Making sustainability a reality in the chemical industry | Clariant

Sustainability is the ultimate driver for innovation in the chemical industry. As the earth continues to experience an environmental crisis whose deadline for solutions was yesterday, the industry must make sustainability happen today through circularity, innovation and collaboration. Consequently, one of the leading chemical players, Clariant, is making decisive moves to push the sustainable development goals 12 and 13: responsible production and consumption, and climate change respectively.

Dr Martin Vollmer, Chief Technology Officer at Clariant, shared some of the key initiatives through which the company is innovating sustainability at the 2021 CIEX conference. Clariant’s activities span three core areas: care chemicals, catalysis and natural resources. In order to achieve truly transformative goals in these areas, sustainability has been embedded in the company’s values and strategy. This strategy is five-fold:

  • Focus on innovation research and development
  • Add value with sustainability
  • Repositioning of its portfolio
  • Intensified growth
  • Increased profitability

However, the validity of any strategy is underlined by its execution. For Clariant, innovating towards greater sustainability in the chemical industry meant tackling seven sustainability challenges in five ways.

Seven Sustainability Challenges of the Chemical Industry

Seven Sustainability Challenges | Clariant, CIEX 2021 | sustainability in the chemical industry

While these challenges are clear and distinct, Dr Vollmer emphasizes that they are connected through their solutions.

In this vein, a special department at Clariant called Sustainability Development Unit is responsible for collaborating with other departments in order to unite efforts towards climate neutral operations and a sustainability driven portfolio change. So how does Clariant work towards goals while addressing these seven challenges?

1. Setting Clear Measurable Goals:

Following from the broad goal of zero net emissions, Clariant decided to establish ambitious interim goals towards 2030. To improve the climate change crises by reducing greenhouse emissions by a combined 54%. On the other hand, making operations more sustainable by decreasing water intake and waste by a combined 45%, reducing landfilled non-hazardous waste by 40% and hazardous waste by 45% among others. The sustainability unit consistently monitors relevant data on these goals to improve solutions.

2. Consumer-Centric Innovation Process:

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the carbon footprint of the products they purchase. Thus, adapting the product innovation process for circularity is a big deal at Clariant. Using industry generated tools like CompTox Suite, the company is able to evaluate innovations at the very earliest stages. Dr Vollmer encouraged the use of CompTox Suite for instance, because of its ability to highlight elements that may seem neutral at first but prove hazardous eventually. When everything goes well, a product typically hits the market with the EcoTain certification – a mark of sustainability.

Seven Sustainability Challenges | Clariant, CIEX 2021 | sustainability in the chemical industry

3. Biomass feedstock:

By 2050, it is predicted that fossil feedstock will be totally eclipsed in the chemical industry by bio-based, CO2-based and recycled feedstock. Clariant has chosen to take an active part in this eradication of fossil feedstock and effectively make sustainability happen by engaging in circular solutions, hydrogen economy and bioeconomy. This is where most of the magic happens, and partnership is key.

Increasing ROI from Biomass Feedstock

The sunliquid process takes the enormous waste from agricultural products. For example, wheat stalk and processes them into cellulosic sugar and eventually cellulosic ethanol. Dr Vollmer puts the massive environmental savings into perspective by illustrating that from the hectre which produces seven tons of crop also comes up to five tons of straw. The seven tons goes into production of starch sugar for nutrition but what happens to the five tons of straw? Often they are burnt.

However, those five tons have the potential to yield up to 2.5 tons of cellulosic sugar! And this without interfering with the food chain. The need to profitably access this yield and transform it to ethanol inspired sunliquid® technology. This technology is the chief Clariant product not the second generation bioethanol; this is because wide-adaptation of the technology can bring significant changes. Also, beyond bioethanol, the sunliquid® process has the capacity to generate other biochemicals through biotechnology and catalysis.

Pilot Plant in Romania Shows High Energy Savings

To illustrate the commercial viability of this technology, Clariant is setting up a plant in Romania to prove their concept to stakeholders. When implemented correctly, sunliquid® plants will achieve high energy savings. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 120% (taking carbon capture into consideration) and save up to 147,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the transport industry with just one plant.

Industrial Plant Making Bioethanol in Romania | Clariant | sustainability in the chemical industry

Layout of Clariant’s bioethanol plant in Romania

The goal with Clariant’s first plant in Romania is to valorise 250,000 tons of straw to produce 50,000 tons of bioethanol per year. Like its products, the plant is poised for circularity in the way it effectively engages the by-products of operations. Two key byproducts of the process, lignin and vinasse are fed back into the system. Lignin is used as an energy source to power the sunliquid® plant, and vinasse as a bio-fertilizer for the wheat fields.

In order to make the plant completely circular there is an opportunity for partnerships in capturing CO2 emissions. At the same time, feeding it back into the system as residue to be re-processed.

Sunliquid® recycles byproducts: lignin and vinasse | Clariant | Biomass Feedstock

Sunliquid® effectively recycles byproducts: lignin and vinasse

 

Safe and Sustainable Design Outside the Plant

To improve sustainability in the chemical industry, stakeholders must continually question how they can make even the extraction process of nutritional elements more circular. One example Dr Vollmer uses to illustrate the economic potential here is Clariant’s Licocare® from Rice Bran. 

The difference between edible rice bran oil and crude rice bran oil is mostly the crude rice oil wax. This wax is a byproduct of the process and often ends up as waste. In line with their goal of reducing waste by 45%, Clariant upvalues this wax to produce Licocare® Rice Bran Wax, a bio-additive solution for plastics. Additionally, this meets the needs of Clariant’s plastic customers, making it a win-win in people, planet and profit.

