ENGINEERING THERMOPLASTICS | MATERIALS


PCF: suppliers calculate the footprint of plastics


A new abbreviation, PCF, sounds like a new engineering thermoplastic but actually denotes Product Carbon Footprint, as shown in some of the latest developments by ETP suppliers. By Peter Mapleston


On the stands of engineering thermoplastics suppliers at K2022 in Düsseldorf in October, discussions took in product price and performance, as always, but also something hardly discussed at all at K2019 just three years earlier: Product Carbon Footprints (PCF). OEMs are increasingly asking their suppliers to put a number on the sustainability of components, and those suppliers are turning to material producers to help them provide the answer. For some time, it has not been uncommon for


material suppliers to tell us they have solar panels on their factory roof, or that some of their electricity comes from the wind. But now, their virtuosity is being quantified for every kilogramme of product they ship. And the numbers are improving all the time. At Solvay Specialty Polymers, Georges Houtappel, Global Head of Transportation Busi- ness, said: “We commit for all our products to share the carbon footprint, energy usage, and more. We really need to provide a lot of data. OEMs are now rating their suppliers based on their sustainability profile. It’s now a KPI [key performance indicator]. We now have the numbers on our product data sheets, including even information on freshwater intake.” 100% of the electricity that Solvay sources in the US for PPA, PPS, HPPA and PEEK base


www.injectionworld.com


polymers production is renewable. Houtappel also emphasises progress in use of


renewable and recycled feedstocks. “Lots of companies now demand recycled content and the question is how to integrate recyclate into high performance materials,” he says. “If we start adding recycled materials, we have to do so without reducing performance.” Hence Solvay’s use of chemical recycling and the mass balance approach. Solvay has several product lines made using chemical recycling, and it intends to increase the number. It is also looking into the use of recycled fillers and reinforcements. “We are now defining with major customers their preferred grades in these families,” said Houtappel. The company recently gained ISCC-Plus


certification – a standard for materials produced using a proportion of bio-based or recycled feedstock – for its Augusta, Georgia site. The site is currently manufacturing an ISCC-Plus compliant sulfone monomer, which will subsequently be used for the production of Udel PSU ReCycle MB and Radel PPSU ReCycle MB sulfone polymers. This certification process will cover a growing


portfolio of products spanning different chemis- tries. Additional certified high-performance materials will become available globally soon,


November/December 2022 | INJECTION WORLD 23


Main image: Product Carbon Footprints are increasingly available for individual materials


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52