BASF Signs Long-term Agreement with Braven Environmental for Supply of Advanced Recycled Feedstock

BASF Corporation and Braven Environmental, a market leader in advanced recycling, have signed a supply agreement for Braven PyChem. This advanced recycled feedstock, derived from mixed plastic waste, will partially replace fossil resources at the BASF TotalEnergies Petrochemical (BTP) facility in Port Arthur, Texas. Under the agreement, Braven will supply BASF from a multi-unit facility that Braven has announced it will build in Texarkana, Texas.

Braven PyChem® is ISCC PLUS certified and manufactured using Braven’s proprietary pyrolysis technology, produced from plastic waste streams diverted from landfills and incineration.

BASF will use PyChem in its ChemCycling process where the share of recycled plastics is attributed to certain products manufactured in the value chain using a third-party audited mass balance approach.^[1] The products, which carry the “Ccycled®” designation, have the same properties as those manufactured from fossil feedstock. Customers will be able to further process them in the same way as conventionally manufactured products and use them in demanding applications such as in the construction or automotive industries.

“Solving the challenge of plastic waste and creating a more circular economy requires innovation and collaboration across the value chain,” said Christoph Gahn, Vice President of Circularity & Sustainable Raw Materials Petrochemicals at BASF. “This offtake agreement with Braven is an important step toward the commercialization of our Ccycled portfolio in North America. By using recycled feedstock in a mass balance approach, we can save fossil resources, and by using Ccycled products, BASF customers are enabling plastics circularity.”

“Partnering with BASF is an exciting step forward in our commitment to scaling advanced recycling solutions,” said Jim Simon, President and CEO of Braven Environmental. “This collaboration will accelerate the deployment of our patented pyrolysis technology, helping to transform plastic waste into valuable resources. With BASF’s global expertise and dedication to sustainability, we are well-positioned to drive meaningful change in the circular economy and reduce the environmental impact of plastic waste.”

[1] Conventional fossil raw materials required to manufacture BASF products are replaced with recycled feedstock from the chemical recycling of plastic waste along BASF’s integrated production chain. The corresponding share of recycled feedstock, e.g. pyrolysis oil, is attributed to the specific Ccycled® product via a certified mass balance approach. BASF sites and Ccycled® products are third-party certified according to internationally recognized certification schemes like REDcert2 and ISCC PLUS and meet the definitions by ISO 22095:2020. The recycled feedstock is not measurable in the BASF mass balance product. The cradle-to-gate product carbon footprint (PCF) is calculated according to TfS Methodology using both a cut-off approach and an Upstream System Expansion (USE) approach. USE accounts for a credit for the displaced waste treatment from the first life cycle (e.g. incineration), thereby reducing the PCF compared to the equivalent conventional fossil product.