PIGMENTS | COLOUR IMAGE: SUN CHEMICAL
Aside from the obvious aesthetics, pigments for plastics are increasingly playing a role in energy saving, recycling, and sustainability initiatives. Jennifer Markarian reports
Sustainable innovation in pigments and dyes
Sustainability is top of mind for players all along the plastics compound value chain, including suppliers of colour pigments. Philippe Lazerme, Head of Marketing Plastics at Heubach, for example, reports seeing an increasing volume of requests for carbon footprint information of pigments and dyes. “Although the pigment’s impact [on carbon footprint] in the final article is low, the whole plastic chain is requesting details on the carbon footprint for all the raw materials,” he says. Product manufacturers using pigments are also considering how these additives can improve sustainability throughout the product lifecycle. “For instance, pigments with better dispersibility contribute to reducing energy consumption [during processing], and pigments with high stability [can help] increase the lifespan of plastic articles,” Lazerme says. Colorant trends are also affected by the push for
recyclability from brand owners such as Coca-Cola, which recently announced a shift from green to clear plastic in PET beverage bottles for its pre- mium Sprite brand to allow simplified bottle-to- bottle recycling. “We are going to see more companies go this way and take out or reduce colour from bottles to create clearer and lighter materials that will be easier to colour as well as become a feedstock for future, more desirable recycled content,” says Marc Dumont, Head Global
www.compoundingworld.com
Segment Management Plastics, Colour Materials at Sun Chemical.
“On the other side, we believe that caps will
remain colourful as they contain strong branding elements. Of course, to meet the EU directive on single use plastics, brands will affix these caps more tightly to plastic bottles to ensure that they stay connected during product consumption,” Dumont says. “For this purpose, HDPE compatible, low warping pigments are crucial to allow stable processing and maintain structural integrity of the caps, thus promoting high brand quality.” Dumont says that for caps, pigments that avoid
Main image: Pigment suppliers are developing products that deliver bright results while meeting new sustainability demands
Above: Coca-Cola’s switch of its premium Sprite brand from green to colour-less bottles is intended to improve recycling
September 2022 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 15
IMAGE: THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
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