BASF’s Biomass Strategy 2025: From Niche to Mainstream in Chemical Decarbonization
Industry Adoption: BASF’s Strategic Pivot from Validation to Global Scale
Between 2021 and 2024, BASF laid the strategic foundation for its pivot to biomass, centering its efforts on validating the Biomass Balance (BMB) approach. This period was characterized by foundational partnerships and initial market tests. The landmark collaboration with Henkel, aimed at replacing 110,000 tons of fossil feedstocks annually, served as a crucial proof-of-concept, demonstrating commercial appetite for mass-balanced sustainable ingredients. During this phase, BASF procured significant volumes of bio-based raw materials, peaking at 1.2 million metric tons in 2022 before settling at 1.0 million in 2023, signaling a period of calibration and model refinement. Product launches were targeted, introducing bio-based versions of specific additives and monomers, while venture investments in startups like Bota Bio and RiKarbon explored next-generation biotechnology pathways beyond the immediate BMB model. This phase was about proving the technical and commercial viability of substituting fossil inputs within its integrated “Verbund” system, establishing a new value proposition for its customers.
The period from 2025 to today marks a definitive inflection point, shifting from validation to aggressive, global scaling. The strategy has matured from offering a few sustainable alternatives to converting entire product lines, such as the Rheovis® range, and securing deep customer integration, exemplified by Henkel converting nearly its entire European portfolio. The establishment of the BASF Renewable Carbon (BReC) unit in November 2025 formalized this pivot, creating a dedicated entity to manage the sourcing and trading of renewable feedstocks, a clear signal of long-term commitment. The product portfolio has expanded dramatically to over 1,200 certified BMB products, moving beyond basic chemicals into high-performance applications like the “world’s first” biomass-balanced polyethersulfone (Ultrason E 2010 BMB) for automotive and electronics. This diversification into specialty and high-value sectors reveals that market demand is no longer confined to consumer-facing goods but has permeated complex industrial value chains. The launch of products like WALLTITE RSB, which combines both bio-based and recycled content, represents a new layer of sophistication, creating opportunities to address circularity on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Table: BASF’s Strategic Investments in Biomass and Circular Feedstocks
| Partner / Project | Time Frame | Details and Strategic Purpose | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production of Bio-based Polyol in India | December 2025 | Began production of Sovermol, a bio-based polyol, at its Mangalore, India site. This investment targets the growing regional demand for eco-friendly materials in sectors like wind energy and transportation. | BASF Begins Production of Bio-based Polyol in India |
| Expansion of Bio-based Surfactant Production | November 2025 | Announced capacity expansion for Alkyl Polyglucosides (APGs), bio-based surfactants, in Asia to meet rising consumer demand for “green” home and personal care products. | BASF Strengthens Asian Footprint with Expanded Bio- … |
| Investment in MDI for Sleep Products | October 2025 | Invested in Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate (MDI) capacity, coupled with the offering of Biomass Balance MDI, to enable customers in the sleep products market to transition to renewable feedstocks. | BASF Invests in MDI for Growing Sleep Products Market |
| Modernization of Dispersion Production Sites | July 2025 | Investing to enhance dispersion plants in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Hamina, Finland, to increase the use of renewable raw materials via the biomass balance approach for low-PCF dispersions in EMEA. | BASF is investing in its dispersion production sites to meet … |
| 54 MW PEM Electrolyzer for Green Hydrogen | March 2025 | Commissioned a 54 MW electrolyzer with Siemens Energy at the Ludwigshafen site to produce up to 8,000 tons of green hydrogen annually, which will be used as a renewable feedstock to manufacture low-carbon products. | Siemens and BASF: A World-First Green Hydrogen Project |
| Bio-based Surfactants Plant, Cincinnati | March 2024 | Announced a $70.5 million investment to build production lines for bio-based and biodegradable alkyl polyglucosides (APGs) in Cincinnati, Ohio, to meet North American demand for sustainable personal and home care products. | BASF Investing $70.5M into Cincinnati Plant | DevelopOhio |
