German engineering plastics producer Covestro has agreed a strategic cooperation with Finnish refiner Neste to promote the use of sustainable raw materials in European plastics production.

To start, Covestro will draw on Neste’s renewable hydrocarbons to replace a “significant portion” of the fossil raw materials it currently uses to produce polycarbonate. Over the short term, the Leverkusen-based company said it aims to replace several thousand metric tons of fossil raw materials.

Neste’s hydrocarbons sourced entirely from renewables such as waste and residue oils and fats can be used as a drop-in replacement for petrochemical feedstock in existing plastics production infrastructures, enabling its customers to produce more sustainable products with consistently high quality while using their existing processes, the company boasts.

In future, Neste and Covestro intend to expand the scope of their partnership to encompass other polymer types and to this end will invite other companies along the value chains to collaborate.

“The polymers and chemicals industries will play a major role in the circular economy and fight against climate change,” said Neste’s president and CEO Peter Vanacker, who previously held managerial positions at Covestro’s predecessor companies Bayer and Bayer Material Science.

Though the collaboration, Vanacker said Covestro can play a significant role in providing climate-friendlier raw materials to leading brands and help them reach their materials-related sustainability targets. At the same time, this will expand the use of Neste’s renewable hydrocarbons beyond polyolefins to more complex value chains.

Covestro CEO Markus Steileman said the plastics producer is “fully committed” to working with many partners to manage the transition to a circular economy. By tapping Neste’s resources to transform its own production, “we are helping important industrial sectors such as the automotive and electronics industries achieve greater sustainability and reduce the dependence on crude oil,” he added.