Geleen (NL), 27 November 2020 – Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, today announced that it will start a strategic partnership with Neste, the world’s leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel and a forerunner as provider of renewable and circular solutions for the chemical industry, to enable the production of high performance polymers. This enables DSM and its customers to reduce the carbon footprint of their own products whilst supporting the industry to transition to a circular economy.
In the new strategic collaboration, DSM Engineering Materials will 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.
Over the short term, the collaboration aims to replace several thousand tons of fossil feedstock in the production of polymers with alternative, sustainable feedstock: 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 focuses on plastics that cannot be mechanically recycled and have previously been directed to incineration and landfilling.
Thanks to being a drop-in replacement to commonly-used fossil feedstock in the polymers production, Neste’s products are suitable for existing production infrastructures and enables DSM to produce more sustainable products with consistently high quality using its existing processes.
All of the chemically recycled and bio-based materials within the value chain will have the globally recognized ISCC Plus certification and will not require re-qualification.
The new strategic cooperation underlines a strong commitment from both partners to contribute to a circular economy by collaborating throughout the value chain, and addressing the increasing consumer, societal and regulatory demand for more sustainable circular solutions.
Shruti Singhal, President DSM Engineering Materials said: “We have a long history of delivering tangible proof points of our commitment to sustainability. As a next step we are going to even further reduce our footprint and will offer a full alternative range of our existing portfolio based on bio- and/or recycled-based materials by 2030. Together with our upstream partner Neste and other value chain partners we’re ready to drive our industry forward, seize the sustainable opportunities ahead, and deliver on our purpose of creating brighter lives for all.”
Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President, Renewable Polymers and Chemicals from Neste said: “Neste and DSM are frontrunners in providing sustainable solutions to the market. Both companies have a similar sense of urgency towards creating a healthier future for our children. Neste is very pleased to announce this partnership with DSM through which we can further accelerate the industry transformation towards a more sustainable, circular economy. It is exciting to see how our 100% bio-based and waste plastic based products enable DSM to produce its high performance polymers portfolio with a reduced environmental footprint.”
www.dsm.com/
DSM and Neste announce strategic partnership to create high performance materials made from sustainable feedstock
Covestro cooperates with RAL to present trend colours of the RAL Colour Feeling 2021+ system
The colour matrix RAL Colour Feeling 2021+ is an important guide to the colour trends that will determine the product, industrial and architectural design of the future. In cooperation with RAL, a leading provider of colour standards, Covestro has introduced 15 trendy colours of this matrix in its polycarbonate plastics. This is the first time the versatile plastic has been coloured in the colours of a RAL colour fan. The project is another example of Covestro’s commitment to researching solutions for CMF design (Colour, Material, Finish).
RAL was founded in 1925 and introduced the first industrial colour standard, which became widely accepted as an accurate colour reference. As a provider of colour matching services, the company today offers comprehensive colour tools and solutions for a wide range of industries and sectors.
“As an internationally recognized colour matching system, RAL offers professional colour cards for industrial design applications that require the highest level of colour accuracy,” said Dr. Christopher Stillings, Vice President and Global Head of Colour & Design in the Polycarbonates segment of Covestro. “As one of the leading polycarbonate suppliers, Covestro is not only a pioneer in the research and development of material technologies, but also has strong colour and design teams worldwide. Our collaboration with RAL underlines the precision that our polycarbonate materials provide for colour matching.”
“Through this collaboration, both partners offer designers a comprehensive colour and material approach. This gives designers broad support in winning new customers and creating surprising solutions for existing customers,” said Markus Frentrop, Global Head of RAL Colours.
Even the same colours in different materials lead to subtle changes in the visual experience. To ensure accurate and fast colour matching, Covestro’s colour and design centers in Italy, Thailand, India and China worked together with RAL on solutions and completed the matching of the 15 trend colours within just one month. In September this year, Covestro used the RAL colour codes for the first time in the company’s two CMF trend reports for the automotive as well as electronics and appliance industries.
