MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), a chemical technology research university in Mumbai, India, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at finding innovative solutions that can act as an enabler and provide a significant contribution to achieve sustainable goals, as per GV.
According to the agreement, the research would span from warming and insulation for open poultry sheds, modification in the manufacturing process to produce flame retardant polyurethane and PU-PCM for cold storage.
The aim of this MoU is to build scientific and technical knowledge through joint research and to implement the research findings in industry wide application. It will facilitate the development of polymer-based PCM material that can replace non-efficient and high energy consuming elements. The MOU was exchanged by Ajay Durrani, MD, Covestro India, along with Dr. Thomas Toepfer, CFO, Covestro AG and Prof. G. D. Yadav, Vice Chancellor, ICT.
Ajay Durrani, MD, Covestro India, said: "We are confident that through this partnership we are able to conduct ground breaking research that will enable us in finding sustainable solutions through large-scale application of talented materials. We truly believe that these research based applications will help us to provide solutions to India’s food safety concerns and help in making smarter and safer transportation leading to the economic and social development of the country."
Dr. Thomas Toepfer, CFO, Covestro AG, said: "True to our commitment, we will aim 80 % of our R&D project spending to address SDG challenges by 2025. At the same time, we will further increase our investments which will benefit India along with some other nations and at the same time create value. We are looking forward to leverage such opportunities in India and APAC region which will help make world a brighter place."
Prof. G. D. Yadav, Vice Chancellor, ICT, said: "We are delighted to partner with Covestro for the research projects that will provide students with an opportunity to develop practical solutions to India’s food security and national safety problems."
India has about 6,300 cold storage facilities with a capacity of 30.11 million t, which are only able to store about 11 % of the country’s total perishable produce. This creates an enormous gap between agriculture production and its storage. India wastes 40 % of all harvested agricultural produce. These cold storage and poultry use electricity and diesel to maintain the temperature which leads to overuse of energy and fossil fuel and has detrimental effects on the environment. Materials that can be used in cold storages and poultries to maintain the required temperature and help reduce the carbon footprint can make a massive difference.
As MRC wrote earlier, in July 2018, Siemens AG and Covestro Deutschland AG concluded a Joint Business Development Plan to provide further strategic reinforcement of their trust-based partnership for many years, particularly in the field of digitalization. This is based on the corporate ethos of the two companies which is both innovative and geared towards sustainability. The agreement, therefore, helps make life simpler and safer through continuous improvement and future-oriented products.
Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc.
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