BASF EHS Specialist for Polyol and TDI. “We look at all alternative methods before sending anything to disposal.”
In addition to the ACC Responsible Care Award, BASF also received the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality 2019 Environmental Leadership Program Award in recognition of outstanding achievement towards efforts safeguarding the environment and the community.
“This was a three-fold benefit,” said Daniel Wolf, Environmental Team Leader, Geismar. “We were able to reclaim the material, it no longer went for disposal to a landfill, and the washing technique of the project led to reduced potential exposure hazards for personnel handling the material. There are multiple environmental benefits.”
About BASF
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 20,000 employees in North America and had sales of $19.7 billion in 2018. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.com.
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 122,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of around €63 billion in 2018. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.
Published Aug 13, 2019 4pm EDT / 1pm PDT / 9pm BST / 10pm CEST