Going forward, as part of its Open Innovation initiative, Covestro plans to explore opportunities to collaborate with global colour standards providers to provide additional CMF design and implementation solutions for polycarbonate materials. With these solutions, Covestro aims to inspire more partners to develop efficient, creative designs to ultimately deliver value to customers.
With a global network of colour and design experts, Covestro is able to offer its customers a variety of CMF solutions around the world.
Tosaf optimizes carrier material for low-emission POM masterbatches
Karlstein/Germany, November 2020 – Tosaf Color Service’s color, functional and
combination masterbatches for POM are now based on particularly low-emission carrier
materials. In addition, the pigments have been optimally selected with regard to their
effectiveness. As a result, the low emission data of the starting material – depending on the
POM type – are almost fully retained, even after coloring and compounding. The new
masterbatches thus help to ensure compliance with the strict specifications of the automotive
industry for molded parts, and also with the requirements regarding personnel safety. The
emission-optimized masterbatches are suitable for all POM grades. At the customer's
request, ongoing applications can also be switched to the new technology.
Tests carried out at an independent institute show the efficiency of the adopted measures,
based on the example of a conventional, low-emission POM grade, to which a combination
masterbatch was added. By switching from the conventional masterbatch to one with
optimized color pigment and carrier material, the formaldehyde release was reduced from
non-permitted 8.8 ppm to a very good rate of below 6 ppm.
Rudolf Reinhart, Product Manager at Tosaf Color Service, comments: "The carrier material
used by us is an easy-flowing, low-emission POM grade from a leading global manufacturer.
Customers who use our new masterbatches will always be on the safe side because the
emission data from the base polymer are hardly affected." And Sales Manager Andreas
Kruschinski adds: "With the consistently high batch-to-batch quality level of our
masterbatches, and because of their ease of handling, our new low-emission grades are
gaining a growing number of authorizations and are also registering the first series
applications for car interiors. SCHAUENBURG Industrietechnik GmbH is one of our pilot
customers in this area. In addition, we are experiencing growing demand in all typical POM
applications in a wide variety of industries."
The portfolio of low-emission POM masterbatches offered by Tosaf Color Service ranges
from grades in standard and customized colors through functional versions, e.g. with
lubricants, UV or heat stabilizers, to combination grades with or without a color component.
Typical applications beyond automotive interior/exterior parts and conveyor technology
include components for office and entertainment electronics, as well as white goods including
small and large kitchen devices.
Tosaf Color Service is a pioneer in the field of masterbatches and has been developing
innovative products and services in plastics coloring since 1970. Its broad range of products
covers standard colors, additives and combination solutions that meet not only all kinds of
customized color requirements but also satisfy the related functional challenges. Tosaf Color
Service is a subsidiary company of Tosaf.
Tosaf, Alon Tavor/Israel, has been developing and producing high-quality additives,
compounds and color masterbatches for the plastics industry for more than three decades.
Through the continuous expansion of its product portfolio, its production capacities and its
regional coverage, it has become a global, market-oriented organization. With more than
1,000 employees in production facilities, warehouses and sales offices distributed around the
world, Tosaf now serves customers in more than 50 countries in Europe, North and South
America, Asia and the Middle East.
www.color-service.de
SABIC introduces new LEXAN Anti-Fog film for clear safety visors, lenses and goggles in high-humidity front-line work environments
SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, today announced the successful commercialization of LEXAN™ HP92AF Anti-Fog film, targeted especially at demanding COVID-19 protection equipment such as safety face shields and goggles in front-line work environments. The film product features a one-sided coating that extends the time-to-fog even at very high ambient humidity, ensuring long-lasting optical clarity. LEXAN HP92AF has confirmed its superior anti-fog performance in extensive testing under harshest conditions (see video) and does not exhibit any hazing at saturation as could be observed with competitive materials. Moreover, the anti-fog coating technology has no compromising effect on the abrasion resistance and impact strength of the polycarbonate film.