Upvaluing Crude rice bran wax into Licocare® Rice Bran Wax | sustainability in the chemical industry | Biomass Feedstock

Upvaluing Crude rice bran wax into Licocare® Rice Bran Wax

  1. CO2 as Feedstock: Here, Clariant enters the Hydrogen economy. The goal is to hydrogenate CO2 to produce methane, ethanol and possibly (depending on the availability of hydrogen), Ammonia – a new energy carrier. To this end, Clariant is working towards establishing plants to purify CO2 emissions from steel production. Why the steel industry? Because it accounts for 5% of global emissions.

    How CO2 can be used as feedstock | Clariant | Biomass Feedstock

    The potential of CO2 as feedstock

     

  2. Partnering for Circularity: Some goals may seem daunting even in the long term. There are several immediate ways in which stakeholders can contribute to innovation in the chemical industry for sustainability. Participating actively in policy development and sustainability discourse does go a long way in partnering for circularity. This is why Clariant sits on the table of various global organisations like the World Economic Forum’s Low Emitting Technologies Initiative.
How Clariant Engages Industry Stakeholders Toward Circularity

Clariant engages industry stakeholders toward circularity

Nevertheless, Clariant is just one player. The potential for sustainability in the chemical industry depends on the willingness of all stakeholders to innovate towards it. The aim of sharing Clariant’s goals and methods is to provide content that can catalyse further innovation and partnership. Remember, the Earth’s crises needed a solution yesterday. So what will your company do today?

Your next chance to join CIEX live is CIEX 2022 in Frankfurt, October 5&6, 2022. Book your ticket at https://ciex-eu.org/.

In addition, you can find past presentations in our video archive at https://ciex-eu.org/presentations-from-ciex-2020/#

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Game-changing collaboration at CIEX 2021

Game-changing collaboration at CIEX 2021

Innovation and close collaboration provided the platform for discussions at CIEX 2021. SCI CEO Sharon Todd gives her perspective on the two-day event.    

It’s always great to meet new – and old – contacts at events. For so many months, crossing borders wasn’t possible, physically at least, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Thankfully, the Chemical Innovation Conference (CIEX) provided a welcome change.

On 6 and 7 October, we came together in Frankfurt to discuss the challenges and opportunities in our sector. It was an honour for me to give the opening address – in the same year as SCI’s 140th anniversary.

Indeed, this year’s event included a well-paced mixture of talks and panel events that addressed post-pandemic difficulties, the challenges of climate change, the need to innovate and much more.

The chemical using industries face an array of challenges besides the practical fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Brexit, new regulations, supply chain issues, climate change, sustainability, and geo-political unrest pose significant problems

As an innovation hub, SCI connects industry, academia, patent lawyers, consultants, entrepreneurs and government, and other organisations. And I like to think of CIEX as an innovation hub too.

We have no choice but to innovate, but we must do so in a collaborative, sustainable way. The climate change emergency, for example, means society is looking to chemistry to help find long-term innovative solutions. That’s what made CIEX such an apt time for those in the industry to come together and navigate these challenges.

Innovating beyond barriers

The theme of this year’s event was ‘Game-Changing through Collaboration’. But I also thought of it as Crossing Borders – not just physical borders, but getting through the barriers that block innovation. These barriers hold back the translation of scientific solutions from the laboratory into business and, ultimately, into society.

Our sector is in the spotlight as never before and we can shape a better future. The debates at this year’s CIEX, and the exchange of ideas that took place, will help move us all forward. And what an exchange of ideas it proved to be.

We heard from an amazing line-up of speakers, addressing some of the industry’s most salient issues. BASF’s Christian Beil spoke about how best to leverage lean experimentation and rapid prototyping to improve customer centricity in product design, while Iris AI’s Anita Schjoll Brede described how we can reimagine the R&D work environment.

Furthermore, Johnson & Johnson’s Luis Allo spoke about the rise of consumer awareness as a driver for innovation. He provided interesting insights on accessing information on real customer trends and needs. Dupont’s Fred Godbille also described several tried and tested methods to assess the voice of the customer.

Elsewhere, Croda’s Nick Challoner assessed how we can unlock innovation through collaboration and partnerships. He also provided an overview of how Croda interacts with universities. On a more technical note, Roman Honeker of Ineos Styrolution outlined the company’s plans to recycle polystyrene using thermal decomposition or by washing and remelting waste.

The discussion on ‘how SMEs interact with corporates’ provided another of the event highlights, with contributions from Clariant, BASF, Chemstars, and SCI’s David Bott. Delegates discussed how SMEs sometimes oversell the potential of their products (without necessarily having much real-world experience) and the allegedly slow-moving, risk-averse nature of some corporates.

Cross-border innovation

Throughout the event, attendees examined what we can do better, how this can be achieved, and the resources needed to make this happen. After all, we must be nimble and flexible in these times of political and social uncertainty.

We can cross borders together – physically and virtually – via close collaboration. And we can cross the borders of what’s possible innovation-wise, removing barriers and journeying into new territory for us all.

You can find the recorded presentation on our CIEX blog. It also contains more than 100 case studies and images captured from past CIEX conferences. Your next chances to join a CIEX related event are during our Virtual – CIEX Data Summit (May 10, 2022) and live CIEX (Frankfurt, October 5 & 6), 2022.

