To all industries relying on high-performance thermoplastics, BASF is now offering the world’s first biomass-balanced polyethersulfone (PESU). Ultrason E 2010 BMB contributes to substituting fossil resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing the use of renewable feedstock. This unique PESU enables customers in industries as diverse as household and catering, automotive, electrics and electronics (E&E), healthcare as well as water and sanitary to differentiate their products from the competition. It also helps them to achieve their sustainability goals - all without compromising on the material’s performance, quality or the need to invest extra money into new processing lines.
For biomass-balanced (BMB) Ultrason E 2010, fossil raw materials are replaced by renewable feedstock at the beginning of production. The renewable feedstock comes from organic waste: the corresponding amount is attributed to the Ultrason grade via a mass balance approach which is certified according to ISCC Plus. The resulting BMB grade has a lower product carbon footprint (PCF) compared to the standard BASF material by using renewable feedstock and 100% green electricity in a resource-efficient process in the production plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF also offers its Ultrason customers transparency by providing PCF data to support them in evaluating the PCF of their own products. This benefits many applications used in daily life like reusable bottles for adults and babies, microwave dishes and appliances, but also automotive fuel parts, medical devices, E&E connectors and consumer electronics.
In addition to these sustainability advantages, Ultrason E 2010 BMB is a drop-in solution: The BASF PESU is identical to the standard grade in properties, quality, and certification for e.g., food and water contact. As a result, customers do not have to re-qualify their applications made of Ultrason E 2020 BMB or adapt their existing manufacturing processes for injection molding or extrusion: They can rely on the same high performance to which they are accustomed to. “BASF is the first company to offer biomass-balanced polyethersulfone”, says Erik Gubbels from Global Business Development Ultrason at BASF. “With this addition to our innovative Ultrason portfolio we want to enable our customers’ green transformation towards more circular solutions - and this as early as possible on their journey to meet their sustainability targets.” 50% of the fossil raw materials required for the manufacturing of Ultrason E 2010 are replaced by ISCC Plus certified bio-circular feedstocks which results in an attributed amount of 39% to the final Ultrason E 2010 BMB grade.
Reliable calculation and third-party certification for proven lower PCF
BASF has developed a digital application to calculate the cradle-to-gate PCFs for its sales products, including Ultrason. The PCF comprises all product-related greenhouse gas emissions that occur until the BASF product leaves the factory gate: from the purchased raw material to emissions from operations and the use of energy in production processes. Options for reducing PCF include the usage of green electricity in the production or attributing renewable materials via a biomass balance approach. In this approach, the fossil feedstocks at the beginning of production are replaced by biomass-based resources. The renewable amount is then attributed to specific products at the end of the manufacturing process by means of a third-party certified method: This independent certification confirms that BASF has replaced the required quantities of fossil feedstock for the biomass-balanced product that customers buy with renewable feedstock according to e.g., ISCC Plus requirements.
Ultrason is the trade name for BASF’s product range of polyethersulfone (UltrasonE), polysulfone (Ultrason S) and polyphenylsulfone (Ultrason P). The high-performance thermoplastic is used to manufacture water filtration membranes, stylish, durable and safe household and catering applications as well as lightweight components for the automotive and aerospace industries. Ultrason brands can substitute thermosets, metals and ceramics in many applications because of their extraordinary property profile.
