In the run-up to the 2025 edition of the North American Sustainability & Responsibility Summit series we spoke with Jessica Monserrate and Jordan Keller of BASF, a 150-year-old chemical company with 111,000 employees working in 230 production and R&D sites in 90 countries. BASF is committed to ambitious sustainability targets, including a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero across all scopes by 2050. In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore how BASF
is driving sustainability, which role renewable carbon plays, the importance of mass balance and agriculture, and how all of these efforts can provide significant benefits to both customers and the environment. For all this and more, give this episode a listen!
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Jessica Monserrate
Head of Sustainability Agricultural Solutions, NA
BASF
Jessica has 10 years’ experience in R&D, most recently serving as Head of Microbiome Discovery and Head of Trait Engineering driving new lead discovery and improvement for Trait Research in Pest, Herbicide and Disease Control. During this time, she led the operation to manage and screen BASF’s 100,000 microbial strain collection looking for input traits and natural product chemistries for a variety of research projects. Prior to this she led the Mode of Action team for Bater as well as several global projects related to scouting for new bio-based solutions for pest control, and worked with VC fluids for the creation of new start-ups.
Most recently at BASF she worked alongside various operating divisions as a BASF R&D representative on a regional key customer account. In this role she entered various BASF R&D platforms looking for new sustainability productions to offer this key customer and co-develop biobased solutions customized for the customer’s market.
Jessica earned her Doctorate in Genetics, Cell Biology and Biochemistry from the University of California, Irvine followed by a post doctorate at Duke University studying small molecule and protein interactions. Her passion is to apply scientific innovation in solving the world’s greatest challenges and proudly represents BASF’s commitment to sustainability.
Jordan Keller
Head of Renewable Carbon NA
BASF Renewable Carbon (BReC)
Jordan Keller joined BASF twelve years ago as an engineer and has held roles of growing responsibility ever since. Today she is the Head of Renewable Carbon for North America, after more than two years as the Senior Manager Biomass Balance Solutions North America.
Jordan graduated from the University of Texas in 2013 with a degree in chemical engineering and now works for BASF in Houston.
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BASF is a global chemical company that combines economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The company has around 112,000 employees in more than 90 countries, managing over 230 production sites, including 6 Verbund sites. In the United States, BASF runs over 100 production and research and development (R&D) facilities. The company boasts a diverse portfolio of more than 45,000 products for the segments Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural SolutionsIn 2023, BASF reported a turnover of 68.9 billion euros.
BASF is committed to ambitious sustainability targets, including a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero across all scopes by 2050.
In terms of the circular economy, BASF is committed to decoupling growth from resource consumption. The company aims to generate sales of € 10 billion from Loop Solutions for our customers by 2030 (2023: €5 billion). This encompasses revenue from circular products, which are based on renewable or recycled materials or support the recycling proces
