There is a strong push globally to develop so-called circular polymers or materials that use a variety of sourcing, production and advanced recycling methods to minimize their carbon footprint and overall environmental impact. And several organizations exist to tackle the task of certifying that such claims are true, to reassure those who use these resins.
ISCC System GmbH in Cologne, Germany, oversees one of the best-known systems –– International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (www.iscc-system.org). It is a globally applicable sustainability certification system that covers all sustainable feedstocks, including agricultural and forestry biomass, circular materials and renewables, based on advanced-recycling mass balance. Mass balance accounting, meanwhile, is a well-known approach designed to trace the flow of materials through a complex value chain. By documenting and tracking recycled content from supplier through to final delivery to customers, the mass balance approach provides a set of rules for how to allocate the bio-based and/or recycled content to different products to be able to claim and market the content as ‘bio’-based or ‘recycled’-based.
Industry players are issuing press releases virtually every week to announce new advances in the circularity of their polymers. Here are just a few notable recent ones.
Reclaiming ‘techno-polymers’ from EVs
RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers is participating in a project called CarE-Service, which aims to demonstrate innovative circular economy business models based on advanced mobility services exploiting hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs). Such business models will entail re-use, remanufacturing and recycling of components and materials of hybrid and electric vehicles for applications in the automotive sector as well as in other sectors. Italy’s Radici is the only engineering polymer producer participating in the project, which began in 2018 and is coordinated by the National Research Council of Italy.
On its website, the group refers to “techno-polymers” as key target materials. Given their lightweight and metal-replacement capabilities, typical components made from such engineering resins include air intake manifolds, gear shift housings, bumpers, valve covers, engine covers, wheel covers, etc. They estimate that in each small EV, such components account for a value of about 200 euros.
The group has performed quantitative feasibility studies on polyamide recovered from automotive components. The parts have been dismantled from end-of-life cars, properly treated, and then recompounded. The aim of the project is to produce engineering polymers using secondary raw materials obtained from end-of-life parts and to obtain performance comparable to that of engineering polymers made with virgin raw materials. In July, RadiciGroup posted this video explaining its involvement in the project. It shows how engineering polymers can be manufactured from recycled materials and still deliver performance comparable to engineering polymers from virgin raw materials.
“The process is anything but simple,” notes Riccardo Galeazzi, CAE analyst, post-consumer product manager of RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers MKT and Tech Service, “but it is made possible by our over 40 years of experience in recovering materials.”
Climate-neutral polycarbonate
Germany’s Covestro AG also is focused on helping to enable a more circular automotive industry. “Our aim is to introduce the world’s first climate-neutral polycarbonate (PC) plastics this year,” proclaims Jochen Hardt, the firm’s vice president of global marketing mobility. “This is an important step in achieving our vision of becoming fully circular.”
The polycarbonates are climate neutral “from the cradle to the factory gate” thanks to the introduction of raw materials sourced from mass-balanced biowaste and residues, as well as renewable energy accumulated during the production process. Covestro is already offering ISCC-Plus-certified polycarbonates, which are attributed to renewable raw materials using the mass balance approach and enable a considerable reduction in the carbon footprint.
By incorporating renewable energy, Covestro says it will probably fully reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the cradle to the factory gate for these selected products. The products have the same high quality and performance as fossil-based polycarbonates and are a drop-in replacement without having to change existing processes or workflows.
Separately, Covestro has collaborated with partners to develop polyurethane (PU) raw materials in which up to 20% of the petroleum-based raw materials previously used are replaced by CO₂ gas. Applications of such polyols, called Cardyon®, are currently being developed in the automotive sector, as well. Partially bio-based precursors for automotive clear coatings from the firm’s Desmodur® N range also contribute to circularity as alternative raw materials.
Covestro says it has agreed to supply H.B. Fuller, one of the world’s largest makers of industrial adhesives, with a raw material that has an attributed share of renewable feedstock via mass-balance. The mass-balanced PU raw material is ISCC-Plus certified and is to be used in a reactive hot-melt adhesive from H.B. Fuller, where it will replace a proportion of the previous fossil raw materials. It is mainly used in the automotive, wood, composite, and textile industries.
Renewable feedstocks for making PC …
SABIC, the Saudi Arabia-based petrochemical giant, has announced that its Functional Forms plant in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands, has been accredited under the ISCC-Plus scheme for providing a new range of Lexan™ polycarbonate film and sheet products based on certified renewable feedstock. The firm adds that its new film and sheet product offering “connects with the company’s existing TruCircle™ initiative and responds to a globally growing demand for further sustainable material solutions in an increasingly more circular plastics economy.”