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The road towards circularity and carbon neutrality at Braskem

We are less than two weeks away from kicking-off the Chemical Innovation Exchange – CIEX Europe 2021 conference. CXOs from the largest chemical corporations are meeting face-to-face on 6-7 October in Frankfurt. So, join them to discuss the latest chemical innovation and upcoming trends in the industry. As all our speakers are finalizing their upcoming presentations, we are talking to them to find out their core topic. This week, we had the chance to interview Walmir Soller, VP Olefins/Polyolefins Europe and Asia at BRASKEM. Walmir will be presenting on the different paths towards circularity and carbon neutrality. Additionally, he will also be highlighting two key challenges in this area; climate change and plastic waste.

CIEX: Firstly, without giving too much away –what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?

Walmir: Climate Change and Plastic Waste are two key challenges for the world that need to be prioritized on every agenda. Therefore, it requires commitment, drive and urgency from all stakeholders to revert the current trend.

 

CIEX: Secondly, why did you choose the topic of your talk?

Walmir: Climate Change and Plastic Waste in circularity and carbon neutrality are on top of my priorities list. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to share how Braskem sees and addresses both subjects. Besides all the initiatives we are doing, participating in this event is an opportunity to promote the importance of innovation to get to carbon neutrality by 2050. In addition, it will also engage more companies and entrepreneurs in this endeavor.

 

CIEX: Thirdly, what motivates you to join CIEX 2020 and what are your expectations?

Walmir: My previous experience in participating in CIEX has been very positive, with high-quality participants, discussions and ideas.

 

CIEX: The need for innovation has been a continued topic for the chemical industry. How would you sum up the current state of the industry, specifically with a focus on its innovation efforts?

Walmir: The chemical industry has always been very innovative over the years. Producing solutions from garment fibers to packaging for food safety, passing by house insulation and mobility efficiency, which contributed to improving people’s lives. Nevertheless, times have changed. Society demands a faster pace of innovation and transformation to adapt to the new boundary conditions. Thus, innovation efforts will have to be multiplied to meet the expectations of all stakeholders.

 

CIEX: Lastly, what must (chemical) industry leaders do to remain competitive and prepare for the future?

Walmir: The chemical industry must be committed to innovating in order to tackle the new and growing challenges of society, governments and the planet. On top of that, climate change and plastic waste are two gigantic challenges ahead of us to get to circularity and carbon neutrality. As such, the chemical industry has an important role to contribute with solutions to both subjects on a global scale.

 

CIEX: Thank you, Walmir. We look forward to your presentation at CIEX 2021!

(more…)

Creating a sustainable future by fundamentally re-imagining the chemical business model

The Chemical Innovation Exchange – CIEX Europe 2021 conference is back face-to-face on 6-7 October in Frankfurt. As all our speakers are preparing their upcoming presentations, we are talking to them to find out their core message. This week, we spoke with Ari Kar, Chief Technology Officer, at SACHEM on his exciting presentation on crafting a strategy for sustainability journey.

CIEX: Without giving too much away –what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?

Ari: There is a growing realization that business operations and sustainable growth are increasingly impacted by the Earths environmental and resource limits, by broader socioeconomic issues, and by rising stakeholder expectations. The growing challenge is for business leaders to navigate through wide-ranging, rapidly changing environmental and social forces. While still delivering the financial results on which their stakeholders depend. To endure and thrive, organizatmodeions need to incorporate consideration of these dynamics into their strategies, business models, operational planning, and daily activities. Additionally, the global demand for sustainable solutions is both a significant business challenge and an exciting opportunity for innovation, value creation, and growth. This if we integrate business and financial objectives with the generation of broader environmental and societal benefits.

Chemistry is essential to life

Chemistry is essential to life and to meeting our basic needs in chemical innovation. It touches almost every aspect of our lives. Also, it will play an integral role in creating a sustainable future. We aim to seek out innovative ways to address environmental and societal needs through our core business model. Therefore, it will elevate the quality of life and make a positive difference in the world.

We have recently started our sustainability journey, with a major initiative that began during the pandemic. Our vision is to help create a sustainable future by fundamentally re-imagining our business model in a manner that turns sustainability into a core company value, and source of business advantage. Our approach is to use a holistic systems framework to consider the entire business ecosystem. At the same time, weave sustainability into the overall purpose, strategy, structure, work practices, and culture of the company. Everyone has a role to play! In sustainable innovation and growth, and in understanding and shaping the impact of the daily choices and decisions we make. Thus, we are starting our journey with an enhanced focus on waste reduction, improved customer experience, development of a sustainable product portfolio, and making a positive community impact.

 

CIEX: Why did you choose the topic of your talk?

Ari: This topic sits squarely at the intersection between critical business needs, macro-level socio-economic trends, the health and future of our planet, and my personal and professional values.  I am passionate and purposeful about building and continuously improving products, systems and organizations. My goal is to create long-lasting impact and value and to contribute to the common good.

 

CIEX: What motivates you to join CIEX 2020 and what are your expectations?

Ari: I was a participant in the 2019 CIEX conference and found it very interesting, informative, and thought-provoking. In addition, I enjoy engaging with colleagues around the world. To understand regional perspectives and approaches on the global megatrends that drive innovation, progress and continuous improvement. At CIEX 2019 I was able to hear and learn from industry leaders, international experts and innovative thinkers from around the globe. Some of the things I took away from the 2019 conference became seeds for the initiation of our sustainability program. In CIEX 2021, I will be taking a more active role. I am looking forward to learning from and collaborating with others. Additionally, I will share some thoughts and insights that I hope may be of value to others.

