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MOSCOW (MRC) -- 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), as per the
company's press release.
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.
As MRC informed
previously, in early November, 2020, SABIC announced that BOPP film based on
the company’s certified circular PP from feedstock recycling of used plastics
will be introduced in primary pet food brand packaging by Mars.
According
to MRC's ScanPlast
report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the
nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus
imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply
increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
Saudi Basic Industries
Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The
company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene,
polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and
fertilizers. |
