Covestro, a manufacturer of high-quality polymers, made significant progress towards its Scope 1 climate neutrality goal for its Baytown, Texas, plant. 

A newly commissioned project known as Nitric Acid Unit Climate Initiative (NAUCI) lowers GHG from the site’s Nitric Acid Unit by up to 99%, which accounts for a 60% reduction in the site’s overall Scope 1 emissions.

“Covestro is committed to our ambitious goals to be operationally climate neutral by 2035,” said Thorsten Dreier, CTO of Covestro, in a statement. “This project is particularly inspiring, not only due to the significant impact on our scope 1 emissions, but because it was implemented solely for the environmental benefits and in support of our sustainable future strategy.”

Nitric acid is an important raw material for the production of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI), which are key components of polyurethane and can be found in applications from mattresses and furniture to energy-efficient insulation and automobile seats.

The production of nitric acid has historically been a significant source of GHG and a focus of Covestro’s decarbonization efforts for more than a decade. The recently commissioned NAUCI project lowers CO2e by roughly 195KT annually, and when combined with previous nitric acid unit abatement projects, cumulatively represents an annual CO2e reduction of nearly 900KT.

The Baytown, Texas, plant seeks to be Scope 1 and Scope 2 climate neutral by 2035.