 

CIEX: The need for innovation has been a continued topic for the chemical industry. How would you sum up the current state of the industry, specifically with a focus on its innovation efforts?

Ari: Looking back at the past few years, there is no doubt that we live in a VUCA world (characterized as Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous). The pace of change and the need for innovation to address global challenges has never been greater. We expect these trends to only increase and accelerate over the foreseeable future. Rather than seeing this as a threat to protect against, we need to see it as an opportunity to innovate and create a better future. For example, we can do this by directly linking the drivers of business value and competitive advantage to sustainability principles. Finally, working collaboratively with others to address global challenges.

 

CIEX: What must (chemical) industry leaders do to remain competitive and prepare for the future?

Ari: Firstly, transformations in sustainability and digitalization will be critical to survival and growth. In our industry, this means taking an interdisciplinary approach. To create and build a circular economy with advanced chemicals, materials and business models. Therefore, will improve and sustain the quality of life for future generations. Secondly, we will need to get better at communicating the integral role chemistry plays in addressing environmental and societal needs. Lastly, find out how this positively impacts people in their daily lives. To do this effectively, products, services and communications will need to be designed and tailored for both Global needs, as well as Regional/National/Local needs and interests.

 

CIEX: Thank you, Ari. We look forward to your presentation at CIEX 2021!

 

(more…)

Gaining competitive advantage with the circular economy

Sustainability is the language of the future

Sustainability is the language of the future. So, if your business wants to gain a competitive advantage, it must enrol in the school of the circular economy. This was the key message of Richard Haldaimann’s presentation at CIEX 2020.

The circular economy stands on three principles: reduce, reuse, and recycle. The goal is to recreate the natural ‘circle of life’ in the industrial process.

Typically, what we have is a linear trajectory. From raw materials straight to final product, with humungous waste to show for it. This waste which is triggering scientific panic attacks whenever any discourse related to the environment comes up. So, the industrial process needs to change.

However, circularity is only one dimension of sustainability. It has to interact with others so that its purpose isn’t defeated.

Incorporating circularity implies a need to strive for climate neutrality by lowering the overall carbon footprint in a product’s lifecycle. After all, what’s the point of an easily recyclable product if you have to burn more carbon to get it? Reduce.

Dimensions of Sustainability | Entering the Circular Economy

Figure 1: Dimensions of Sustainability

Circularity equally underscores the goal of zero pollution. This means working towards recovering components involved in production, allowing you to Reuse.

You also need to integrate safer chemicals into the production process. Fully biodegradable chemicals, and if not, at least make it easier to Recycle.

Keeping this picture in mind will help you smoothly implement Richard Haldaimann’s 3 steps to securing your competitive advantage. Richard is the Head of Sustainability Transformation at Clariant, an industry leader that provides over 9,000 speciality chemicals to a broad industry.

THREE STEPS TOWARDS A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

1) Make circularity and sustainability a strategic imperative

2) Provide your organization with the manpower and connections to access circular business opportunities

3) Foster value chain co-creation and easy-to-understand marketing communication.

ESTABLISH A STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE FOR CIRCULARITY

Naturally, nothing works till you decide it matters enough to work. Even from a utilitarian perspective, you can’t lose with the circular economy. By opting for a production cycle rather than a production line, you’ll be effectively:

– Reducing the cost of production due to increased recycling

– Abating consumer anxiety about pollution. Less anxiety improves brand love, thus, pushing competitive advantage.

– Cultivating positive relationships with environmentalist organizations as well as industry stakeholders.

As soon as you decide you have to, the foundation is already solid.

EMPOWER YOUR ORGANIZATION TO ACCESS CIRCULAR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Now for the pillars. Obviously, how to do the deed is unique for each organization, but the principles remain the same.

1) Hardwire sustainability into your production process

At every step of the way you have to investigate how to bring in the dimensions of circularity.

Like this, you’re not trying to find a way to ‘fit’ your product into the circular economy, rather you’re ENGINEERING a product for the circular economy. Beginning at ideation, conduct market research that highlights the sustainability needs and concerns of your customers.

This ensures the development of a product that wasn’t just sustainable on your end but improves the sustainability of other products it interacts with along the value chain.

Regarding Clariant, this approach involves conducting a customer survey on the toxicology and recyclability of their chemicals; including their effect on the customer’s manufacturing process.

2) Create a Team

You need a team of dedicated professionals that combine strategic leadership with excellent capabilities to yield sustainability transformation. Here’s the organizational structure Clariant implements.

– Advocacy and Public affairs: This department is all about cooperating with legal stakeholders, and providing insights on policy developments.

– Sustainability affairs: Your opportunity trackers. They are responsible for bringing all stakeholders to the table and engaging them to discover what issues need to be addressed. An efficient research and dialogue team.

– Sustainable portfolio: Your innovation experts. They mastermind solutions. Providing answers which adapt research findings.

– Sustainable Operations: Finally, your engineers for turning those ideas into reality.

Strategic Leadership for the circular economy | Clariant

Figure 2: Leadership and Responsibility

3. Cross Business Unit Platform

Richard says “collaboration manages complexity and achieves circular economy solutions”. Accordingly, you have to create some kind of platform that encourages cooperation towards sustainable innovation among members of a value chain.

For the plastic industry they cater to, Clariant developed Ecocycle. An entity that unites business units such as recyclers, polymer producers, etc to collectively achieve the goal of reducing plastic waste.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION AND VALUE CHAIN CO-CREATION

What good is all that hard work if it isn’t adopted? For Richard and his team, the first way to eliminate this hurdle is through value chain co-creation and designing for marketing communication. Here’s a good example of how this worked in Clariant.

