Avient Corporation, a premier provider of specialized and sustainable materials solutions and services, today announced the expansion of its reSound REC Recycled Content Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPEs) AF 7210 grades to Asia. These new grades of TPEs, launched earlier this year in Europe, contain 25%-55% post-consumer recycle (PCR) content, complement the existing offering of PCR-based products for polypropylene (PP) overmolding, and are specially developed for automotive interior applications such as mats, grips, and console trays. Expanding these grades also facilitates Asia’s end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling and regulatory requirements.
“The growing adoption of plastics with PCR content by Asian automakers in the past decade, especially for interiors, has also created a significant rise in demand for PCR-based TPE solutions capable of delivering excellent overmolding results on higher-performing polymers, such as PP,” said Matt Mitchell, Director, Global Marketing of Specialty Engineered Materials at Avient. “Our new reSound REC AF 7210 TPE series responds to this trend and addresses upcoming regulatory changes in export markets, such as the European Union, where a newly proposed ELV directive requires high recycle contents for plastic components."
The new PCR-based reSound REC grades, which have been extensively tested in laboratories and applications in collaboration with OEM partners, exhibit outstanding results in line with requirements for automotive interiors. In particular, they can achieve low malodor and fogging values while meeting strict VOC limiting specifications. They also can pass comprehensive xenon and environmental aging tests and show no visual defects, deformation, or stickiness after short-term (6 hours at 100°C) and long-term (500 hours at 90°C) thermal aging.
In addition, Avient can provide product carbon footprint (PCF) values for these and other products using our PCF calculator, which was developed in accordance with ISO 14067:2018 Standard and third-party certified by TÜV Rhineland.
Developed for injection molding, Avient’s new grades for PP overmolding can deliver durable primeless bonding performance and are available in natural and custom-colored grades with hardnesses from Shore 40A to 80A.
