Driven by rising consumer expectations and regulatory requirements, measuring the utilization of sustainable materials and their associated carbon footprint data along the value chain has become increasingly essential. This goal demands close collaboration across the value chain and the availability of tools to enable traceability. Covestro, a materials manufacturer, has embraced this challenge by partnering with Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. Together, they will provide downstream industries in Asia with solutions to enhance supply chain transparency through carbon accounting and tracing for sustainable materials.
Covestro’s role includes providing sustainable plastic solutions with carbon footprint data. Alibaba Cloud’s Energy Expert, an AI-driven sustainability platform, realizes whole life cycle emission accounting from recycled materials to final consumer products using blockchain technology. It offers an end-to-end solution for industrial companies to measure and optimize their carbon footprint.
The partnership has been implemented in the consumer goods sector, exemplified by Covestro’s collaboration with Nongfu Spring to recycle water barrels into post-consumer recycled polycarbonate, used by KACO to produce gel pens. Through Alibaba Cloud’s tools, consumers can scan a QR code on the packaging to trace the material’s origin and see a carbon footprint breakdown at each production stage.