Value Chain Co-Creation

In the body care industry they cater to, there’s a widespread use of black plastic packaging to create a sense of product exclusivity. Sadly, the dye for these plastics isn’t compatible with the sorting process involved in recycling (sustainability affairs).

So, Clariant involved a key manufacturer in the body care industry-Unilever, and the manufacturers of these sorting machines-Tomra, in generating a solution.

The task was to solve this problem while satisfying the marketing strategy of the black aesthetic (sustainable portfolio). In the end, they created a black (sustainable operations) Near-Infrared (NIR) detectable colourant that met this need.

The market adoption was fantastic. It created a new circular value chain and gave Clariant a competitive advantage.

Marketing Communication

Marketing gives your product wings. To sell a product that provides circularity, you have to help marketing communication by creating a designator that points to that circularity. Hence, Clariant created AddWorks. Manufacturing guidelines that enable circularity. Addworks has a circle designator, printed on products that meet these criteria–a clear and easily understood distinction.

For example, Clariant created a polymer stabilizer which when used in the production of BOPP film, increases its ability to be recycled without compromising quality (more benefits below). The final product bears the designator. Thus, effectively communicating its circular value and encouraging adoption.

Improving marketing & sales communication | Circular Economy

Figure 3: Benefits

Consider now the time to optimise your business for the reality of today. Innovate for the common good and earn your competitive advantage.

 

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Your next chances to join CIEX live are during our CIEX Data Summit (Virtual conference, May 10, 2022)and CIEX Chemical Innovation Exchange (Frankfurt, October 5&6, 2022). Book your ticket at https://ciex-eu.org/.

In addition, you can find past presentations in our video archive at https://ciex-eu.org/presentations-from-ciex-2020/#

You might also be interested in:

Innovation is about the ability to spot opportunities and take advantage of them

An Interview with Dr. Martin Vollmer, CTO at Clariant

CIEX 2020: Pre-Conference Interview with Richard Haldimann, Head of Sustainability for Clariant

Bridging the gap between idea and industry – BASF Venture Capital

How does BASF invest in global start-ups? Here is our summary of the presentation about BASF Venture Capital given by Markus Solibieda (Managing Director) during CIEX 2020

About BASF Venture Capital

The vision at BASF venture capital is to catalyze changes for BASF and the whole chemical industry. The organisation is following a global capital venture approach and has been doing so since 2001. This makes BASF Venture Capital one of the oldest European corporate venture companies.

There were only seven such entities in Europe when BASF started two decades ago. Now there are over 100 corporate venture capital units in Germany alone. In addition, the company has a team of 14 in different parts of the world, with an accumulative fund size of $250 million, an evergreen fund structure.

Markus Solibieda mentioned that BASF venture capital funds in A and B rounds and also caters to gross capital. However, their primary focus stays on Series A and Series B.

Furthermore, the managing director mentioned that the company does minority shares, and ticket sizes range between $1 million and $5 million in the first round. They also continue to support in other rounds, especially with successful companies

Investment strategy at BASF

Here you will learn about where their investments go. Additionally, the business models that are on top of BASF’s priority list include the following.

  • New Business Models, Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization

Markus Solibieda revealed that BASF’s target market and business sectors include digital farming tieing into its $9 billion crop protection business.  Another example is 3D printing, and BASF Venture Capital is very interested and excited about this industry. Markus Solibieda added that the company also looks at how to enhance the existing business models with digital tools. Another important aspect for the company is understanding how their innovation activities may face disruption due to new technology.

  • Platform/Ecosystem-Based Digital Business Model

BASF Venture Capital also focuses on how the new platforms will change the way their industry works in terms of distribution channels. BASF expects that there is a traditional value change in the chemical industry. They believe this will continue to happen by players in the USA and China with specialized industry platforms coming up.

Markus Solibieda emphasized that the company would like to notice how the new players in the industry will influence the change in the industry. Furthermore, the BASF Venture Capital wishes to learn how the use of platforms and consumer behavior is going to lead this change.

  • Chemistry both New and Sustainable Materials

These areas of interest include new chemicals in the market, including innovative chemical processes. Sustainable chemistry is another aspect of the industry, including battery storage and energy storage. In this sector, BASF would like to explore how they can foster the development of the chemical industry towards a more sustainable solution and contribute.

Investment Portfolio

Here are the following areas that fall under BASF’s portfolio

  • Digital farming – interesting investments
  • Artificial Intelligence (platforms/software) –investments in Europe, North America, and China
  • 3-D Printing – investments in the USA, China, and Germany
  • Sustainability – Biodegradable plastics, high-performing large volume storage batteries, etc.
  • Advanced Material – an extension of our current business activities
  • Biotechnology
  • International Funds – the company invests in funds and prepares grounds in the regions that are not so familiar with India. A year ago, they started an office with fund investment in Ag Tech and Food Tech as local partners in India. Similarly, in Brazil, they are working with SP Ventures as local partners in the country and to look at interesting opportunities.

8 Strategies for Corporate Venture Units

Here are the strategies BASF Venture Capital believes other companies can use to work with their respective corporate venture units. These are not just for chemical industries but all companies in general. However, Markus Solibieda shared these strategies as not some scientific discovery but a result of years of experience and observation while working with various strategies.

      1.    The Defensive Passive Strategy

In this strategy, a company tries to look at other players out there in the market and try to understand what will happen in the future. However, an observing company will only be scouting and not play an active role. They may collaborate with other businesses but will not be too active to implement anything as of yet.

