ADDITIVES | ODOUR
A variety of sources are being used by additive companies to create
formulations to reduce odours and emissions in recycled plastic materials
Suppliers develop new solutions for odour control
Main image: Volatile organic compounds are one of various sources of malodours in recycled polymers
Switzerland-headquartered company Zeochem produces synthetic zeolite-based materials in powder form that are used as volatile organic component (VOC) adsorbents in industrial applica- tions as well as odour control and odour removal additives in plastic compounds and other applica- tions. Its ZEOflair additives are established for use with virgin materials and the company has recently been developing new versions for applications containing post-consumer recycled (PCR) and post-industrial recycled (PIR) materials. “The plastics industry is continuously challenged
to reduce residual odour/taste/volatile organic compounds in resins to meet the stringent industry standards in consumer packaging, automotive, adhesive/coatings, and construction applications,” said David Hajdu, Global Sales & Marketing Manager, Specialty Zeolites & Technical Desiccants. “With PCR/PIR resins these issues are even more prevalent.”
ZEOflair additives are white, crystalline inorganic powders with high thermally stability of 410˚C that have the selectivity and capacity to reduce odours
50 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | October 2025
and VOCs to below the threshold levels even in the presence of moisture. ZEOflair powders can be incorporated through a masterbatch or direct compounding to achieve appropriate additivation levels of 0.1-1.5% wt (for virgin plastics) in the final product and distribution in the resin. Hajdu said all of Zeochem’s ZEOflair types are suitable for reducing odours and VOCs in PCR plastics, with the types 340 and 350 having the best capacity in general based on their medium sized pores which can accommodate the various mixes of odour/VOCs. The recommended additiva- tion level of ZEOflair powders for recycled plastics is 1-3+ % wt of the recyclate. Zeochem is extending the ZEOflair product family with the ZEOflair 6000 series which it has developed specifically for odour/VOC control in mechanically recycled polyolefins. At a third-party laboratory scale evaluation, prototype samples achieved 95%+ reduction in odour in rPO in comparison with the untreated reference rPO. The graph on the next page summarizes those findings comparing the new prototypes A, B, C to the
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IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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