- Used cooking oil is used as a base material for the PBT monomer 1,4-butanediol (BDO).
- Sustainable product content is mass-balanced in line with the ISCC PLUS standard.
- Drop-in solutions available for direct substitution of equivalent products that are fossil based.
- New range of compounds significantly reduces carbon footprints.
- New materials can be used in a wide range of applications in the automotive, consumer goods and E/E industries.
Envalior is excited to announce the launch of Pocan® X-MB series of new polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) compounds based on bio-circular 1,4-butanediol (BDO). The sustainable content of the thermoplastics is certified and classified in accordance with the ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) standard. The precursor for bio-circular BDO is used cooking oil, which does not compete with food production, as it is a second-generation feedstock. Envalior will be showcasing the new bio-based PBT compounds at the Fakuma trade show, Oct. 15 to 19, 2024, at Friedrichshafen Exhibition Center. You can find Envalior in Hall B4, Stand 4302.
“With these compounds, we are enabling our customers to lower the carbon footprint of their products, reduce their dependency on raw materials from fossil sources, and conserve resources as a result. At the same time, the new compounds are an important milestone on our pathway of being able to offering alternatives based on biological and/or recycled materials to the entire Envalior product portfolio,” explains Marc Marbach, Global Business Director for PBT at Envalior.
In addition to used cooking oil, other sustainable raw material sources are currently being explored, including post-consumer recycled materials (PCR). The material innovations have extensive potential in typical PBT applications, such as connectors and housings, as well as structural and functional components.
Sustainable raw material content of up to 71 percent
Three product variants of Pocan® X-MB with glass fiber contents of 20 and 30 percent are currently certified in line with ISCC PLUS. In principle, the entire Pocan® range can be produced on the basis of bio-circular BDO, including the hydrolysis-stabilized, flame-retardant and/or laser-transparent product variants.
“We will rapidly expand the new product range in close collaboration with our customers,” Marbach adds.
The PBT base resin of Pocan® X-MB has a sustainable material content of 26 percent. This proportion can be significantly increased in the compounds if e. g. PET from post-consumer recyclates and recycled glass fibers are used in addition to sustainable BDO. This is the case for Pocan® T3230 RC X-MB. It contains a total sustainable share of around 71 percent.
The carbon footprints of the new products are over 30 percent smaller than those of equivalent standard compounds. Efforts to calculate these footprints precisely for each compound and make them available to customers are ongoing.
“In doing so, we also aim to help ensure that our customers and theirs too can prepare full life cycle analyses for their products,” says Marbach.
Replace fossil-based compounds easily
BDO produced from used cooking oil is chemically and physically identical to BDO of fossil origin. Therefore, the PBT compounds produced from it have the same chemical, physical and processing properties and the same quality as their fossil-based counterparts. They meet the same technical specifications and certification standards.
“This enables our customers to use the X-MB compounds simply as ‘drop-in’ solutions to substitute equivalent PBT products that are fossil-based, and to employ ongoing production processes for this. There are no substantial costs for conversion, such as tool construction,” explains Marbach.
High demand for PBT compounds based on mechanical recycled materials
For some time now, under the Pocan® ECO name, Envalior has been selling ISCC PLUS-certified PBT compounds, which contain recycled glass fibers from industrial glass waste and in some cases in addition mechanically recycled post-consumer PET. Product examples are Pocan® ECOB3235 with 30 percent recycled glass fiber content by weight, Pocan® ECOT3230 with 30 percent recycled PET (PCR) by weight and 30 percent recycled glass fiber content by weight, and the halogen-free, flame-retardant PBT Pocan® ECOBFN4231, containing 25 percent recycled glass fiber by weight.
“Demand for these types of recycled material has soared recently, particularly in the automotive industry – not least because of the upcoming new EU Directive on the environmentally sound disposal of end-of-life vehicles,” explains Marbach.
Compliant with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Envalior’s sustainability efforts are geared towards the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular, the company is focused on four of these goals: “Affordable and clean energy”, “Climate action”, “Partnerships for the goals” and “Responsible consumption and production”.
“The last of these four goals was one reason behind the development of Pocan® X-MB. In addition, it gave us impetus to successively offer our entire product range in variants based on recycled and/or biological materials in order to develop material cycles,” adds Marbach.
Envalior is currently launching the Pocan® X-MB series of new PBT compounds based on bio-circular BDO. The sustainable content of the thermoplastics is certified and classified in accordance with the ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) standard. The precursor for bio-circular BDO is used cooking oil.
About Envalior
Envalior is a global leader in Engineering Materials with over 4,000 employees worldwide. It was established in 2023 through the merger of Lanxess Performance Materials and DSM Engineering Materials. With a long track record of customer-driven innovation, Envalior specializes in developing sustainable and high-performance material solutions. Focus markets include Automotive, New Mobility, Electronics & Electrical, and Consumer Goods.
Source
Envalior, press release, 2024-10-15.
Supplier
Envalior
International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC)
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