      2.    Defensive Active

Here a company would still try to understand what is happening in the industry, especially what the new threats are. Then, they would invest in the businesses with disruptive characteristics and who could be challenging competitors in the future.

      3.    Optimization of Internal Processes

This strategy includes a young company or vendor developing something that may help your company in becoming efficient in processes. That is simply looking at who is working a new way to do maintenance such as maintenance tools, HR software.

Markus Solibieda says that in this strategy, you reach out to these companies to seek assistance as a new client and ask them to show you how to do it. The requesting company must show eagerness to learn about how this unique piece of tech can help improve and optimize its processes.

      4.    Pre M&A

This is one of the most popular strategies in the corporate venture capital domain. Companies such as Cisco and Intel have really built a whole legacy of acquisitions based on the Pre M&A approach.

The idea is to take a minority first, look at the business, and understand better how the business and management are performing. Then an acquiring company may decide if they wish to take the majority in that business.

      5.    Exploratory/Visionary

A different strategy that helps a company understands about the game-changers in the industry. For example, you learn about what will change in the next 5 to 10 years, such as quantum computing, fuel cell technology, etc.

      6.    New Business building

According to Markus Solibieda, this is a more pragmatic approach where a company invests in a business they believe has the potential to become a corporate mother company. This is about supporting startups with the potential to grow beyond their current size

      7.    Existing Building Buildup

This strategy allows companies to invest in existing businesses and reach out to their existing consumer by using digital tools. This is more of a customer-centric approach to building a better relationship with them. So companies primarily work with startups that have tools that allow a smooth implementation of this strategy.

      8.    Business Extension

This involves working with or investing in business models who wish to extend their current business lines. For example, a chemical company that wishes to provide services like data storage, etc. Other goals may include PR goals, HR goals, financial asset management, etc.

You can find the recorded presentation on our CIEX blog. It also contains more than 100 case studies and images captured from past CIEX conferences. Your next chances to join a CIEX related event are during our Virtual – CIEX Data Summit (May 10, 2022) and live CIEX (Frankfurt, October 5 & 6), 2022.

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You might also be interested in:

Gaining competitive advantage with the circular economy

Embrace technology for radically improved innovation

Creating a sustainable future by fundamentally re-imagining the chemical business model

Embrace technology for radically improved innovation

Digital innovation is a core topic of CIEX 2021. Having impressed us and the audience during our start-up panel at CIE X2019, we asked Anita Schjøll Brede CEO & Co-Founder of IRIS.AI back to talk about digital innovation and machine learning at CIEX 2021. While preparing for the conference, we sat down with Anita to talk about her topic, expectations and motivations.

CIEX: Without giving too much away –what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?

Anita Schjøll Brede: The world is moving fast – much faster than we might grasp on a daily basis. Topics like AI, Machine Learning and digitalization have by now made their way into our board rooms, executive meetings and in some cases into our day to day operations. But what do they really mean? Centruy-old innovation leaders in other industries have become obsolete because agile and disruptive players have entered the market and within few years bypassed the market caps. So what prevents fully digital players to to so in the chemical industry? Is there anything inherent in this industry that prevents disruption? What can large players do to stay relevant into the future?

CIEX: Why did you choose the topic of your talk?

Anita Schjøll Brede: Innovation, disruption, AI and the future is near and dear to my heart – both as the CEO of an AI company developing smart tools for Chemistry R&D, as faculty in Artificial Intelligence at Singularity University, and as Board Member of the Katapult startup accelerator programs. This is what I surround myself with on a daily basis, and sharing my vision of the future to open the dialogue is always exciting.

CIEX: What motivates you to join CIEX 2020 and what are your expectations?

Anita Schjøll Brede: I thoroughly enjoyed my time at CIEX in 2019, which was my first. I loved what I saw there. An industry which in many ways is so far behind the more digitally native industries. Yet an industry that is now realizing the monumental impact exponential technologies will have on their research, development, commercialization and markets. All the players I spoke with and listened to in 2019 were in the early process of turning their massive organizations around. That willingness to change, to confront the inherent slowness, to embrace the future is exciting. And it’s so fascinating to get to play a small part in it.

For 2021, I am hopeful to see some early fruits of this work. To see the rate of change, and to exchange experiences. I come at this from the small, agile AI player side. Being able to spar some really large challenges with corporate giants in an open and welcoming forum such as CIEX is powerful.

CIEX: The need for innovation has been a continued topic for the chemical industry. How would you sum up the current state of the industry, specifically with a focus on its innovation efforts?

Anita Schjøll Brede: Digital innovation is a big and fluffy word that means a lot of different things to different people. I see an industry that has realized that the old incremental innovation systems that have been in place for decades are no longer serving them. There is an outspoken need for more agility and flexibility. To be able to fully embrace the potential embedded in new technology for radically improved innovation. At the same time there’s an inherent inertia embedded in the industry, that my organization get to meet with on a daily basis. New technology for innovation efforts is not enough.  New, cross-organizational innovation mindsets are needed, and that can be much harder than developing AI.

CIEX: What must (chemical) industry leaders do to remain competitive and prepare for the future?

Anita Schjøll Brede: The agility and flexibility needed to remain relevant also in the future is difficult for massive corporations. But it is not impossible. My experience is that a mindset open to broad collaboration – internally and externally – within innovation is essential.  Opening up for more experimentation, flexible processes, smaller project teams with larger autonomy and agency to try (and to fail) are keys to transformation. It is my belief that any company building and sticking to 5-year plans (rather than 5-year visions) is going to get in trouble. There needs to be room to change course, rapidly.

