For many people, the day begins with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. A cup of coffee is associated with around 100 grams of CO₂—generated through cultivation, processing, and preparation. Each ChatGPT query on a smartphone account for five grams of CO₂. And the cotton T-shirt you put on has already consumed 2,700 liters of water before it even hit the store shelves.
More and more people are interested in such figures. They want to know the size of their ecological footprint—whether shopping or browsing the web. Sustainability needs to be measurable. But how are these values actually determined?
The answer: They are calculated. Using life cycle assessments—scientifically grounded analyses that capture the environmental impacts of a product or service from raw material extraction through production to disposal.
What is already complex for individual items becomes a real challenge for a chemical company like Evonik. Here, thousands of products are created—often with diverse formulations, in technically complex facilities, at different locations, and with varying energy demands.
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Automation Meets Precision
At the German chemical company, based in the city of Essen, Florian Böss and his team handle these calculations. “We need the mass and energy balance of every single production step and supplement it with a wealth of additional information about raw materials, production processes, facilities, locations, and more,” says Böss, Head of Life Cycle Management at Evonik. With great precision, the data is collected, calculated, cross-checked, and ultimately compiled into a life cycle assessment. It sounds labor-intensive—and it is.
»More and more of our customers are requesting increasingly specific environmental metrics for more and more products«
Florian Böss Head of Life Cycle Managements at Evonik
Each year, the 25-person team creates or updates several hundred LCAs. This process can take several weeks and requires a high level of expertise. “More and more of our customers are requesting increasingly specific environmental metrics for more and more products,” Böss reports.
The demand is not only driven by customers pursuing their own sustainability goals and relying on information about the environmental properties of their raw materials and intermediate products. Regulatory requirements are also becoming stricter, such as the EU directives on sustainability reporting (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, CSRD) or due diligence along the supply chain (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, CSDDD). Starting in 2027, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will require a digital product passport for certain product groups, including standardized information on the carbon footprint.
“It was clear to us that the sheer volume of requests would eventually exceed what could be handled with a purely manual process,” says Böss. “That’s why we developed an automated process that is not only precise but also scalable.”
A Digital Quantum Leap
However, for a long time, commercially available systems could not meet the high demands. Some only calculated individual LCA metrics, while others could not connect to the many different data sources.
This is now possible thanks to a software solution developed by Evonik’s IT specialists, which automates the creation of LCAs—quickly, consistently, and reliably. It is based on technology from the partner Sphera and is directly integrated into Evonik’s system landscape. In his office at the Hanau Industrial Park, Böss demonstrates the new system: A few clicks on the laptop are all it takes, and the software gathers the necessary data from central company systems or external databases and analyzes it.
“We provide reliable answers—quickly, transparently, and future-oriented,” says engineer Böss. The automated calculation is up to ten times faster than the previous manual process. Instead of weeks, it now takes only a few days to deliver an LCA.
In July 2025, the Technical Inspection Association “TÜV Rheinland” confirmed the functionality and accuracy of the automated process. The certification is based on an established manual procedure that has now been digitized—a strong signal for trust and transparency.
The software can do much more than just calculate the carbon footprint. It also determines water consumption, nutrient inputs into water bodies, data on particulate matter pollution, and much more. If additional dimensions become relevant in the future, the corresponding data sources can simply be integrated into the system and analyzed without additional effort.
“The chemical industry sits at the heart of numerous value chains,” explains Naved Siddique, Chief Product Officer at Sphera. “Automated LCAs enable companies to integrate environmental information directly into strategic decisions—this is a real competitive advantage.”
Thanks to more accurate data, it is possible to determine, for example, the impact of switching energy sources or raw materials, or how CO₂ emissions can be further reduced. This also enhances competitiveness. “By analyzing the mass balances of production processes, we uncover previously unknown losses and identify areas where we can become more sustainable,” Böss explains. This allows for the definition of goals, the development of strategies, and the evaluation and targeted implementation of measures such as using alternative raw materials and energy sources. It’s an important step toward achieving Evonik’s sustainability goals. By 2030, emissions directly related to production (Scope 1) or caused by purchased energy (Scope 2) are to be reduced by 25% compared to the baseline year 2021.
At Evonik, several business lines are driving this development forward. Ute Schick, Head of the Business Line Care Solutions, sums it up: “Our customers demand high-quality LCAs. Through automated calculations based on valid and comprehensive data, we are further strengthening our position as a pioneer of sustainable solutions in the care industry.”
Demand is also high at High Performance Polymers. For the high-tech plastic Polyamide 12, marketed under the brand name TROGAMID eCO and used in scratch-resistant eyewear, LCAs were previously created manually.
“Sustainable solutions are particularly in demand for consumer-facing applications,” reports Florian Hermes, responsible for sustainability in the business line. “The combination of automation and external validation strengthens our customers’ trust in the process.”
A Benchmark for the Industry
To date, automated LCAs are available for more than 1,000 products—and the process is set to be implemented company-wide by 2027. Evonik is setting a technological benchmark that could resonate beyond the company itself. Automated LCAs are a tool for progress—and proof that digitalization and sustainability can go hand in hand.