MINERAL FILLERS | ADDITIVES


Mineral fillers make low-carbon gains


Mineral functional fillers offer not only performance and cost reduction opportunities for compounders but also help meet sustainability targets. Jennifer Markarian reports


A wide range of mineral fillers are used in plastic compounds, sometimes at quite high levels. Calcium carbonate, talc, kaolin clays, and other mineral products can reinforce and improve properties while also providing a route to reduce cost. Today, as carbon footprint becomes an increasingly important characteristic, mineral suppliers are seeking to demonstrate that their products can also benefit plastics as a lower carbon-footprint addition to a compound. Producers are increasingly considering how to reduce the environmental impact of their materi- als and how to communicate potential improve- ments to their buyers. Germany’s Hoffmann Mineral sees its natural silica mineral filler — Neuburg Siliceous Earth — as a lower carbon-footprint option when compared to


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fillers such as carbon black or synthetic silica, according to Siegfried Heckl, Key Account Man- ager at the company. The mineral is a combination of silica and lamellar kaolinite, which the company supplies under the tradenames Sillitin (untreated), Aktisil (surface treated), and Silfit and Aktifit for calcined versions. The company has published lifecycle assess-


ments (LCAs) for its Sillitn N 87, Sillitin Z 86 and Aktifit AM grades. “Through measures such as production processes with low emissions and cleaning of unavoidable exhaust air streams, minimisation of waste and wastewater volumes, as well as an economical use of raw materials and energy and renaturation, we try to keep the environmental impact as low as possible,” he says. Heckl says that in addition to sustainability, low


Main image: With sustain- ability issues rising in importance, carbon-reduc- tion opportuni- ties offered by mineral fillers are drawing increased attention


June 2023 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 25


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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