EPCA ’22: Helm targeting investments for sustainable solutions

BERLIN (ICIS)–Helm will make several investments to achieve its goal of generating 20-25% of its turnover on the basis of sustainable solutions, the company’s executive vice president for chemicals said this week.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 2022 European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) annual meeting, Andreas Woschek said it is a major opportunity for Helm to be a game changer as the chemical industry seeks to works to achieve greater sustainability.

He feared, however, that the current storm of impacts, from the war in Ukraine to escalating inflation, and a recession possibly round the corner, could draw focus away from the effort that will be needed to drive greater sustainability sector-wide.

“The big risk we are running is that the more important topics like sustainability and biodiversity fade into the background,” he said.

Helm and Cargill have been investing $300m in the US to build the first bio-based 1,4 butanediol (BDO) facility through a joint venture – QIRA.

The commercial-scale plant saves up to 93% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, compared with conventional facilities.

QIRA is a big investment for privately-owned Helm and is likely to have bucked a trend for the firm in chemicals towards more early-stage sustainability spending and smaller investments in more sustainable technologies.

“We have to create a ‘pull’ effect from the market” Woschek suggested, for example, by persuading customers that a products’ carbon dioxide footprint is vitally important.

Customers and consumers are prepared to pay for more climate-friendly products, he suggested.

Sustainability for Helm will be driven by reducing the carbon footprint of conventional products by measures such as ‘near-shoring’ and intelligent swaps in the marketplace.

Handling marketing for the company Black Bear Carbon, which upcycles end-of-life tyres to produce sustainable carbon black, helps close the loop between waste and the chemical industry, said Woschek.

This would prevent carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and would help solving the global waste tyre problem, he concluded.

The EPCA annual meeting runs in Berlin on 4-6 October.