2025 Future of Summit: Covestro's Sustainable Chemical Future with Daniel Kochik

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The boundaries between chemical innovation, policy development, and sustainability are blurring, creating new opportunities and challenges for industry leaders. Daniel Kochik, Manager of Government Relations at Covestro, offers a fascinating glimpse into how a global chemical giant navigates complex regulatory landscapes while pursuing ambitious sustainability goals.

"You're never six feet away from a Covestro product," Kochik explains, highlighting the ubiquitous yet often invisible role that advanced materials play in our daily lives. From automotive components and renewable energy infrastructure to countless consumer goods, the company's polyurethanes and polycarbonates serve as building blocks for modern life. This omnipresence creates both responsibility and opportunity for driving sustainability through innovation.

Kochik articulates the tension between regulatory frameworks and technological advancement that shapes the industry's evolution. While robust oversight is essential, he notes that government processes can sometimes become barriers to bringing beneficial new technologies to market. His work focuses on helping policymakers understand how chemical innovations enable broader sustainability transitions – from lightweighting vehicles to improving thermal management in electric batteries. The goal is creating regulatory environments that protect public health while allowing innovation to flourish.

Perhaps most compelling is Kochik's perspective on changing public perceptions of the chemical industry. Far from the "smokestacks and dirty outputs" of yesteryear, today's advanced manufacturing facilities often release water cleaner than when it arrived and employ sophisticated emissions reduction technologies. These efforts reflect a fundamental shift as sustainability moves from peripheral concern to core business strategy. For young professionals seeking purpose-driven careers bridging science and policy, this evolving landscape offers rich opportunities to make meaningful impact.

Ready to explore how chemical innovation is driving the circular economy? Visit covestro.com to learn more about sustainable materials transforming industries worldwide.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome to the IdeaGen Future of Global Summit
here in Washington DC.
Live at the NED here today withDaniel Kolchik, Manager
Government Relations.
Daniel, welcome, yeah, hi,Great to see you.
So, Daniel, you're dealing withGovernment Affairs on behalf of

(00:33):
Covestro here in Washington.
What are you doing specificallyto drive the sustainability
goals over the next decade?
Daniel Kolchik.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Sure.
So Covestro is a globalchemical company.
We make polyurethanes andpolycarbonates.
Our products are in everythingyou touch and see.
Our company slogan is you'renever six feet away from a
Covestro product.
And so when you think of thatcontext, think of us as a major
global producer of thesechemicals.
Major global producer of thesechemicals.
Our global circularity andsustainability goals originate

(01:09):
in all the markets where weoperate, but they have to be
consistent across.
And so for us, here in DC, as agovernment affairs team, our
goal is to make sure thatpolicymakers are aware of what
our priorities are and ensuringthat we can get some level of
global alignment across thebusiness entities across the

(01:30):
across the world.
And so, for us, we'reconstantly reinforcing the need
for government to both invest in, but also promote and support
new investments in thesetechnologies that help us as a
company to meet our goals, butalso help the industry to
transition into that directionand continue to grow our overall

(01:54):
footprint as a leader in thatspace.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
And so, in terms of policies and regulations, what
are the most critical toenabling the circular economy
and, with that, innovation, inthe United States specifically?

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, I think for us, you know, a big element is
finding a way to help offset alot of the costs associated with
both the scale up of those newtechnologies, but also a
regulatory environment thatencourages new technologies.
Regulatory environment thatencourages new technologies and
we see this not only in thechemical industry but across

(02:30):
industries that a lot of timesthe barrier to getting a new
product to market, be it achemical or be it a
pharmaceutical product, isgovernment.
In a lot of ways, there's maybea lack of understanding of what
the benefits of a new productare.
There may be a long queue ofchemicals or products that are
in an approval stream, and sofor us, you know, we see the

(02:52):
need for government to continueto find ways to allow for that
innovation to take place.
And I think you know, in thiscurrent environment we're
confident that you know we havesome of the best scientists,
some of the best innovationsright here in the US.
We have a great regulatoryframework to help bring a lot of

(03:14):
these products to market.
We just really need thatimpetus from policymakers to
encourage companies and supportthat scale up so we can be
prepared for the future.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Well, that's an incredible trajectory and wide
range of issues that you'redealing with, everything from
plastics to transportation,right.
And so how do you prioritizeand message these in such a
complex policy environment?
And you mentioned, like how doyou rise above the den in this
complex policy environment?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
It can certainly be a challenge, I mean, I think, for
us.
You know we look at as acompany that that provides our
inputs into pretty mucheverything, every end market,
you know.
But let's take automobiles, forexample.
You know the future of cars arethat they're getting bigger,
they're getting heavier.
Um, they may be converting todifferent energy propulsion
systems, so electric vehicles orinternal combustion.