CIEX: Anita, thank you very much. We look forward to hearing more at CIEX 2021 this October in Frankfurt!

Related: Innovation through cross-industry collaboration: Pre-conference Interview with Evonik’s Head of Corporate Innovation Strategy

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CIEX 2021 will take place on October 6&7 in Frankfurt/Main and online. Due to the current social distancing measures seats at the live conference are limited. Book your ticket at https://ciex-eu.org/. 2021 Presenters include senior representatives from Dow, Braskem, Evonik, Clariant, Du Pont, BASF and many more.

 

Innovation through cross-industry collaboration: Pre-conference Interview with Evonik’s Head of Corporate Innovation Strategy

Having been at every single CIEX event since our launch five years ago, Dr. Daniel Witthaut, Head of Corporate Innovation Strategy at Evonik is certainly one of our strongest supporter and a much valued speaker. So we were excited to catch up with him ahead of his presentation this October in Frankfurt as part of our CIEX interview series.

CIEX: Dr. Witthaut, first of all thank you for all your support over the past five years. We are very excited to have you back in 2021 with your talk on “Driving innovation in sustainability by cross-industry collaboration”. Without giving too much away –what is the core message of your presentation and what would you like delegates to remember?

Daniel Witthaut: The core message of my talk will be that we need to have cooperation to address the challenges but also to reap the potential benefits in the area of innovation for sustainability. Sustainability is part of the business strategies in almost all businesses and there are many examples where co-operations are working very well. But certain mindsets are necessary to explore the full benefits of innovation ecosystems and I will share our experience at Evonik and invite other companies to collaborate.

“I see a huge potential for innovation to deliver on the UN Sustainability Development Goals”

CIEX: Why did you choose the topic of your talk?

Daniel Witthaut: The topic resonates very well with my experience and perspective on transformative innovation. Especially in the area of sustainability, e.g. I see a huge potential for innovation to deliver on the UN Sustainability Development Goals. I believe that these challenges are so demanding, that industries let alone companies cannot solve these issues by themselves. These topics need to be addressed in collaboration between companies, science, policy makers and society in general. Since the topics of co-creation and sustainability not only resonate very much with my heart and experience but with a lot of things that we do at Evonik it was a perfect match to talk about at this year´s conference.

Driving innovation in sustainability by cross-industry collaboration

CIEX: What motivates you to join CIEX 2021 and what are your expectations?

Daniel Witthaut: It will be the fifth time that I join the the CIEX conference. The conferences in recent years have been a very good opportunity to cultivate existing contacts. At the same time I managed to establish new and inspiring ones each year. I have the same expectations for this year´s conference. I am looking very much forward not only to the presentations but also to good discussions during the breaks.

“Innovation is one of three levers for profitable growth”

CIEX: The need for innovation has been a continued topic for the chemical industry. How would you sum up the current state of the industry, specifically with a focus on its innovation efforts?

Daniel Witthaut: At Evonik as a leader in specialty chemicals, innovation is one of three levers for profitable growth. Therefore our focus on making our innovation efforts better and better will constantly continue. Innovation efforts in the chemical industry will remain on a high level and I believe this development will continue. What I believe is changing is that the collaborative work for transformative innovation will increase across industry borders. It will more and more include start-ups. While incremental innovation will certainly remain necessary to defend a company´s competitive position, transformative innovation will be essential for substantial growth above market growth rates.

CIEX: What must (chemical) industry leaders do to remain competitive and prepare for the future?

Daniel Witthaut: I believe leaders must find the right balance between short term and long term oriented decisions. Certainly the current COVID-19 crisis has significant impact on several -but fortunately not on all- businesses. Leaders must weigh cutting costs, driving productivity, and implementing safety measures and so on against supporting innovation driven growth. Here we have to find the right approach to address today´s challenges. At the same time we cannot forget about the long term and sacrifice long term efforts for short term benefits. Sufficiently supporting innovation these days will be a key for unlocking growth after the crisis. I remember that Evonik developed very well after the financial crisis in 2008 / 2009 as Evonik did not lay off people and kept the R&D budgets at the same level during the crisis years.

CIEX: Thank you very much Dr. Witthaut. 

You can find the recorded presentation on our CIEX blog. It also contains more than 100 case studies and images captured from past CIEX conferences. Your next chances to join a CIEX related event are during our Virtual – CIEX Data Summit (May 10, 2022) and live CIEX (Frankfurt, October 5 & 6), 2022.

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Bridging the gap between idea and industry – BASF Venture Capital

Embrace technology for radically improved innovation

Creating a sustainable future by fundamentally re-imagining the chemical business model

CIEX 2020: Pre-Conference Interview with Richard Haldimann, Head of Sustainability for Clariant

At the upcoming CIEX 2020 Virtual conference on 7th – 8th October, Richard Haldimann Head of Sustainability Transformation at CLARIANT will discuss innovation driven by circular economy in his presentation “Gaining competitive advantage with the circular economy – Sustainability transformation at Clariant’’ We have spoken to Richard about his topic of choice and his motivation for joining CIEX 2020.

Question #1: Without giving too much away –what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?

Richard: Climate change, resource scarcity, technological advances, rising customer expectations– these are all real challenges. The chemical industry can and must deliver the innovation needed to create a more sustainable and circular economy. But a more holistic approach will be needed. Adopting circularity in the chemicals industry requires looking at the trends and needs beyond the established customer base and value chains. To gain a competitive advantage, businesses need to close the loop with cross-industry collaboration. Innovation and collaboration combined will help create the infrastructure needed to enable businesses to shift toward circular business models and improved sustainability.