“We have identified a gap in the market when it comes to the effective protection of front-line workers against the COVID-19 pathogen. Particularly in work environments subjected to sudden temperature changes and high humidity, visors and safety goggles often fail to provide adequate long-term anti-fog performance. As a result, they may not be worn as required or must be taken off for frequent wiping,” says Ahmet Kizilirmakli, Senior Business Manager Americas, SABIC. “Our new LEXAN HP92AF Anti-Fog film offers the solution many companies have been looking for. Combining the characteristics of excellent optical quality, high impact strength of polycarbonate with our advanced anti-fog technology, makes the product the ultimate choice for face shields and other clear view personal protection equipment with long-lasting optical clarity in these environments.”
LEXAN HP92AF Anti-Fog film has already proven its excellent optical performance in several pilot applications for healthcare facilities and meat packing plants, where high humidity and temperature fluctuations can occur especially in transition zones between controlled and uncontrolled work climate. Next to visors, facemasks and safety goggles, further targeted applications include motorcycle visors, ski goggles, automotive cluster lenses, medical instrument lenses and displays as well as industrial lenses.
SABIC’s new anti-fog film product shows excellent die cutting and printability. The anti-fog film is thermoformable and withstands repeated cleaning, preferably using lukewarm, mild soap solutions or common glass cleaners. With a width of 48 inches (1,220 mm), LEXAN HP92AF Anti-Fog film is globally available in a wide range of gauges from 7 to 30 mil (175 to 750 µm).
“The rapid commercialization of LEXAN HP92AF Anti-Fog film underscores our commitment to helping our customers enhance the protection of front-line workers against COVID-19”, adds Mark Troszak, Film Segment Leader at SABIC. “In high-humidity environments and wherever else the time-to-fog makes a difference, this product can ensure optimum optical clarity over extended time periods, allowing the users of face shields and other transparent safety equipment to concentrate on their jobs in the safest way without being impaired by fogging.”
In addition, Troszak points out that SABIC has the capability to satisfy customer specific requirements by adapting this technology to other existing LEXAN coated film solutions.
www.sabic.com
Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages relies on resource-saving technology from KHS
The emergency could only be averted at the last minute by implementing rigorous measures. Water consumption was limited to 50 liters per person in comparison to the 300 liters consumed per capita per day in the United States. Toilets are flushed only when absolutely necessary and with rainwater if possible. Hands are washed less frequently and instead disinfected more often. The price of water doubled within just three months. The agricultural sector is also contributing by reducing its water consumption by 50%. This has led to a loss of jobs for 37,000 people and a drastic increase in food prices.
As large water consumers, beverage bottlers such as CCPB are particularly under the scrutiny of the public in situations as dramatic as this. “We’re of course expected to set a good example,” explains Morse. “We have to be accountable to our customers and the public – not only in times of crisis, but every single day.”
The beverage manufacturer sees the awareness of corporate social responsibility as a key success factor for a very good reason. “The full focus is on sustainability,” Morse emphasizes. “We’re working relentlessly to minimize our carbon footprint at all levels. We started doing so in the early 2000’s by combining the four manufacturing plants within our territory to form a mega manufacturing facility in Parow Industria, a suburb to the east of Cape Town.” Today, this includes activities such as Coca-Cola’s “World Without Waste” program, with which, by 2030, the company plans to collect and recycle as many bottles and cans from refuse as can be sold worldwide. CCPB is involved, for example, in organizations that want to expand the recycling of PET and glass bottles in South Africa. This is a logical step considering that the bottler makes its own preforms and is desperately searching for rPET in order to achieve its goal of using an average of 25% recycled material. Even the PET bottles for the Bonaqua water brand are made of 100% recyclate.