(04:07):
And you know, with thattransition, as things get bigger
, they need to be safer.
We at Covestro, we're able toproduce new polymers that can
help to lightweight anautomobile, that can deal with
the different thermal capacitiesof these plastics, that can
help to encourage and allow fornew technologies to be adopted.

(04:28):
And so we need government tounderstand that and recognize
that.
But we also need a continuedpush by our peers in the
industry to showcase what thebenefits of using those polymers
are.
And so you know.
So for us it's really gettingan understanding of being able

(04:48):
to show what those benefits areto policymakers and also change
the understanding of it's notnecessarily that this is a
plastic which may, to somepeople, have a different
connotation, but it's ahigh-tech new technology that
can help and deliver on thoseresults.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
It's an incredible perspective, daniel, and so how
do you work with internal teamsat Covestro to translate this
policy into action?
Yeah, and you know, really, atthe facility and R&D level.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I think you know I'mnot a chemist right here in DC,
we're not science experts, butwe do rely on very strongly our
folks both in our R&D department, our regulatory affairs
department and also right on oursites all across the US and
across the globe, to help toexplain to us what we need to be
telling policymakers.

(05:43):
And so you, you know, I thinkour goal is to be sort of that
driver of information and we canhelp to translate.
Very complex, as you said,these things are becoming more
complex as time goes on and astechnologies evolve.
So we're trying to, you know,work with them, but helping to
refine the message and how wecommunicate that at a high level

(06:05):
to policymakers, and so we dowork very closely with our
internal folks on that level topolicymakers, and so we do work
very closely with our internalfolks.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
And then how do you take that policy, development
and influence et cetera in?

Speaker 2 (06:19):
terms of that with the influence on your innovation
strategy.
Yeah, absolutely.
I think you know we and sort ofcoming back to what we said
earlier we need government to bea driver of innovation.
We need them to support anenvironment in which companies
can continue to innovate and beable to bring these products to
market.
And so I think by having thatinternal connection and really
showcasing you know, there's areal opportunity for us to bring

(06:45):
products that we're innovatorsWe've been innovators since our
roots as a company bringproducts that we're innovators
We've been innovators since ourroots as a company, dating back,
you know, to the originalfoundation of polyurethane back
in the 1930s or polycarbonateback in the 1950s.
We want to continue to scale upthese new technologies to adopt
to what our customers want, andto do that we do need that

(07:07):
support from government, but wealso need our internal R&D and
our scientists, who are, youknow, very, very, very much
experts in this space, to helpus bring those issues to
government, to then allow forthem to create that environment
for us to operate.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
And then, how do you balance this global policy
alignment while engaging the USregulatory environment along
with the congressionalstakeholders?

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, absolutely, I think you know for us, you know
we're headquartered in Germany,so we have, you know, we have
18,000 people across the globedifferent ideas where you know
we're innovating for the marketsin which we operate.
And we also produce in themarkets where we you know, for
example, in the United States.
You know a lot of our customersare right here, but we also

(07:55):
take our products and they gooverseas or they go into other
countries where our customerswill use them to refine them
into additional products, and so, for us, we need that alignment
.
We need to ensure that we'reable to have that ability to
have regulatory certainty andensure that the standards are
similar, and so we're advocatingon the Hill for those types of,

(08:17):
you know, a general alignmentwith certain standards that
allow us then to have thatassurance internally that we can
continue to grow from our USbase Incredible.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
And so then we move on to misconceptions.
What are some of the biggestmisconceptions about the
chemical industry and the roleyou have in sustainability, and
how is Covestro working?