| DePoly SA Investment | June 2023 | BASF Venture Capital invested in DePoly, a Swiss startup with a chemical recycling technology for PET plastics, supporting BASF’s strategy to utilize diverse recycled feedstocks for a circular economy. | BASF Venture Capital invests in startup DePoly SA |
| Sea6 Energy Investment | August 2022 | BASF Venture Capital invested in India-based Sea6 Energy to help scale its cultivation of red seaweed as a sustainable biomass source for applications including bioplastics and biofuels. | BASF Venture Capital and Aqua-Spark invest in Sea6 Energy |
| Bota Bio Investment | March 2021 | BASF Venture Capital invested in Bota Biosciences, a Chinese industrial synthetic biotechnology company, to support the development of its platform for producing high-value products from sustainable biomass. | BASF invests in biotechnology start-up Bota Bio |
Table: BASF’s Biomass and Circular Economy Partnership Timeline
| Partner / Project | Time Frame | Details and Strategic Purpose | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinopec Tianranqi Company | November 2025 | Strategic cooperation to use biomethane for energy and as a chemical feedstock at BASF’s Nanjing Verbund site, aiming to reduce Scope 1 emissions and create a circular model in China. | BASF and Sinopec unit agree biomethane partnership to … |
| Air Liquide and Shenergy | November 2025 | Multi-year agreement to produce MDI in China with a reduced carbon footprint by using bio-based feedstock, helping downstream customers in the region achieve their sustainability goals. | BASF partners with Air Liquide and Shenergy, to advance … |
| ETH Zurich | November 2025 | Research collaboration exploring the co-gasification of automotive shredder residue (ASR) and bio-waste to convert mixed waste streams into high-value syngas, a next-generation chemical feedstock. | ETH Zurich and BASF Team Up to Turn Automotive and … |
| IFF | October 2025 | Strategic collaboration to co-develop enzyme systems and bio-based polymers for the personal care and cleaning industries, focusing on next-generation bio-material innovation. | IFF and BASF Announce Strategic Collaboration to Drive … |
| Galaxy Surfactants | September 2025 | Delivered the first batch of biomass-balanced DMAPA in the Asia-Pacific region, enabling Galaxy to produce more sustainable personal and home care products with a reduced carbon footprint. | BASF delivers Asia Pacific’s First Biomass-Balanced … |
| Porsche and BEST | September 2025 | Successfully completed a pilot project on the chemical recycling of automotive shredder residue (ASR) and biomass via gasification, demonstrating a technical pathway for circular feedstock from complex waste. | BASF, Porsche, and BEST successfully complete pilot … |
| AkzoNobel and Arkema | September 2025 | Joined forces to develop more sustainable powder coatings by using bio-based and recycled raw materials, lowering the carbon footprint of architectural powder coatings by up to 40%. | TOWARDS A LOWER CARBON EMISSION POWDER … |
| AkzoNobel | May 2025 | Established a partnership for AkzoNobel to purchase BMB ingredients for its decorative paints in the EMEA region, replacing fossil feedstocks with renewables like bionaphtha and biomethane. | AkzoNobel working with BASF to lower carbon footprint of … |
| Henkel | March 2025 | Deepened collaboration where Henkel decided to convert nearly all of its European ingredient portfolio from BASF to biomass balance grades, a key step in Henkel’s net-zero roadmap. | The Way to Net Zero: Reducing Emissions Takes Teamwork |
| Acies Bio | November 2024 | Partnered with the Slovenian biotech company to develop and commercialize the OneCarbonBio fermentation platform for converting renewable feedstocks into sustainable ingredients. | BASF to use fermentation platform |
| Evonik | October 2024 | Agreed on the first delivery of BASF’s biomass-balanced ammonia, which Evonik will use to produce its own biomass-balanced polyamide products, broadening the sustainable offerings of both companies. | Evonik and BASF agree on first delivery of biomass … |
| Encina | June 2024 | Established a long-term supply contract for pyrolysis oil derived from end-of-life plastics, which BASF will use as a circular feedstock to create Ccycled® products. | Encina and BASF Establish Long-Term Partnership for … |
| RiKarbon | September 2022 | Announced an innovation partnership to upcycle bio-waste into bio-based, biodegradable emollients for the personal care market, aligning with BASF’s goal for circular solutions. | BASF announces innovation partnership with … |
