Covestro and Alibaba Cloud Collaborate to Enhance Sustainable Plastics Traceability

Driven by increasing consumer expectations and regulatory requirements, the need to measure the use of sustainable materials and their associated carbon footprints has become essential. Covestro and Alibaba Cloud have teamed up to develop solutions that enhance supply chain transparency, focusing on sustainable plastics and carbon accounting through advanced digital technologies.

In response to rising consumer expectations and regulatory demands, the traceability of materials and their CO₂ footprints has become crucial for advancing a circular economy. To address this, Covestro, a leading materials manufacturer, has partnered with Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. This collaboration aims to provide downstream industries in Asia with essential solutions to enhance supply chain transparency through carbon accounting and tracing for sustainable materials.

Under this partnership, Covestro will supply more sustainable plastic solutions along with their carbon footprint data. Alibaba Cloud's Energy Expert platform, an AI-driven sustainability tool, will play a vital role in achieving comprehensive emission accounting from recycled materials to final consumer products using digital technologies such as blockchain. This platform offers an end-to-end solution for industrial companies to measure and optimize their carbon footprints throughout their production lifecycle.

Lily Wang, Global Head of the Engineering Plastics Business Entity at Covestro, emphasized the significance of this collaboration: "As a materials manufacturer focused on sustainable material innovation, Covestro is committed to driving circularity and climate neutrality. Our partnership with Alibaba Cloud marks a significant milestone in our journey towards a circular and climate-neutral future. With our joint solutions, we support our customers in improving their supply chain transparency and building trust among environmentally conscious consumers, thereby driving industries towards a greener future."

William Xiong, Vice President of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, echoed the importance of the partnership: "We are proud to partner with Covestro in pioneering sustainable solutions that drive positive environmental impact. By leveraging our advanced cloud infrastructure and expertise in sustainability technology, we enable value chain partners to trace materials with enhanced transparency and efficiency and optimize their carbon footprints to achieve their sustainability targets. This partnership exemplifies the transformative power of technology in creating a more sustainable future."

The joint solutions from Covestro and Alibaba Cloud have already been successfully implemented in the consumer goods sector. Covestro collaborated with China's leading beverage maker, Nongfu Spring, to recycle 19-litre water barrels into post-consumer recycled polycarbonate. This recycled material was then used by KACO, a niche stationary brand in China, to produce gel pens. With Alibaba Cloud Energy Expert’s carbon emission accounting and digital tools, consumers can scan a QR code on the pen packaging to trace the material’s origin, see a detailed breakdown of the carbon footprint at each production stage, and understand the carbon emissions reduced compared to using virgin materials.