CCPB’s sustainability strategy also includes using more returnable bottles made of both glass and plastic than some of its competitors: the share of the product range is currently around 20% and should reach 40% by 2025. This not only significantly helps to prevent waste and thus achieve ecological sustainability but is also viable from an economic standpoint. If a refillable PET bottle is returned, the product is sold for about 30% less – benefiting not only price-sensitive consumers but also the company itself, as in doing so it’s able to reach wider groups of buyers.
The returnable PET bottles are produced on a KHS InnoPET Blomax V stretch blow molder that was put into operation in 2019 – one of the first ever on the market. It scores above all with resource savings and a production process with a significantly smaller carbon footprint. Thanks to its optimized near-infrared (NIR) heater, this machine from the latest generation of KHS stretch blow molders consumes up to 10% less energy. The AirBackPlus air recovery system also included in the returnable bottle blowing process uses up to 40% less high-pressure air. The new technology also saves on resources when it comes to material consumption: the improved material distribution of the stretch blow molding process now uses the PET located below the neck ring that to date has remained unstretched, enabling lighter preforms to be used.
“We’ve had a good business relationship with KHS for more than forty years,” is how Morse describes relations with the Dortmund engineering company; you can sense the unshakable confidence in the company’s technological expertise accumulated in this time. “We purchased fillers from KHS, for instance, even back in the days of predecessor company SEN. And if bottle formats like the 1.0-liter glass bottle were still on the market today, I’m certain that the machines would still be in operation.”
“We don’t limit ourselves to just delivering machines,” explains Stephan Mürset, regional sales manager at KHS. “We maintain an intensive dialog on an equal footing and understand the specific needs of Greg and his colleagues, for example concerning matters such as CCPB also producing bottles for other bottlers. We have a very similar understanding of technical issues.” Morse confirms that they’re on the same wavelength. “The price isn’t our sole guideline; we buy from people. Of course the technology has to be right; we were really impressed by the simple functionality and downright solidity of the equipment we saw in action at the KHS factory,” he adds.
However, the good relationship thrives not only on sophisticated technology but also on the system provider’s strong service presence in South Africa. “We have a very efficient team here at the Cape,” emphasizes Mürset. “Our local engineers carried out the installation and commissioning work.” The highly competent specialists, some of whom were trained in Dortmund and some at KHS’ own training center in Johannesburg, are of course also available during ongoing operation for activities such as audits, maintenance or repairs.
A major issue in connection with sustainability in South Africa is of course the responsible use of resources – water in particular. Water-saving technology helps in the production process: this modification was successfully completed with two new bottle washers the Dortmund system provider installed and put into operation in Parow last year. One of the machines processes returnable PET at respective capacities of up to 26,400 1.5-liter bottles an hour and up to 19,200 2.0-liter bottles per hour. The other washes up to 36,000 returnable glass bottles an hour with volumes ranging from 300 to 500 milliliters. Thanks to a number of innovations, each of the two uses about 25% less water than their predecessors. Based on this investment and a number of other measures with which CCPB achieves remarkable results, they have greatly helped to save on resources by reducing the water consumed per liter of finished beverage from 3.6 liters to 1.7 liters within the past twelve years.
Since some of the water used comes from their own boreholes, the focus here is also on sustainability in the sense of constant replenishment of the wells. The suitability of each borehole is tested in advance by geological institutions, only 50% of the permitted delivery rate is utilized and pumping is carried out at certain intervals to enable the groundwater to regenerate. Before it’s used to produce beverages, the water is filtered through a nanofilter in six cleaning stages to ensure top-quality water.
Greg Morse is particularly proud of CCPB’s conscientious use of scarce water resources. “There’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t be pleased with our achievements. On the contrary: at the end of last year we and two other companies were awarded a five-star water rating by the City of Cape Town for our exemplary water management.” This commitment also includes participation in various regional initiatives, which among other things ensure that more people have access to clean drinking water.
