Hexpol TPE launch medical mass balance thermoplastic elastomers

Hexpol TPE have officially launched their line of medical TPEs with bio-attributed content, said Sustainableplastics.

Based on the mass balance principle, the new line expands the company’s growing portfolio of materials based on non-fossil feedstocks.

The new materials are a drop-in solution, offering identical properties as Hexpol’s conventionally produced medical TPEs. The company said they can replace the fossil polymers in their TPE compounds with the bio-attributed mass-balanced version, to create a 1:1 replacement.

“These mass-balanced TPEs allow customers to meet performance requirements while ensuring the regulatory status and, at the same time, working towards their sustainability goals,” said Inger Haag Olsson, a medical development engineer at Hexpol TPE.

Mass balance allows for a gradual increase of the bio-circular share using existing infrastructure with the target to reduce the use of fossil resources step by step. It is an approach to account for materials entering and leaving a system. The bio-circular feedstock is added at the beginning of the process, traced through intermediate transformations, and allocated to the end product. As both bio-circular and fossil feedstocks are mixed, it is not possible to guarantee a specific concentration in the final product. This is comparable to ‘green’ electricity, where consumers cannot be sure the electricity they use has come directly from renewable sources, but the overall share of green electricity in the grid rises in step with demand.

Third-party verification is required to audit the mass balance allocation and allow for correct product labelling. Hexpol TPE’s Swedish site was among the first TPE compounders to achieve the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) last year.

As per MRC, Hexpol has completed the previously announced acquisition of 100% of Union de Industrias C.A., S.A. (Unica) from Espiga Capital, a Spanish based Private Equity firm. Unica is a significant player in Rubber Compounds in Spain, supplying several demanding customers in the automotive, construction and agriculture sectors.
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SABIC, a global leader in the chemicals industry, has teamed up with Guangdong Jinming Machinery Co., Ltd., a plastic packaging equipment manufacturer and Bolsas de los Altos, a leading plastic film and packaging converter to support growth of polyolefin based innovative applications in the flexible packaging segment, said the company.

Engagement with value chain players remains critical to SABIC’s vision of bringing market driven innovation to customers. By exchanging mutual expertise on polymer technology and processing, this collaboration will secure the development of a robust applications pipeline based on current and future market trends.

Sustainability trends continue to transform the flexible packaging industry. As a result, incumbent film structures need to be updated to conform to latest circularity needs. A partnership involving SABIC’s deep materials knowledge, Jinming’s equipment manufacturing excellence and Bolsas’ converting capabilities can address these challenges. The collaboration will provide an outlet to test and validate performance of SABIC polyolefin resin products including polyethylene resin offerings from Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) and from TRUCIRCLE™ , SABIC’s commitment to circularity for plastics. The collaborative efforts will feature installation of Jinming’s multilayer coextrusion machinery at Bolsas’ Mexico facility.

We remind, SABIC posted a 67.1% year-on-year drop in its third quarter net profit on the back of higher costs despite an increase in sales volumes. The company's third-quarter net income was weighed by higher cost of sales and an increase in selling and distribution costs.

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Sabic and PepsiCo have signed a memorandum of understanding at the Sabic Center for the Development of Plastic Applications - SPADC - in Riyadh, under which the two companies will collaborate on the implementation of a programme to promote a more circular economy for plastics in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said Sustainableplastics.

According to Maaal.com — a Saudi financial and economic news site - Sabic and PepsiCo will address the various challenges standing in the way of achieving this goal, including the development of solutions for the use of recycled content in food and beverage packaging applications and the need for more awareness about the role of recycled plastics. The companies will also focus on the further expansion of the existing capabilities and recycling infrastructure in order to be able to meet these goals.

The scope of the memorandum includes working jointly - and with government agencies - to create favourable conditions for the circular economy efforts to succeed in line with the Kingdom’s 2030 environmental goals; and the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative.

Inaugurated in 2021, the Saudi Green Initiative unites ‘environmental protection, energy transition and sustainability programs within the Kingdom, with the overarching aims of offsetting and reducing emissions, increasing the Kingdom’s use of clean energy and addressing climate change’. The focus of the initiative is on emissions reduction, afforestation - some 10 billion trees will be planted across Saudi Arabia , the equivalent of rehabilitating 40 million hectares of degraded land - and land and sea protection.

PepsiCo has been active in Saudi Arabia for over 65 years. In September, the company hosted a special event at the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh commemorating the relationship between the two companies during which PepsiCo’s various initiatives in the country were highlighted.

