OREANDA-NEWS. In 2012, BASF reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 31.7% per metric ton of sales product and increased its energy efficiency by 19.3% compared with baseline 2002. The number of work-related accidents dropped in the same period by 48%. The progress in environment, health and safety are documented in the integrated report of BASF that can be found.

BASF has set itself worldwide goals for the year 2020. The company aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% per metric ton of sales product and increase energy efficiency by 35% compared with baseline 2002 (excluding Oil & Gas).

However, in 2012, the reductions in emissions and increase in energy efficiency were lower than in 2011: In 2011, the company had already emitted 34.6% less greenhouse gases per metric ton of sales product und improved energy efficiency by 25.7% compared to 2002. The changes compared with the previous year are mainly caused by reduced plant capacity utilization worldwide and maintenance works.

In the Oil & Gas business, BASF stopped the continuous flaring of gases associated with crude oil production in routine operations - at all oil production sites. Solely due to this, the company annually prevents the emission of around 2 million metric tons of greenhouse gases.

In 2012, the total emissions of air pollutants from the chemical plants into the atmosphere dropped by 63.1% to 31.580 metric tons (2011: minus 59.9%). By 2020, BASF aims a reduction by 70% compared to baseline 2002.

BASF also reduced the emissions to water in 2012: Compared with 2002, the emissions of organic substances dropped by 76.4% (2011: minus 73.5%) and of nitrogen by 87.3% (2011: minus 87.2%). The wastewater contained 26 metric tons of heavy metals, representing a worldwide reduction of 56.8% (2011: minus 60.8%) compared with 2002.

With the “Health Performance Index” (HPI), BASF measures its performance in health protection. The index comprises data of confirmed occupational diseases, medical emergency planning, first aid, preventive medicine and health promotion. The maximum value is 1.0; BASF aims to reach an annual value of more than 0.9. In 2012, the HPI was 0.89.

With regards to product safety activities, BASF also committed itself to a voluntary goal: By 2020, the company will review the risk assessments for all products that it sells worldwide in quantities of more than 1 metric ton per year. The company already reached 45  % of this goal in the previous year (2011: 30%).