Question #2: Why did you choose the topic of your talk?

Richard: Sustainability is the key societal challenge and therefore presents a unique business opportunity for us. The EU Green Deal with its commitments on a broad range of environment- and sustainability-related targets will become a very strong driver for change in our industry.Citizens and employees are demanding action not only with the Fridays for Future demonstrations but also when choosing the company to work for. Our customers are setting aggressive climate targets and circularity and they expect our industry to help them achieve those. Investors are committing to shifting portfolios and invest in line with the Paris Agreement.Everyone is under a lot of pressure to deliver and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development goals. At Clariant we are systematically pursuing these opportunities through our own sustainability transformation efforts, striving to maximize the synergies that chemistry has within its ecosystem and enable a sustainability transformation in the industry.

Question #3: What motivates you to join CIEX 2020 and what are your expectations?

Richard: The seniority of the participants and the high relevance of the topics. CIEX brings together thought leaders and experts from various fields and is always a good platform for networking along and across the value chain. Collaboration is an essential element of innovatione specially in the area of sustainability and circular economy and CIEX fosters this. My expectation is to develop connections in different fields and come away feeling inspired by what we will see and hear.

Question #4: The need for innovation has been a continued topic for the chemical industry –how would you sum up the current state of the industry, specifically with a focus on its innovation efforts?

Richard: The chemical industry is at a crossroads. Striving for carbon neutrality presents a huge challenge for many companies.Our industry has the innovation capability to deliver the solutions to many of the sustainability challenges we see today – if we decide that this is the priority and are willing to invest. Public funding will remain vital to limit the financial risks associated with significant investment in promising new technologies. The chemical industry is not always the most visible and yet we are fundamental to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Question #5: What must (chemical) industry leaders do to remain competitive and prepare for the future?

Richard: The global chemical industry faces a transformational change. We must embrace the challenges ahead, specifically those in the sustainability area, and see these as an opportunity. This is vital for our industry to remain competitive and relevant in the future.Without the continued development of sustainability-driven offerings, our businesses – some sooner than others – will start to lose markets, profitability and, ultimately, the interest of shareholders.Agility has become abuzz word and it may well prove the vital ingredient alongside talent.It’s a more speedy and digital chemical future in front of us. Leaders of the future will be the ones that quickly adapt to a rapidly changing environment and deliver what society needs.

Question #6: Looking back on the past 3 months please share your thoughts on the impact of COVID-19 on the industry but also society in general

Richard: The epidemic forced companies to adapt quickly to unprecedented and difficult circumstances. I was struck by how people rose to thechallenge,thriving in a crash course in organizational agility and virtual team working and quickly building digital capabilities. I think we can be proud of our industry’s readiness to adjust operations and work together to supply urgently needed specialty chemicals like disinfectants to support the fight against COVID-19.

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Bridging The Gap Between Idea And Industry: Boosting Innovation By Collaboration With START-UPS

We are only a few weeks away from the CIEX 2020 VIRTUAL and we have recently  interviewed one of the key speakers Markus Solibieda Managing Director at BASF VENTURE CAPITAL about the highlights of his session on boosting innovation by collaboration with START-UPS and the main challenges.

Question #1: Without giving too much away –what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember? 

Markus: The digital transformation of the chemical industry has just started and will have an impact beyond our imagination. We are seeing numerous opportunities for our business, our clients and our natural environment.

Question #2: Why did you choose the topic of your talk?

Markus: We see the benefits of working with start-ups every day. While the mindset of corporate organizations and start-ups differ quite substantially, they can form very successful partnerships. To bridge the gap between these cultures is a rewarding exercise for us as a Corporate VC.

Question #3: What motivates you to join CIEX 2020 and what are your expectations?

Markus: It is always inspiring to meet and to engage with start-ups from and around our industry. At the same time, I look forward to meeting peers from other corporations who have a mindset of open innovation. I expect to be able to meet interesting new companies and to engage with investors and corporates who are excited about investing in hard science and digital business models.

Question #4: The need for innovation has been a continued topic for the chemical industry –how would you sum up the current state of the industry, specifically with a focus on its innovation efforts?

Markus: The current economic situation will not remain without effect on the question of how budgets are defined and allocated. This crisis should be taken as an opportunity to rethink innovation as a joint effort of several players who form (temporary) partnerships to succeed. The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated our ability to form (virtual) partnerships and to collaborate outside of existing structures.

Question #5: What must (chemical) industry leaders do to remain competitive and prepare for the future?

Markus: We have to constantly learn, listen to our customers, think strategically, embrace (digital) change and create new partnerships with our customers and stakeholders.

Question #6: Looking back on the past 3 months please share your thoughts on the impact of COVID-19 on the industry but also society in general

Markus: The chemical industry has been more resilient than expected, but COVID-19 was and still is a catastrophe for many other industries. In terms of the societies we live in, lives and wealth have been lost, but many organizations and individuals have transformed themselves at an incredible speed. If we all reflect about and act upon our learnings, this period will be remembered as a starting point for new trends, important changes and positive transformations in our societies.

Join the CIEX 2020 Virtual event and see Markus’ full presentation and from other industry leaders from COVESTRO, CRODA, DUPONT, DSM VENTURING, BRASKEM, THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY and many more

Can’t make the live event? No worries, just register and you will receive access to all the video recordings!

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