Page 39 - Plastics News September 2022

From The Road To The Track: Vestamid® Eco Gives Scrap Sustainable Vision With
Tires A New Life In Athletic Shoes Eye Drop Container

yondellBasell and Röch-
Lling Medical have com-
bined forces to develop eye drop
containers made using the for-
mer’s CirculenRenew polymers.

LyondellBasell CirculenRenew
grades of PP, HDPE and LDPE
support the use of renewable feed-
ssen, Germany. Evonik is introduc- reinforces Evonik’s goal of reducing stocks from bio-based sources
Eing a new sustainable high-perfor- greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in pro- that the company says are not in
mance plastic to its eCO product line. duction by using renewable or circular competition with food sources.
In the production of the polyamide 12 raw materials-in this case, raw materials
elastomer (PEBA) VESTAMID® eCO from used tires that would otherwise “We are very proud to work with
E40, 50 percent of fossil raw materi- end up in landfills or used thermally. Röchling Medical on this project.
als are saved and replaced by a starting This is achieved through the mass bal- It’s the first time we are supplying
material obtained from chemical recy- ance approach (further information: CirculenRenew grades for a primary
cling of used tires. In addition, only re- Mass Balance Approach VESTAMID® pharmaceutical packaging applica-
newable energy is used in production, eCO). The method enables an immedi- tion. This is an important milestone
which reduces the carbon footprint by ate reduction of CO2 in existing plants for us which also supports our am-
a total of 42 percent. Evonik will pre- and does not change the quality of the bitious goal of producing and mar-
sent VESTAMID® eCO and its other products in any way. keting 2 million tonnes of recycled
sustainable plastic materials under the VESTAMID® eCO E40 is, without and renewable-based polymers by
motto “Next generation plastic solu- any restrictions, an immediate alterna- 2030,” said Mathieu Lecomte, mar-
tions” at this year’s K trade show in tive with improved eco-balance for the keting manager at LyondellBasell.
Düsseldorf, Germany, October 19-26, long-established conventional molding After several trials, the project
at booth B28 in hall 6. compound for sports shoe soles with team chose an LDPE not only be-
Circular raw material high resilience. The soles exhibit excel- cause of its high purity, which is
VESTAMID® eCO E40, like its clas- lent low-temperature impact strength, necessary for pharmaceutical ap-
sically produced counterpart VESTA- chemical resistance and high elasticity, plications, but also because it was
MID® E40, is a thermoplastic elasto- and are easy to color, process and over- ideal for use in blow moulding.
mer from the polyether block amide mold. Like the molding compounds of “In such a highly regulated environ-
family with consistently high quality. the VESTAMID® PEBA range, which ment as the pharmaceutical indus-
PEBA molding compounds have been have proven themselves for more than try, driving change towards more
valued by well-known sporting goods four decades, they can also be used in sustainable solutions for primary
manufacturers for more than 40 years other demanding applications, such as packaging is a challenge,” said Grit
and are used, for example, in sports in the automotive and medical technol- Pasche, Röchling Group’s global di-
shoe soles. The new product name eCO ogy industries. rector quality & regulatory affairs.

38 PLASTICS NEWS September 2022 39 PLASTICS NEWS September 2022