Speaker 2 (08:45):
to change that Absolutely.
I mean, I think, the one areathat you know, I think folks
like to think back to, you knowthe smokestacks and the dirty
outputs from chemical facilitiesand you know, in the modern era
that's just not the case.
We're really proud of newtechnologies that we have on
site to reduce our emissions.
You know we've set veryambitious global goals on

(09:06):
greenhouse gas emissionreduction.
I mean also reusing the waterthat we use on site.
You know the one example isthat we bring water in use, it
through our processes, and thewater that comes out is clean
and that which came in.
So we have these technologiesand we're working to scale them
up, and here in the US is agreat place to do that with the

(09:28):
amount of investment and theamount of opportunity to do so.
But I think for us our realgoal is to continue to encourage
both policymakers at the state,federal and local level to see
that advantage and to showcaseit for us, because as an
industry we want to build andmake our products here in the US

(09:51):
that we can then set thestandard for everyone else.
Our customers demand it.
Our end customers want newer,better, innovative technologies
that allow them to then selltheir products with those
elements built in all the waythrough their production chain,
and so, in order for us to kindof change the message, we see

(10:16):
our technologies as helping toenable the future.
We think of a wind turbine on awindmill, for example the
polymers used to make that.
Or think of an electric vehicle.
Some of the panels and thebattery components that are used
there use our high-techmaterials, and so you can't do

(10:38):
that without using these newtechnologies, and so I think we
continue to stress that as ourjourney to help enable a more
sustainable and circular economy.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Incredible, incredible perspective.
And so, in terms of yourinternal communications,
including your newsletter, yourbriefings, etc.
How does that help build a moreinformed, innovation-driven
culture amongst your employees?

Speaker 2 (11:03):
at Covestro.
Yeah, absolutely, I mean, Ithink one thing that we've
really worked to do is to getthe perspectives from folks all
over the world.
We'll sort of share what we'redoing here in the United States.
Our folks, especially here inthe US and abroad and more
senior levels, they really enjoypolicy.

(11:24):
They want to be part of it.
In this very complex regulatoryand policy environment, they
have to be engaged, and so theemphasis is on us to communicate
everything that we see as apotential risk or an opportunity
for us to pursue and using thatframing that in the lens of
what we as an innovative companycan do, while also

(11:49):
understanding some of thosenuances.
We take our strategic directionfrom our executives and, if
they're informed on how we canhelp to show them what the
potential impacts of not takingaction on a certain area or not
being proactive it does posesome reputational risk to us,
and so I think for us continuingto constantly educate our

(12:12):
internal colleagues and get abetter understanding from them
what we need to be focusing on.
It creates that internalcommunication and conversation,
and then we can relay that backto policymakers.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
That's incredible, and so just a final question on
advice what advice would youprovide to rising leaders
interested in bridging science,policy and business?

Speaker 2 (12:34):
for public impact.
Yeah, I mean, I think, findingan organization that aligns with
your goals.
We're seeing that more and more, that folks want, especially
among the new generation, wantto work in a place where they
feel like they can have apurpose.
And when they ask, well, how doyou find purpose in?
Like a chemical company, forexample?
And the reality is everythingwe've talked about, we're
enabling new technologies,bringing new technologies to the

(12:56):
market that have real, a realcapacity to help transform our
economy and really continue toestablish the United States as
the place to do manufacturing.
And so, for me, you know it'ssomething that drove me to
Covestro.
And so, for me, you know it'ssomething that drove me to
Covestro.
But finding a place that reallyaligns with your own values and

(13:36):
what you, how you feel that youcan contribute to that mission,
I think is critical connectionsthat we have to consider as
we're bringing any product tomarket.
What's the regulatoryenvironment?
Who are the policymakers thatare interested in this?
Those are all very important toget an understanding of how a
company can continue to be aleader and be innovative.
And so really finding thatorganization that supports your
values, I think, is really keyto that.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
Incredible, daniel.
And so if folks want to findout more about Covestro, how can
they do that?
Yeah sure.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
You can visit our website, covestrocom, and
directly outreach to me.
For sure, we can provide youwith any information you need as
well.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Daniel Kolchik Covestro, thank you.
Changing the world, thank you.
One day at a time, Yep.
Information you need as well.
Daniel Kolchik Covestro,changing the world, thank you.
One day at a time, yep.
Thank you.
Absolutely.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.