BASF, life cycle assessment

Biotech may be gaining importance in the food and nutrition sector, but many nutritional ingredients are still produced by chemical synthesis or via extraction for example, carotenoids are currently most competitively produced by chemical means. For vitamin B2, however, the situation has changed completely in the last five years. The traditional eight-step chemical synthesis has been replaced by one fermentation process. This biotech process, which is also practiced by BASF on a large scale, reduces overall cost by up to 40 percent and the overall environmental impact by 40 percent, as has been shown by detailed life cycle assessments. Similar trends have been described for other bio-based processes, indicating that economic and environmental benefits go hand in hand in today s white biotech practice (EuropaBio and McKinsey Company, 2003, DSM position document, 2004). 

P. Saling, A. Kicherer, B. Dittrich-Kramer, R. Wittlinger, W. Zombik, I. Schmidt, W. Schrott, and S. Schmidt, Eco-Efficiency Analysis by BASF The Method, International Journal of Life-Cycle Assessment, 7(4), 203-218 (2002). 

Saling P, Kicherer A, Dittrich-Kramer B, Witdinger R, Zombik W, Schmidt I, et al. Eco-efEciency analysis by BASF the method. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2002 7(4) 203—18. 

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