BASF’s Intermediates division has advanced its sustainability strategy by converting the entire portfolio of acid chlorides and chloroformates manufactured at its Ludwigshafen site to using 100 percent renewable electricity credits. Since 2025, the production plant has already been producing its entire portfolio of around 25 products using renewable electricity credits, including all upstream raw material processes.

A view of the new part of the production plant for acid chlorides and chloroformates in Ludwigshafen during the final phase of the revamp: Producing acid chlorides and chloroformates using renewable electricity certificates reduces the product carbon footprint by an average of 19 percent.
Photo: BASF

Significant average PCF reduction across the portfolio

This transition has already reduced the product carbon footprint (PCF) by an average of 19 percent in 2025, and similar levels are expected in 2026 and subsequent years. Customers can benefit from a fully seamless transition, with no need for recertification or changes to ordering processes. Products will continue to be supplied as usual but now with a considerably lower carbon footprint, supporting customers in advancing their Scope 3 emission‑reduction efforts. These sustainability benefits are amplified by the startup of a fully modernized production asset at the Ludwigshafen Verbund site. The modernization project increases BASF’s production capacity for chloroformates and acid chlorides by approximately 30 percent, meaning that the PCF improvements now apply across a significantly larger product volume while supporting long‑term supply security and meeting growing global demand.

Alisha Van Dyck, Vice President Business Management Acetylenics, Carbonyl Derivatives, Acids & Polyalcohols Europe in BASF’s Intermediates division, explains: “Modernizing our asset and converting to renewable electricity means our customers for acid chlorides and chloroformates don’t have to choose between sustainability and availability. This move reflects our commitment to translating our customers’ needs into concrete, verifiable CO_₂ reductions across their value chains.”

Supporting BASF’s sustainability strategy

This conversion is another milestone in BASF’s broader ambition to be the preferred chemical company to enable its customers’ green transformation. It follows last year’s global switch of BASF’s amines portfolio to renewable electricity and reflects ongoing efforts to expand the use of renewable electricity and more sustainable practices across BASF’s global intermediates business.²

BASF already offers biobased or biomass balanced (BMB)³ variants for several acid chlorides and chloroformates. These include biobased products such as palmitoyl chloride, octanoyl chloride and ethyl chloroformate, as well as biomass balanced (BMB) variants for isononanoyl chloride. With the full portfolio of acid chlorides and chloroformates now produced using renewable electricity credits, BASF is taking another meaningful step towards transforming its portfolio, thus providing customers worldwide with additional, seamless opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint without any changes to product specifications or processes.

BASF is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chloroformates, acid chlorides and alkyl chlorides, with an annual capacity of 60,000 metric tons and production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Yeosu, Korea. Customers use these chemicals for further processing in a wide range of applications, ranging from synthesis building blocks for pharmaceuticals and crop protection products to the production of organic peroxides.

¹ Reduction includes Scope 1, 2 and 3.1 emissions, calculated against a scenario without the use of renewable electricity credits and based on 2025 production volumes. Expected 2026 reduction assumes the same production volumes as in 2025. BASF’s PCF calculations follow the requirements and guidance given by ISO 14067:2018. In a methodology review, TÜV Rheinland has certified that the PCF methodology SCOTT developed and used by BASF SE for calculating the PCFs of BASF products is scientifically-based, is in accordance with ISO 14067:2018 and the Together for Sustainability – The Product Carbon Footprint Guideline for the Chemical Industry, version 3.0 – December 2024, and reflects the state of the art (ID-Nr. 0000080389: BASF SE-Certipedia).
² Learn more about BASF’s amines using renewable electricity credits on the BASF Amines Produced with 100% Renewable Electricity website, and explore additional sustainable solutions for chemical intermediates on the Sustainable Solutions for Chemical Intermediates page.
³ In BASF’s biomass balance (BMB) approach, fossil raw materials required for the manufacture of BASF products are replaced with renewable feedstock along the integrated production chain. The corresponding share of renewable material is attributed to the specific sales product via a certified mass balance approach. Production methods of this kind save fossil resources and reduce CO₂ emissions at the same time. Both the BMB approach and biomass balanced products are independently certified according to REDcert² and ISCC PLUS for the chemical industry as well as REDcert-EU and ISCC EU for the biofuels industry. Renewable feedstock is not traceable in the BASF product. Visit Biomass Balanced (BMBcert^®) Intermediates for more information.