Driven by rising consumer expectations and regulatory requirements, it’s becoming increasingly essential to measure the utilization of sustainable materials and their associated carbon footprint data along the value chain.
Achieving this goal demands not only close collaboration across the value chain but also the availability of tools to enable traceability.
Materials manufacturer Covestro has embraced this challenge by forging a partnership with Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. Together, they will provide downstream industries starting in Asia with essential solutions and tools to enhance supply chain transparency through enabling carbon accounting and tracing for sustainable materials.
Under this partnership, one of Covestro’s key roles is to provide more sustainable plastic solutions along with their carbon footprint data. Alibaba Cloud’s Energy Expert, an AI-driven sustainability platform, plays a crucial role in realizing the whole life cycle emission accounting from recycled materials to final consumer products leveraging digital technology such as blockchain. It also provides an end-to-end solution for industrial companies to measure and optimize their carbon footprint across their production lifecycle.
“As a materials manufacturer with a high focus on sustainable material innovation, Covestro is committed to driving circularity and climate neutrality. Our collaboration with Alibaba Cloud marks a significant milestone in our journey towards a circular and climate-neutral future,” says Lily Wang, Global Head of Engineering Plastics Business Entity, Covestro. “With our joint solutions, we are supporting our customers to improve their supply chain transparency while building trust among environmentally conscious consumers, thereby driving industries towards a greener future.”
“We are proud to partner with Covestro in pioneering sustainable solutions that drive positive environmental impact,” says William Xiong, Vice President of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “By leveraging our advanced cloud infrastructure and expertise in sustainability technology, we are enabling value chain partners to trace materials with enhanced transparency and efficiency as well as to optimize their carbon footprint to achieve their sustainability target. This partnership exemplifies the transformative power of technology in creating a more sustainable future.”
The joint solutions offered by the two parties have already been implemented in the consumer goods sector. For example, Covestro collaborated with China’s leading beverage maker Nongfu Spring to recycle its 19-litre water barrels into post-consumer recycled polycarbonate. The material was then used by KACO, a niche stationary brand in China, to produce gel pens. Through Alibaba Cloud Energy Expert’s carbon emission accounting and digital tools, consumers can scan a QR code on the packaging of the pens to trace the origin of the material, see a detailed breakdown of the carbon footprint at each stage in the production chain and the number of carbon emission slashed compared to the virgin materials.