When the long and persistent rainfall finally began in the Cape region in June 2018 – shortly before the continuously postponed Day Zero – the water levels in the reservoirs slowly rose. This by no means signals a happy ending, however: due to climate change, the people of Cape Town are well aware that droughts can be expected in the future. This is why they continue to exploit all options of using water conscientiously and economically as an invaluable resource. With the help of smartphone apps, the population is constantly kept up to date on the water levels in the reservoirs. Water consumption in the city today has leveled out to between 600 and 800 million liters since the peak of up to 1.2 billion liters per day before the droughts of 2015 to 2018. The entire industry is also investing in technologies to increase its water efficiency. CCPB intends to maintain its position up among the pioneers. “We should never find ourselves in this situation again,” Greg Morse is convinced. “People are much better informed and clearly aware of their responsibilities. Cape Town mastered this challenge very well; other cities with comparable general conditions can benefit from our experience.”
KHS bottle washers score lots of points with technical innovations – also available as retrofits for existing machines.
- Capacity-dependent fresh water control: Adjustment of the fresh water supply to the current machine capacity by a control valve
Much less fresh water consumed at a reduced machine output - ECO carriers: Bottle pockets which are 25% lighter with side openings for improved rinsing
Less caustic and heat carryover in the machine
Less heat absorption, better energy balance
Cleaning media saved
Less mechanical load on the drive system - LESS (Liquid Efficiency Spraying System): Power-saving function for spray pumps which reduces the spray pressure to approx. 0.3 bar during downtimes
80% less energy consumed in standby mode
Option: flexible spray pressure enables processing of lightweight glass and PET bottles - ECO chain: Weight-optimized bottle pocket chain
Service life 25% longer
Less transfer of heat
From Petroleum to Bioplastics
TU Graz researcher Samir Kopacic wants to help ensure that less plastic and more biodegradable materials are used in the future. And develops its own, paper-based packaging.
The love for nature runs in the family
“From an academic point of view, I can do a lot with this topic because it is a mixture of technical chemistry and process engineering – that is, combining my two studies.” Samir Kopacic was born in Gracanica, a small town in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina , attended the international English-language secondary school and then studied technical chemistry and process engineering at Graz University of Technology.
“I already realized in high school that my strengths lie in the natural sciences. Even then I was interested in experimental science subjects and the choice of course was easy. The question was whether I should go in the technical, medical or scientific direction, ”he looks back today. “My 3-year-old daughter feels exactly the same today – she is already very interested in plants, animals and microorganisms.”
Already in high school I realized that my strengths lie in the natural sciences.
Besides his work, he devotes his free time to his families, friends and shared hobbies. He likes to cook for his daughter and his wife – who is also a chemist at TU Graz: “Yesterday, for example, we had chicken breast with a special cheese-like filling and various herbs,” he reveals. He also spends every free minute with his family and outdoors, enjoys hiking and gives living room concerts with his daughter. “She just got a ukulele and I play the guitar. We’re not professionals, but there is potential, ”he smiles.
Heinzel-Mondi-Sappi Award for young researchers
In the future, he would like to continue to work in the technical area, develop his professional and personal skills and use them in innovative fields. “Thanks to a wide range of academic training and professional experience, I could imagine my future professional activity in both the academic and industrial sectors,” he says. “Together with project partners from industry and academia, I do a lot of applied research and am currently involved in an invention that is to be patented. Some of the results could be further developed into products in the next few years. ”The Heinzel-Mondi-Sappi Award shows that the Austrian paper and packaging industry also has a similar opinionthat the young researcher received in October 2020 for his research activities. In any case, Kopacic himself is firmly convinced “that we need a change of course in Europe with regard to plastic consumption and must rely on biomaterials in the future.”
https://www.tugraz.at/
Audi and KIT are working on recycling method for automotive plastics
A large number of components in automobiles are made from plastics. They have to meet exacting safety, heat resistance and quality requirements. That is why, so far, only petroleum-based materials have been suitable for manufacturing plastic components in automobiles that are subjected to particularly intensive wear. Such materials are not recyclable in most cases. Whereas plastics of the same type can often be mechanically recycled, recycling of mixed plastic waste poses a major challenge. Audi and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) are therefore launching a pilot project for chemical recycling as part of the “Industrial Resource Strategies” THINKTANK in order to feed such mixed plastic fractions back into a resource-conserving circular system.
