Chemistry

Chemistry

Definition

The German chemical industry is the third strongest industry in the manufacturing sector (after automotive and mechanical engineering) with a share of 11 % of revenues. It can be divided into different sub-sectors, of which speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals account for about a third of the turnover in the chemical sector and petrochemicals and polymers for about 15 % each. Due to its high energy demand, which is mainly covered by fossil energy sources, the chemical industry causes 5.5 % of CO₂ emissions in Germany. At the same time, its products form the basis for further value creation in other sectors. A transformation of the chemical industry would therefore have an impact on the entire life cycle of the products. 

Five chemical parks are currently located in Saxony-Anhalt: Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Leuna, Schkopau/Böhlen, Piesteritz and Zeitz. The following advantages that result from an industrial park network are worth mentioning:

• existing infrastructure that can be used synergistically at the site, shortening transport routes, and thus increasing efficiencies for further value creation. Recycling processes can thus be integrated regionally
• central location of producers and consumers, thus increasing efficiency and reducing transport and infrastructure costs
• bundled know-how and decades of experience, connected through short distances.

These benefits are missing at locations that are not integrated into industrial or chemical parks. Particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises that are located outside this central infrastructure, this results in special challenges during the transformation. Consequently, there is a need for knowledge transfer between different sectors, companies and regions along the value chain, which also involves external stakeholders (such as research, politics, multipliers and society). This is what we want to achieve in the HOUSE of TRANSFER.

Cooperation Network Chemie +

The cooperation network Chemie + is the successor to the Chemie Kunststoffe Mitteldeutschland cluster founded by companies in 2003. At the beginning of the 2000s, the chemical industry in Central Germany was facing a transformation. This was due to the privatisation and restructuring of the chemical industry and the faltering reconstruction of the East. There were strategy dialogues established with state governments and the federal government, which offered the companies the opportunity to present their economic concerns in an organised manner during the implementation of the newly established chemical safety and the introduction of emissions trading. The Cluster Chemie Kunststoffe Mitteldeutschland played a leading role in this process of exchange.

In the meantime, numerous chemical parks that present a meeting point for SMEs, research institutions and large companies have been established in Central Germany. They are facing a further transformation with the adoption of a circular economy based on renewable energies. This is accompanied by the well-established cooperation network Chemie +. The network's primary aim is to help secure the future of the raw materials network and the economic viability of the regional industry, also in an international context. In this context, projects are implemented in which processes are adapted to sustainable energies and raw materials, such as chemical recycling and methods of CO₂ utilisation or storage (CCU/CCS). In order to promote these projects and the exchange between different partners, the cooperation network is involved in the HOUSE of TRANSFER and represents the field of chemistry within this joint project.

The implementation of these projects takes place at federal and state level, where the cooperation network Chemie + represents the concerns of the companies in the raw materials network. In this capacity, it advises the federal government on the preparation of the Carbon Management Strategy (CMS), which is intended to regulate the provision of carbon for the chemical industry. The cooperation network Chemie + also organises a Regional Advisory Group on Chemical Recycling, in which cross-sectoral branches of the raw materials industry as well as the waste management industry and plant manufacturers are involved. Currently, the cooperation network Chemie + is advocating that the existing steam reforming capacities should be used for the production of blue hydrogen until green hydrogen is market ready.

Further Information

• German Environment Agency (2020): Chemical Recycling
  • Chemical recycling is discussed as an alternative or addition to mechanical recycling of plastic waste, which is considered to have both the possibility of removing pollutants and the potential of using waste that is difficult to recycle or heavily contaminated. The techniques of chemical recycling are not yet established and its position within the circular economy has not yet been finally determined. This background paper deals with the legal and technical basis and gives a first assessment of the German Environment Agency regarding the future application options of chemical recycling.
• European Commission (planned for Q4 2023): Industrial carbon management Initiative – carbon capture, utilisation and storage deployment
  • Carbon capture, utilisation and storage plays an important role in achieving carbon neutrality in the EU by 2050. It provides a decarbonisation option for some hard-to-abate sectors and can be instrumental in advancing industrial carbon removals.
  • The initiative will assess:
    • what role these technologies can play in decarbonising the EU economy by 2030, 2040 and 2050, respectively; and
    • measures needed to optimise their potential, including in the deployment of EU-wide CO₂ transport and storage infrastructures.
• European Commission (planned for Q4 2023): Chemicals legislation – revision of REACH Regulation to help achieve a toxic-free environment
  • The European Green Deal sets out the ambition to reach zero pollution for a toxic-free environment.
  • As part of this ambition, the chemicals strategy for sustainability announces actions to better protect people and the environment against hazardous chemicals and to encourage innovation to develop safe and sustainable alternatives.
  • Achieving these goals requires revising the rules governing the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals in the EU.