| Henkel | March 2022 | Initial commitment to replace ~110,000 tons of fossil feedstock with renewable feedstock annually for Henkel’s consumer goods portfolios in Europe using the BMB approach. | BASF and Henkel focus on renewable raw materials in … |
Geography: BASF’s Global Expansion of Biomass Feedstocks
In the 2021-2024 period, BASF’s biomass strategy was predominantly centered in Europe and North America, with exploratory moves in Asia. Europe served as the primary validation ground, with major partnerships like Henkel and Evonik headquartered in Germany and collaborations extending to Siemens (Germany) and Cepi (Belgium). North America was a key investment hub, evidenced by the $70.5 million investment in a Cincinnati bio-surfactants plant and the launch of sustainable plasticizers from sites in Texas and Ontario. Asia represented a region of early-stage investment and supply chain development, marked by venture investments in Bota Bio (China) and Sea6 Energy (India) and the expansion of APG production in Thailand. This geographic focus allowed BASF to leverage its core markets and established customer relationships to prove the BMB model before committing to a wider global rollout.
Since 2025, the geographic focus has decisively shifted towards a full-scale global deployment with a pronounced strategic emphasis on Asia, particularly China. The biomethane partnership with Sinopec at the Nanjing Verbund site and the MDI collaboration with Air Liquide and Shenergy in China are not pilot projects but large-scale integrations aimed at decarbonizing a critical manufacturing hub. This is complemented by commercial milestones like the first Asia-Pacific delivery of BMB products to Galaxy Surfactants and new production of bio-based polyols in Mangalore, India. This signifies that Asia is no longer an exploratory market but a core pillar of BASF’s growth strategy for biomass. Simultaneously, BASF has expanded its reach into a new continent with the ISCC Plus certification of its Camaçari site in Brazil, officially opening the South American market for its biomass-balanced and Ccycled products. Europe remains a leadership hub, but the activity—modernizing plants in Germany and Finland and securing EU-wide certifications—is now about optimizing and scaling a mature market rather than validating a new one.
Technology Maturity: BASF’s Advancement in Biomass Feedstock Integration
Between 2021 and 2024, BASF’s technology focus was on validating and commercializing its core Biomass Balance (BMB) approach as a scalable platform. The primary technology at commercial scale was the certified mass balance system itself, enabling the substitution of fossil feedstocks with bio-naphtha and biomethane. The 110,000-ton-per-year Henkel deal was the ultimate commercial validation point. Early commercial products, such as BMB plastic additives and the initial switch to bio-based Ethyl Acrylate, demonstrated the technology’s application across different chemical families. In parallel, BASF’s R&D and venture arms explored next-generation technologies still in the developmental phase. This included investments in synthetic biology (Bota Bio), novel biomass sources like seaweed (Sea6 Energy), and upcycling of bio-waste (RiKarbon), indicating a strategy to build a future pipeline of technologies beyond mass balance.
From 2025 onwards, the technology landscape has matured significantly. The BMB approach is no longer a technology being tested but a fully scaled commercial engine, evidenced by over 1,200 BMB products and the conversion of entire product lines like Rheovis®. The innovation has shifted to applying BMB to more demanding, high-performance materials like Ultrason® PESU, which requires identical properties to its fossil-based counterpart. The key R&D frontier has also advanced. While BMB scales, BASF is now actively piloting advanced circularity. The project with Porsche and BEST to co-gasify automotive shredder residue with biomass represents a move from clean, first-generation biomass to complex, mixed-waste streams. This is a significant technological leap from a demonstration to a pilot phase for a far more challenging, yet potentially more impactful, form of circular feedstock. The commissioning of a green hydrogen electrolyzer in Ludwigshafen also introduces a new renewable feedstock pathway (H2 from renewables) to complement its biomass strategy, showing a multi-pronged technological approach to decarbonization.