For SABIC, this means that for each ton of renewable or circular feedstock fed into the production process and substituting fossil-based feedstock, approximately one ton of the output material can be classified as either renewable or circular.
SABIC also recently launched what it claims to be the industry’s first certified circular PC resin and blends made from the upcycling of post-consumer mixed plastic. These products are based on advanced recycling and, according to an internal SABIC life cycle analysis, offer a potential carbon footprint reduction of up to 23% in comparison to its incumbent. Through a process called pyrolysis, difficult-to-recycle used plastic is broken down into a liquid called pyrolysis oil. This is then used as a feedstock to create certified circular building blocks for high-performance plastics with the same properties as the virgin material –– in this case, polycarbonate. The circular PC resin produced in this manner diverts waste material that otherwise could be destined for incineration or landfill, SABIC says.
… and for making ABS resin
Belgium-based Indaver, a sustainable waste management company, and German styrenics producer INEOS Styrolution this summer said they had produced the first ABS resin made with a styrene component that is based on recycled feedstock. They are calling the resulting material ABrS. The production of ABrS marks a significant milestone in the project, according to INEOS. The project is funded by the EU LIFE program, the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and resource efficiency.
INEOS Styrolution produced the first 10 kilograms of ABrS at its laboratory in Cologne, Germany. The firm’s R&D partner, Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH, subsequently processed the material. Initial testing at the INEOS lab in Cologne did not reveal any measurable differences to native material.
Production of ABrS is said to offer up to 30% lower greenhouse gas footprint compared to production of native ABS. Petra Inghelbrecht, project leader for the ABSolutely Circular research program, said: “The first production of ABrS at lab scale is a successful proof of concept. With the upcoming construction of a polystyrene recycling plant and an ABrS mini-plant in Antwerp becoming operational, we will be able to make another significant step forward towards the production of ABS from recycled feedstock at commercial scale.”
DSM, Neste partner on feedstock development
Royal DSM and Finland’s Neste Oyj are partnering to help DSM Engineering Materials start replacing a significant portion of the fossil feedstock used to date in the manufacture of its high-performance polymers portfolio with feedstock produced from recycled waste plastics and/or 100% bio-based hydrocarbons. These polymers are used, for example, in the automotive, electronics and packaging industries. The aim is to replace several thousand tons of fossil feedstock in the production of polymers with alternative, sustainable feedstock, such as bio-based and waste plastic-based hydrocarbons.
Neste produces its bio-based hydrocarbons entirely from renewable raw materials, such as waste and residue oils and fats. For the production of waste-plastic-derived feedstock, Neste says it focuses on plastics that cannot be mechanically recycled and have previously been directed to incineration and landfilling.
Separately, DSM Engineering Materials business has with Sympatex Technologies to launch mass-balanced bio-based Arnitel®, a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). DSM manufactures its bio-based Arnitel® with bio-based feedstock using a mass-balance approach. The end product contains more than 25% bio-based content by weight. Sympatex uses Arnitel® to manufacture its waterproof, windproof, and breathable membranes for sports applications. The transition to bio-based feedstock will maintain the functional properties of Arnitel® while enabling Sympatex to easily shift to a more sustainable solution with a lower carbon footprint without having to requalify materials.
Berry Healthcare plants gain accreditation
Further downstream, meanwhile, packaging giant Berry Global Inc. announced recently that its two Berry Healthcare facilities in Italy have achieved ISCC-Plus accreditation. This allows the sites to sell to healthcare customers ISCC-Plus-certified packaging and plastic components that contribute to a circular economy approach based on advanced recycling and mass balance. Berry says that certification of the two Italian factories –– in Osnago and Sirone –– is in line with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s view that mass balance is an important element in the move to a circular economy.
Upgrade to Prospector’s Unlimited Premium services to add search filters for biopolymers to your search toolkit. Learn more and upgrade today!
The views, opinions and technical analyses presented here are those of the author or advertiser, and are not necessarily those of ULProspector.com or UL. The appearance of this content in the UL Prospector Knowledge Center does not constitute an endorsement by UL or its affiliates.
All content is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior authorization from UL or the content author.
The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. While the editors of this site may verify the accuracy of its content from time to time, we assume no responsibility for errors made by the author, editorial staff or any other contributor.
UL does not make any representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness or completeness of the content. UL does not warrant the performance, effectiveness or applicability of sites listed or linked to in any content.
I sure do hope this will be available globally and are available specially to third world countries/.