In 2008, three European chemical companies were the champions of an international scientific comparison that measured sustainable business practices within the chemical industry in euros. Not only the use of capital, but also of environmental resources and human labour was assessed in monetary terms. According to the study, the French industrial gas manufacturer Air Liquide and the German chemicals multinational BASF managed to utilise their resource bundle significantly more efficiently than the average of the companies surveyed in all four years from 2004 to 2007. Both companies thus created sustainable value totalling billions. If the size of the company is taken into account in these results, Bayer managed to catch up with second-placed BASF in 2007.

On behalf of BASF SE, the IZT, in collaboration with the project partners Euromed Management School (France), Sustainable Value Research Ltd. (UK) and Queen's University Management School (UK), analysed nine selected companies in the chemical industry using the sustainable value approach. The aim of the analysis was to compare BASF SE's sustainable value creation with the sustainable value creation of its direct competitors using the sustainable value approach. The evaluation included nine companies, which were assessed on the basis of 13 sustainability indicators over a period of four years. The results were published in the form of the English-language study "Sustainable Value Creation by Chemical Companies" in December 2009.

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