A“We want to establish smart circular systems in our supply chains and make efficient use of resources,” says Marco Philippi, Senior Director Procurement Strategy. “Chemical recycling has great potential for this: If plastic components can be produced from pyrolysis oil instead of petroleum, it would be possible to significantly increase the proportion of sustainably manufactured components in automobiles. In the long run, this method can also play a role in end-of-life vehicle recycling.”
The “Chemical Recycling of Plastics in Automotive Engineering” pilot project targets the creation of smart circular systems for plastics and to establish this method as a complement to mechanical recycling and replacement of energetic recovery. Partnering with KIT, Audi intends to initially test the technical feasibility of chemical recycling and to evaluate the method in terms of its economy and environmental impacts. These evaluations are performed at KIT by teams led by ProfessorDieter Stapf (PhD) at the Institute for Technical Chemistry (ITC) and Dr. Rebekka Volk at the Institute for Industrial Production (IIP). For this purpose, the company provides plastic components that are no longer needed, such as fuel tanks, wheel trim parts and radiator grills, from Audi models returning from the German dealership network, for example. These plastic components are processed into pyrolysis oil by chemical recycling. The quality of this oil corresponds to that of petroleum products, and materials made from it are equally high-grade as new ones. In the medium run, components made from pyrolysis oil can be used again in automobiles.
So far, chemical recycling has been the only method that can be used to convert such mixed plastic waste into products equaling the quality of new ones. As a result, a wider range of plastics can be recovered. Such closed material loops have several advantages. They conserve valuable resources because less primary material is required. This, in turn, saves energy and costs – and is beneficial to the environment. Audi is one of the first automobile manufacturers to test this recycling method in a pilot project with plastics from automobile production. “Recycling automotive plastics has not been possible for many components so far. That is why we are doing pioneering work here together with Audi,” says Professor Dieter Stapf, Head of the Institute for Technical Chemistry at KIT. “If we want to close these loops, we need to develop suitable methods for this.”
This project is conducted by the THINKTANK Industrial Resource Strategies which the Baden-Württemberg state government, together with industry and supported by academia, has established at KIT. “The THINKTANK is focused on a holistic view of raw material loops. Chemical recycling can be a major component of comprehensive plastics recycling. This makes it such an interesting proposition for the automotive industry. The THINKTANK and Audi are jointly addressing a central issue of making automobiles more sustainable and environmentally friendly irrespective of their type of powertrain, going forward,” says Dr. Christian Kühne, the Managing Director of the THINKTANK.
Audi has identified chemical recycling as an opportunity together with its suppliers as part of CO2 workshops. The objective of Audi’s CO2 program is to use resources as efficiently as possible and to reduce CO2 emissions in the upstream value chain, clearly focusing on materials that are either required in large quantities or entail particularly energy-intensive manufacturing processes. A successful case in point is the Aluminium Closed Loop with which Audi and its suppliers managed to recover aluminum waste and improve it to new-product quality level, thus avoiding some 150,000 metric tons of CO2 on the environmental balance sheet just in 2019.
The company is planning to gradually increase the proportion of secondary materials in its models. The most recent example is the utilization of PET in the Audi A3. PET is a plastic polymer that can be separated from other materials with which it may have been combined and is therefore easier to recycle. For the Audi A3, for instance, three textile seat covers are available with a recycled material content of up to 89 percent. At the moment, the seat covers are not completely made of recyclable materials. “The challenge is the lower fabric, which is connected to the upper material with an adhesive. We are working on replacing this too with recyclable polyester,” says Ute Grönheim, who is responsible for textile materials development at Audi. “Our goal is to manufacture the seat cover completely from the same type of material so that it can be recycled. We’re not far from achieving this goal.” Going forward, all textile seat covers are supposed to be made of recycled materials across all model ranges. If its technical feasibility can be demonstrated, Audi plans to industrialize the technology and then progressively apply it to more and more components.
https://www.audi.com/
RS MULITCUT Heating tunnel
Designed to heat rigid plastic pipes and profiles before cutting.