Among others, these include PepsiCo’s sustainability strategy, its dedication to advancing a circular economy and promoting water replenishment through its PepsiCo Positive (pep+) strategy, which is is working to source crops and ingredients in a way that accelerates regenerative agriculture and strengthens farming communities. The company has also partnered with Diriyah Gate Authority (DGDA) to launch community recycling projects. These will help to collect plastic and increase recycling rates, underscoring the importance of reducing plastic pollution and safeguarding the environment.

We remind, Sabic posted a 67.1% year-on-year drop in its third quarter net profit on the back of higher costs despite an increase in sales volumes. The company's third-quarter net income was weighed by higher cost of sales and an increase in selling and distribution costs
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Eastman Chemical Co. has signed a deal to supply beverage giant PepsiCo Inc. from its proposed third chemical recycling plant, said Sustainableplastics.

"We are excited to have reached a definitive agreement with PepsiCo for our third planned molecular recycling facility, demonstrating our leadership position to create significant value in the circular economy," Eastman Chairman and CEO Mark Costa said in an Oct. 27 earnings release.

Eastman's first chemical recycling plant is set to open early next year in Kingsport, Tenn., where the firm is based. A second plant will open in Normandy, France, in 2025. Interzero Plastics Recycling of Germany will supply the French plant with PET household packaging waste as feedstock.

Eastman has not announced the location of the third chemical recycling plant, although the company has approached school district officials in Texas City, Texas, regarding the potential of tax breaks. In the third quarter, Eastman's sales roughly were flat at USD2.7 billion vs. the year-ago period. Net earnings fell almost 18 percent to USD301 million in the same comparison.

Sales for the quarter in Eastman's Advanced Materials unit — including Tritan-brand copolyester — were up 15 percent to USD888 million, with earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) up almost 5 percent to USD131 million.

On Wall Street, Eastman's per-share price began the year around USD122 but closed near USD77 on Oct. 31 for a decline of almost 40 percent so far in 2022. Eastman employs 14,000 worldwide and posted sales of USD10.5 billion in 2021.

As per MRC, Eastman announced a planned increase of its Therminol 66 heat transfer fluid manufacturing capacity in Anniston, USA. The plant expansion is expected to be complete in 2024. With the expansion of its capacity for Therminol 66, Eastman increases its production volume for this heat transfer fluid in the US by 50?%. The expansion of the company’s plant in Annistion, USA, is expected to be completed in 2024.

Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability.
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Last year in December, Dutch recycling company Umincorp announced plans to build a new recycling plant in Rotterdam, specifically aimed at the production of high-quality rPET, said Sustainableplastics.

Now, not quite a year later, the company has officially opened its new facility in an existing warehouse in the Merwe-Vierhavens in Rotterdam. Here, the entire process, from sortation, washing and shredding into flakes through granulation can take place.

Umincorp already operates a facility in Amsterdam, PRA, that processes industrial and household plastic waste into high-grade recyclate, achieving high levels of purity thanks to, among others, its proprietary and patented Magnetic Density Separation (MDS) process. MDS involves separating plastics in the waste stream using a magnetic fluid, and approach that the company says doubles the recovery rate compared to traditional sorting and recycling technologies, at lower cost and with higher accuracy.

The two facilities will collaborate, said Jaap Vandehoek, CEO and co-founder of Umincorp. “Being able to handle a number of process steps in our own factory, also makes us more flexible. For instance, we accept both material produced by our Amsterdam plant and material produced by other recyclers. We have the capability in house to transform the collected and mixed plastic waste into sorted recyclate that we can supply directly to packaging producers or brand owners. In this way, we strongly reduce the impact of plastic packaging on the environment. Compared to chemical recycling, the emissions are about 80 percent lower, while the difference with the production of new, virgin plastic is even greater,” he said.

The choice of location was determined by various factors, including energy supply. Vandehoek shared that the new facility runs entirely on wind energy. “This fits perfectly with our philosophy of choosing to reuse an existing building instead of opting for new construction.”

The company has ambitious plans for the future. “We are looking at the possibility of building another plant like the one we operate in Amsterdam here in the Rotterdam area,” said Vandehoek. However, he envisions a plant that is twice the size of the Amsterdam facility and able to process a wider range of plastics. “This would enable us to process an even larger volume of plastic waste into new consumer products - in an environmentally friendly way,” he concluded.

We remind, packaging maker Amcor plc is tripling the company's recycled content target, said Sustainableplastics.
The company, in conjunction with the release of a new sustainability report, revealed Nov. 17 the new goal is 30 percent — up from the previous 10 percent — by 2030.

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