A study by the independent Institute for Material Testing has confirmed an earlier report by the FILK Institute that biocides used in the preservation of leather intermediates do not migrate out of the finished leather articles, according to Lanxess, which commissioned it.

“Politicians need to finally wake up,” said Lanxess board chariman Matthias Zachert. “In the current phase of economic weakness, the location Germany is not competitive internationally. We urgently need sustainable framework conditions – above all an internationally competitive electricity tariff for the industry, the reduction of excessive bureaucracy and faster approval procedures.”

Lanxess has announced the development of the Product Carbon Footprint Engine, which takes data from its various business units and automatically calculates cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas emissions for their products. This includes production, product-specific emissions related to raw materials, energy, operating materials, and transport and emissions from waste disposal.

Lanxess and Evonik have separately signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with energy companies Engie and EnBW respectively, under which they will increase the renewable share of their electricity needs in the coming years. The former’s PPA will see 1,400 GWh supplied to seven sites from 17 wind farms and four solar parks in Germany. Meanwhile the latter is taking an additional 50 MW from EnBW’s planned He Dreiht offshore wind farm in the North Sea over the next 15 years, in addition to 100 MW it signed to take last November.

Non-profit organisation CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) has issued its rankings for 2022. These rate about 15,000 companies in multiple industries from about 18,700 who submitted data about their emissions on a scale from A to D- in three categories. In all, 283 received an A for Climate Change, 25 for Forests and 103 for Water Security.

Swedish biotech I-Tech and Lanxess have combined their respective marine antifouling technologies for the first time, with what they claim to be promising results. This follows tests on 35 paint formulations with a 12-month lifespan in static testing environments in the Caribbean, Eastern North Sea, the North Mediterranean and Sea of Japan.

At a cost of €12 million and in response to environmental legislation, Lanxess has commissioned a new biological wastewater treatment plant at its site at Kallo, near Antwerp. This has a capacity of 260,000 L/hour and also treats wastewater from two other companies. The site makes rubber chemicals and glass fibres.