Hard materials sometimes have the property of splintering or generating cutting chips when they are chipped when cold.
By heating the material in the inline process, we achieve a clean and chip-free cut. There is no need for expensive post-processing.
Our heating tunnel works ideally in connection with our RS MULTICUT rotary cutter MC-NG.
In this application, the preheating sections we manufacture have 2 heaters each 3,000 watts. The heat supply is regulated depending on the speed. In addition, an extremely fast on / off function is integrated so that the amount of heat can be controlled precisely.
Different heat levels are available for different polymer types, product sizes and line speeds.
All of our heating tunnels are fully safeguarded to protect the user and avoid the risk of fire.
Suitable polymers: impact-resistant, rigid PVC, HDPE, PB, PP.
https://schlicht-gmbh.de/
SABIC EXPANDS POST-CONSUMER RECYCLED ENGINEERING THERMOPLASTICS FOR CONSUMER ELECTRONICS AND E&E APPLICATIONS
Responding to calls from major brands in the consumer electronics business and electrics and electronics (E&E) industry as a whole for more sustainable materials, SABIC – a global leader in the chemical industry – announced that its engineering thermoplastics business is expanding its portfolio of CYCOLOY™ and LEXAN™ resins containing high levels of post-consumer recycled material (PCR). Typical applications for the portfolio will include consumer electronics and accessories such as chargers and adapters, printers, copiers and laptop housing.
The new PCR material is blended with the virgin material to create compounds with PCR levels of initially up to 30%. According to an internal SABIC LCA Study, these compounds offer potentially significant reductions in carbon footprint of up to 25% and in energy consumption of up to 30% compared to virgin material.
SABIC hopes to be able to offer materials with PCR content of up to 60% in 2021. The compounds and their properties will be tailored according to different industry requirements.
“The initiative to produce a broader portfolio of engineering thermoplastics with PCR content complements our existing efforts in making base resins from certified renewable feedstock. Together, our circular solutions from our TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services can help to improve plastic recyclability, lower emissions and drive towards closing the loop on used plastic,” said Sergi Monros, Vice President of Performance Polymers & Industry Solutions for Petrochemicals at SABIC. “Our vision of a circular economy requires collaboration across the value chain, and we are committed to working with downstream and upstream partners to drive the transformation needed.”
The extended range of materials will contain PCR polycarbonate coming from applications such as five-gallon water bottles and optical media. “Such products are made with clear polycarbonate, and they are easy to obtain, sort and clean,” continued Monros. “We are also investigating use of PCR polycarbonate from end of life automotive applications such as head-lights and dashboards.”
Within the expanded portfolio, SABIC will also develop materials to meet the various needs of different players in the market, grades with different levels of flame retardance, reaching up to
5VB @ 1.5 mm, targeting various business equipment applications and electrical applications such as internal components. The company will also offer grades with PCR content for applications that require good clarity. The new portfolio will therefore encompass both unfilled grades and grades containing filler.
SABIC has set very strict requirements on the quality of the incoming PCR material, which it will acquire by partnering with approved suppliers who will source feedstock from around the world. SABIC will obtain the PCR material in ready-to-process granular form, to be compliant with China’s policies on plastics waste.
The new PCR materials form part of SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio and services, which showcases the company’s circular innovations and can help to provide manufacturers with access to more sustainable materials. In doing so, SABIC aims to help manufacturers give the end-consumer more confidence about buying products with the knowledge that the material can be recycled and repurposed, or that it has been produced in a way that can help protect our planet’s natural resources. The TRUCIRCLE portfolio spans design for recyclability, mechanically recycled products, certified circular products from feedstock recycling of used plastic and certified renewables products from bio-based feedstock.
