POLYOLEFIN ADDITIVES | MATERIALS
Overcapacity issues According to Clariant Adsorbents & Additives, the market for antioxidants and UV stabilisers is facing a long-lasting and deep crisis of overcapac- ity, with low demand and prices. “During the Covid period, new capacity in China has been built for antioxidants, HALS and some intermediates,” said Dr Mohamed Sidqi, global manager for plastics upstream. “Meanwhile, a decrease in polymer production rates and related market prices has put the whole industry in a difficult situation.” Sidqi adds that drivers for new developments in
antioxidants and UV stabilisers are based on natural and sustainable stabilisers, focusing mainly on antioxidants. For UV absorbers, drivers are mainly replacement of benzotriazoles, which are on the EU SVHC (substance of very high concern) list. In performance terms, one of the major obstacles
to overcome, when it comes to plastics circularity, is the need to maintain high polymer quality over multiple recycling cycles. “New concepts for polymer stabilisation and new additive solutions are required to improve original plastic quality. This is crucial for recycling, for recyclate quality and for achieving plastics circularity,” said Sidqi. “Recycling is one of the interesting technical
areas where a lot of development is being under- taken in both mechanical and chemical recycling. Most polymer producers are acquiring recycling companies or building their own recycling lines. The high cost of recycled materials, availability and quality of waste remain a real challenge. Some additive solutions largely based on traditional antioxidants are available, mainly for mono-material polymers. However, those solutions are not suffi- ciently efficient to ensure circularity,” Sidqi adds.
Sustainable investment Softening demand has been evident through 2023, according to specialty additives maker SI Group, which says that restocking, initially anticipated for
Left:
Baerlocher’s Baeropol T-Blends can improve the quality of PIR and PCR
content used in PE film
the middle of the year, is now shifting towards the fourth quarter. “Although demand for certain legacy products is weak, companies like SI Group are using the time to invest in their sustainability developments and innovation pipeline, while expanding product offerings such as Evercycle,” said Jeroen Frederix, market development man- ager – circular economy. “Without question, the challenge of ramping up the levels of recycled content and the desire to increase recycled content in plastics is driving new developments in sustainability. SI Group has already seen this for a long time in non-food packaging and consumer goods, but we see these impacting other markets such as the automotive, industrial and building segments,” he said. “SI Group is leading the way in providing customers with innovative bio-sourced products, such as Naugard Bio-XL and broadly applicable products for plastics recycling, such as those in the Evercycle portfolio.” According to SI Group, increasing demand for
recycled feedstock content that makes products more sustainable (circular) means challenges arise in maintaining product performance. The company says this means antioxidants and UV stabilisers that
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IMAGE: BAERLOCHER
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