Table: SWOT Analysis of BASF’s Biomass Feedstock Strategy
| SWOT Category | 2021 – 2023 | 2024 – 2025 | What Changed / Resolved / Validated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Pioneered the Biomass Balance (BMB) approach, leveraging existing Verbund infrastructure. Validated the model with a major customer commitment from Henkel for 110,000 tons/year. | Scaled the BMB portfolio to over 1,200 certified products. Formalized the strategy by establishing the dedicated BASF Renewable Carbon (BReC) unit. Globalized production with investments in India and capacity expansions in Asia. | The BMB model evolved from a validated concept with a key anchor customer to a formalized, globally scaled business unit with a diversified product portfolio and dedicated operational structure (BReC). |
| Weaknesses | Reliance on the mass balance concept, which can face market criticism over its lack of physical segregation. Bio-based feedstock procurement volume decreased from 1.2M tons (2022) to 1.0M tons (2023). | The credibility of the mass balance model remains dependent on extensive and costly third-party certifications, demonstrated by the effort to achieve REDcert² for all European Performance Materials plants. | The core weakness persists, but BASF has proactively mitigated it by embedding third-party certification (ISCC, REDcert²) as a core part of its product offering, transforming a potential weakness into a feature of credibility and transparency. |
| Opportunities | Capitalizing on growing market demand for sustainable products by offering “drop-in” solutions. Ability to launch a wide range of BMB products quickly due to the Verbund system. | Expanding into high-performance materials (e.g., Ultrason® E 2010 BMB), combining bio-based with recycled content (WALLTITE RSB), and entering new geographic markets like South America via the Camaçari, Brazil certification. | The opportunity shifted from capturing general demand for sustainability to penetrating specific, high-value market segments (automotive, electronics) and expanding into untapped geographic regions (South America). |
| Threats | Potential regulatory challenges to the mass balance methodology. Price volatility and availability of sustainable biomass feedstocks. Competition from companies pursuing physically segregated bio-products. | The need to secure massive, long-term supplies of certified sustainable feedstocks (bio-naphtha, biomethane) to fuel the scaled-up global model. Rising customer and regulatory expectations that could favor physically segregated supply chains. | The threat evolved from conceptual and competitive risks to a tangible, operational challenge of securing a vast and credible feedstock supply chain, which directly prompted the creation of the BReC unit and major supply deals like the Sinopec biomethane partnership. |
Forward-Looking Insights and Summary
The data from 2025 clearly signals that BASF’s biomass strategy has entered a new phase of accelerated execution and strategic formalization. The year ahead will be defined by three key trends that market actors must watch. First, the operationalization of the new BASF Renewable Carbon (BReC) unit is the most critical near-term signal. Its primary function is to professionalize feedstock sourcing; therefore, announcements of long-term supply agreements for certified bio-naphtha and biomethane are imminent and necessary. The success of BASF’s entire scaled-up model hinges on BReC’s ability to secure the volume and quality of renewable inputs required to meet its ambitious goals.
Second, the successful pilot on co-gasification of automotive waste and biomass with Porsche and ETH Zurich is a powerful indicator of BASF’s next technological frontier. While the BMB approach decarbonizes the present, this advanced recycling technology represents the future. The market should watch for any announcements related to a commercial-scale demonstration plant using this technology. Such a move would be a game-changer, creating a circular feedstock stream from complex, mixed waste and significantly advancing the chemical industry’s circular economy ambitions.
Finally, geographic expansion will be a major driver of growth. Following successful launches in Europe and Asia, the planned expansion of biomass-balanced coatings into North America in 2025 and the recent certification of the Brazil site are key growth vectors. Expect to see new partnerships and customer wins in these regions as BASF moves to capture Scope 3 reduction opportunities for its clients. The company has built a pragmatic, scalable engine for decarbonization; the year ahead will reveal how effectively it can fuel that engine and steer it into new markets and technologies.