Study shows properties of Ingevity’s Polyfon H dispersant for crop protection completely offset greenhouse gas emissions associated with manufacture
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ingevity Corporation (NYSE:NGVT) today announced that a study conducted by consulting firm Environmental Resources Management (ERM), London, U.K., has determined the carbon negative properties of its lignin-based Polyfon® H dispersant completely offset the volume of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with its manufacture, resulting in a carbon footprint 122% lower than fossil carbon-based alternatives and positively impacting climate change.
“Ingevity’s research legacy in lignin process chemistry provides us with a wide range of high-quality, sustainable crop protection products like our Polyfon technology,” said Rich White, senior vice president, Performance Chemicals, and president, Industrial Specialties and Pavement Technologies. “ERM’s study now allows us to quantifiably realize the net positive GHG benefits of Polyfon as we continue to provide renewable solutions that help customers advance their sustainability goals and enhance their products’ performance.”
Used mainly as a dispersant in the agriculture industry for a diverse set of crop protection formulations including biological products, Polyfon is created from lignin, a renewable by-product of the kraft paper-making industry. According to the ERM study, the 2.2 metric tons (MT) of biogenic carbon dioxide – carbon pulled from the atmosphere and stored as carbon in the pine tree during tree growth – outbalance the 1.46 MT of carbon dioxide released with the energy use, materials, packaging and wastes associated with Polyfon manufacture, resulting in a negative carbon footprint, or a positive benefit to climate change.
ERM’s study notes that after application to crops, Polyfon’s innate biogenic carbon is expected to remain in the soil for at least a 100-year timeframe, storing the carbon in the soil instead of releasing it to the atmosphere to impact climate change.
ERM is a global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk, social and sustainability-related consulting services, and relied on the IPCC 2013 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method to calculate the product’s GHG emissions to assess climate change potential. This approach is consistent with the assumptions of the LCIA study conducted by Franklin Associates for the American Chemistry Council Pine Chemistry Panel. ERM used the Franklin Associates study as the source of carbon footprint data for the tall oil rosin input.
This is the fourth study in Ingevity’s ongoing review of the environmental impacts of its major product lines. For more information on ERM’s net product benefit study of Polyfon H, please visit the sustainability page on Ingevity’s website.
Ingevity: Purify, Protect and Enhance
Ingevity provides products and technologies that purify, protect, and enhance the world around us. Through a team of talented and experienced people, we develop, manufacture and bring to market solutions that help customers solve complex problems and make the world more sustainable. We operate in two reporting segments: Performance Chemicals, which includes specialty chemicals and engineered polymers; and Performance Materials, which includes high-performance activated carbon. These products are used in a variety of demanding applications, including asphalt paving, oil exploration and production, agrochemicals, adhesives, lubricants, publication inks, coatings, elastomers, bioplastics and automotive components that reduce gasoline vapor emissions. Headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina, Ingevity operates from 25 locations around the world and employs approximately 1,850 people. The company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:NGVT). For more information visit www.ingevity.com.
Contacts
Caroline Monahan
843-740-2068
caroline.monahan@ingevity.com
Investors:
Mary Dean Hall
84-INGEVITY
investors@ingevity.com
