Digitalisation: A win-win for environment and quality of life

11th September, Brussels – Digitalisation has the power to completely change the way the chemical industry, and society in general, works, communicates, innovates, produces and consumes. Cefic’s recent Mid-Century Vision document ‘Molecule Managers’ predicts that data will have replaced oil as the most valuable commodity by 2050.

Digitalisation can be a source and a driver of transformational change across the chemical industry, with an emphasis on safety and operational excellence. It represents an opportunity for the sector to contribute to long-term European policy goals: processing plants and operations become more resource and energy efficient, safety and risk management are reinforced, product quality is secured, and greenhouse gas emissions will be significantly reduced.

What does this look like in practice? Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced through digital optimisation of energy efficiency in single processes and across production plants, to name one example. Another is securing product quality by tracking the lifecycle from production to processing and from use to recycling and reuse.

In short: Digital is essential to orchestrate the path towards a sustainable carbon-neutral, circular economy including new digitally enabled supply chain-structures such as large-scale industrial symbiosis platforms.  

All in all, a win-win situation for environment and quality of life.

Read more to find out how the Chemical Industry is walking the digital talk.