Giving better fire safety to the 5G revolution
Muttenz, November 23, 2020 – Like 3G, 4G and the wireless standards that went before, 5G
promises to bring us another leap in communication and connectivity – and this time a particularly
huge one. Phones will be able to download whole 4k movies in seconds, and streaming becomes
ultra-smooth. Augmented reality will help us with our shopping decisions, cars, robots and factories
fully connect, and doctor’s visits become possible from a 1,000 miles away.
The components the 5G revolution literally rests on are printed circuit boards, or PCBs – thin sheets
with metal traces and mounted circuits for transmitting radio signals. To implement the new
standard, these PCBs must be installed in countless new base stations and devices, and to support
the high speeds and frequencies 5G uses, they must perform even better than before. This includes
how well they relay signals and resist to heat and moisture – and it also includes Clariant’s specialty,
balancing all this with reliable and sustainable fire safety.
When people talk about PCBs, they often mean the entire assembly, but properly they are only the
board that the electronic components of the circuit sit on. This board usually consists of copper-clad
laminate, or CCL – a lasagna-like arrangement often featuring multiple layers of insulating material
riddled with copper traces for conducting currents and signals. The non-conductive layers are made
of epoxy resin or other suitable plastics, some of them reinforced with paper or glass fiber, and the
properties these seemingly unimportant layers of the PCB lasagna have are actually very vital.
This already starts during manufacture, when the components are soldered on. The heat involved
can be quite high, especially when lead-free soldering is used, as required by the EU’s Directive on
the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS). The relevant PCB parameter here is their
glass transition temperature, or Tg, which indicates at what point their rigid resin layers become
rubbery and soft. The Tg is also important when PCBs are used in hot environments, as for instance
in cars or oil drills, and high heat resistance is generally desirable in the higher 5G operating
temperatures. Low water absorption is also a plus, as it wards off corrosion of the fine metal traces.
Another crucial aspect which heat, moisture and frequency all play into are the electrical properties
of the insulating materials. The key performance parameters of the non-conductive layers here are
dielectric constant (Dk) and dissipation factor (Df), which both must be kept low to minimize
transmission loss and delay. This also reduces loss of power and electromagnetic »crosstalk«
between the fine copper traces – ensuring 5G users smooth high-speed communication and tranquil
enjoyment of hyper-low latency and real-time apps.
Giving better fire safety to the 5G revolution
Clariant’s phosphorus-based flame retardants from the Exolit® OP and Exolit EP lines have all the
right characteristics for supporting these properties in high-speed, high-frequency PCBs and making
the 5G standard a reality. Available both as liquid processable product (Exolit EP) and very fine
powders (Exolit OP), their high content of phosphorus, which can also be synergized with other
flame retardants, gives them high efficiency at low doses. With their high thermal stability, they are
suitable for lead-free assembly and packaging of electronics, and able to »stand the heat« when 5G
transmission runs hot. They are also highly hydrophobic, meaning they are not easily dissolved by
water or increase its absorption.
Our Exolit OP products neither significantly impact the Tg nor the Dk and Df of the final product, and
even at a frequency of 10 gigahertz, a final dissipation factor of only 0.006 can be achieved. Just as
importantly, the halogen-free solutions need to comply with RoHS regulations for flame retardants
in electronics, and are a particularly sustainable choice. Our phosphinates are produced with 100%
green electricity at our German plants, and recently we have introduced an earth-friendly OP Terra
range of products, based on renewable carbon sources.
Not just for PCBs, but also for flexible CCLs called FCCLs, encapsulation, thermal management and
electromagnetic shielding components our non-halogenated flame retardants offer great options. In
their own way, they are just as advanced as the new 5G technology they help to protect – and
contribute to making both safer and more enjoyable.
https://www.clariant.com/