Production
Covestro produces, among other things, precursors for polyurethane foams and the high-performance plastic polycarbonate. In these processes, we use an extensive network of sites in our EMLA, NA, and APAC regions. In fiscal 2023, Covestro had production operations at 48 sites in 14 countries. At the production sites, there are both smaller plants for regional purposes and large-capacity production facilities that are used particularly to meet the needs of customers with global operations efficiently and reliably. We always keep an eye on optimizing the technology used in the plants and processes while focusing on quality, efficiency, and safety in production. With our sustainable technologies and processes, we want to achieve climate neutrality in our own production (Scope 1 emissions) by the year 2035.
In addition to optimizing existing production processes, Covestro focuses on developing new process technologies, implementing leading technologies in the process design for new production facilities, and taking the production processes of newly developed products to industrial scale. The most important growth projects in fiscal 2023 included the new chlor-alkali facility at our site in Tarragona (Spain), where oxygen depolarized cathode technology is used for the first time on a large industrial scale. This plant’s energy needs are significantly lower than those of a conventional plant. Other examples are the new production line for the manufacture of thermoplastic polyurethanes for paint protection films in Changhua (Taiwan, Greater China) as well as the construction of a first plant for mechanical recycling of polycarbonates and a new elastomers plant in Shanghai (China).