Column: Going Green
Moving away from plastics and on to more sustainable materials in electronics
By Scott Fawcett, Managing Director, Essentra Components
E
ssentra Components has begun a Sustainability Manufacturing programme to address the environmental issues around plastic
component production. Like many environmental issues
this is a complex one, since the use of lightweight, high-performance plastics has proven beneficial to the overall impact of many finished products. However, by developing higher performance materials and reducing energy use over products’ lifetime, especially in the automotive sector where plastic components are considerably lighter than machined metal parts, the environmental impact can be significantly improved upon. In the automotive sector, for example, plastic injection moulding is increasingly being used by manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency. Injection moulding is also becoming prevalent in consumer electronics and appliances, medical applications and agricultural machinery and equipment.
Sustainability in production There are real opportunities for sustainability in production, exemplified
08 May 2021
www.electronicsworld.com
by the rapid rise of bioplastics, for example, a market tipped to grow 16% year on year over the next five years. To help customers meet their own
sustainability objectives, Essentra Components has developed a programme that helps increase the use of post-consumer recycled content in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) standard product ranges. Recyclability is another important element of the programme where the product management team is looking at ways to improve by analysing the products’ complete lifecycle – from raw material to end of life. Some materials currently being in trials include post-consumer recycled polymers, bio- based polymers derived from plants, and biodegradable additives blended with recycled and virgin resins. Essentra Components has set a target
to use 20% packaging and polymer raw materials from more sustainable sources by 2025 across our global manufacturing operations. Sustainable manufacturing of industrial components is very important to Essentra Components, with ambitious goals to boost ongoing energy-saving and waste reduction projects, which include achievement of a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025, all sites to be Zero Waste to Landfill certified by 2030, and its direct operations to be carbon- neutral by 2040. Essentra won’t stop there: as part of the
plastics value chain, it recognises the risk of pellet loss to the environment, actively managing its use of pellets as a signatory of the British Plastic Federation’s Operation Clean Sweep initiative.
Further commitments Essentra is also part of the European Commission’s Circular Plastics Alliance (CPA), and is committed to increasing its use of recycled polymer raw materials and contributing to the CPA’s aim of boosting the European recycled plastics market to 10 million tonnes per year by 2025. Essentra Components and the wider
Essentra Plc believe in being transparent about its sustainability journey, progress and challenges:
Data is disclosed to CDP and Ecovadis
annually to meet the needs of its customers who request this information and help the company identify areas for improvement. Essentra achieved an Ecovadis silver rating and a CDP Climate Change C Score, showing awareness of its impact on the climate, and its goals to improve its work there every year. Essentra Components achieved a CDP
supplier engagement rating of B-, since it takes action to engage with its customers on sustainability issues.
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