PDF; 1,44 MB - Brenntag North America

SOLUTIONS 29ability and standards establishment. In this way, we enableour customers to achieve their environmental targets.In 2010, Brenntag conducted a market analysis of sustainabilityand green chemistry in Europe, which indicated a“green” trend in all areas and industries. With our GreenProduct Line, we offer environmentally friendly solutionsacross Europe and a range of products that meets therequirements of green chemistry. Brenntag is not contentto merely follow this trend, but wishes to set new standardsin green chemistry. The campaign kicked off on EuropeanGreen Day – 16 January 2012 – when all employees in contactwith business partners were given an internal flyer tofamiliarise them with the Green Product Line and plannedactivities.Definition – how we understand green chemistryTo us, “green chemistry” refers to chemical products andprocesses that serve to reduce or avoid the effects of environmentalpollution. Although there is as yet no global,industry-wide definition of the term “green”, to us “green”simply means environmentally friendly.The US Environmental Protection Agency has developed 12principles of green chemistry. For our service and productrange, we have chosen to focus on the top five. As such, atleast one of these five basic principles has to be fulfilled forour products so that they can be included in the EuropeanGreen Product Line. The majority of our products fulfilbetween three and five of our basic principles.Five Principles of Green Chemistry1. Use of renewable feedstocks2. Safer solvents and auxiliaries3. Less hazardous chemical syntheses4. Design for biodegradation5. Design for energy efficiencyGreen Product Line – achieving green goals togetherThe demand for green solutions is continuing to increase– something that has been influencing the development ofnew products across all industries for years. Based on ourmarket analysis, we decided to concentrate initially on thefour industries in Europe in which this trend manifests itselfmost strongly.Cleaning, water treatment, coatings and construction, andpersonal care are areas in which both customers and endconsumers are increasingly looking for natural and environmentallyfriendly products. The demand for green productsin these segments has risen rapidly in recent years. For ex-ample, the field of natural and organic cosmetics has grownintensively given that more and more consumers are demandingnatural ingredients because they are gentler tothe skin. The topic of sustainability plays a major role in thearea of personal care.The natural cosmetics market has developed from a nichesegment into a mainstream market. People associate naturalcosmetics with health and well-being. Our range of naturaland sustainable raw materials helps our customers to developgreen products to fulfil their customers’ requirements.AdBlue®/DEF –effectively reducing emissionsIn recent decades, the amount of traffic on the roads hasincreased significantly around the world. In turn, this hasled to an increase in the levels of pollutants in the air.Vehicle emissions are considered one of the main contributorsto the greenhouse effect.Since we also transport large quantities of chemicals everyday in our HDVs, we want to make a contribution towardsreducing environmental pollution – something that we aredoing with the successful promotion of two NOx-reducingagents: AdBlue® and Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF).A tiny amount but mighty powerfulUntreated vehicle exhaust fumes contain nitrogen oxides(NOx), which have a significant effect on air pollution.The only way to prevent them from being emitted is tomake sure that they do not occur in the first place.The diesel engines of many HDVs are equipped with the selectivecatalytic reduction (SCR) system.The aim of this technology is to clean the diesel enginesreliably and to reduce their harmful emissions. This is donewith the use of AdBlue® and DEF. These two special NOxreducingagents are non-toxic, odourless and highly concentratedurea solutions that contribute to the reduction inNOx emissions.AdBlue®/DEF is sprayed via a nozzle into the exhaust streamat a precise, pre-defined quantity. This leads to a chemicalreaction within the SCR catalytic converter. First, AdBlue®/DEF is broken down (hydrolysed), which causes the harmfulnitrogen oxides to be converted into harmless nitrogen (N)and water (H 2O).Two names with one aimAdBlue® and DEF are specifically used to reduce nitrogenoxide emissions. They have the same effect but are used ondifferent continents.AdBlue® is successfully marketed by Brenntag throughoutparts of Europe and starting in Asia-Pacific, while DEF is