Sabic, a global leader in the chemical industry, has announced the launch of a new recycled material made from ocean bound plastic which has been recovered from ocean-feeding waterways and inland areas within a 50 kilometer radius of the ocean. The ocean bound material is mechanically recycled and converted into components for new consumer goods and electronics applications, such as TV remote controls and electronic razors. It has the potential to also be used in other industries in the future, such as automotive.
Part of Sabic’S Trucircle portfolio and services, the new recycled material is a Xenoy PC/PET compound comprising of a minimum 10% recycled ocean bound PET blended with polycarbonate.
According to an internal Sabic LCA Study[1] based on a resin grade comprising 20% recycled content, for every 1kT of product containing the ocean bound recycled Xenoy PC/PET compound, an equivalent of 24 million single-use 0.5liter PET[2] [3] water bottles[4] can potentially be diverted away from our oceans, preventing them from becoming marine litter.
The new material, part of Sabic’s engineering thermoplastics (ETP) product range, offers potentially significant reductions in carbon footprint[5] of up to 7% and energy consumption[6] of up to 11% compared to its virgin grade. It has good impact strength, processability and chemical resistance.
“Our new recycled ocean bound material can help to tackle the problem directly as part of our commitment to minimize plastics waste ending up as waste”, said Sergi Monros, Vice President of Performance Polymers & Industry Solutions for Petrochemicals at Sabic. “By creating more sustainable materials and forging new collaborations, we hope to help reshape our industry and our entire value chain, whilst at the same time playing a leading role to help provide guidance for necessary regulation and governance.”
“We are proud that we managed to design material based on recycled ocean bound PET in such a way that it meets high performance requirements of our customers, in combination with very good processability”, continued Monros.
The new recycled ocean bound material forms part of Sabic’s Trucircle portfolio and services, which showcases the company’s circular innovations and can help to provide our customers with access to more sustainable materials. In doing so, Sabic aims to help them give the end-consumer more confidence about buying products with the knowledge that the material has been recycled and produced in a way that can help protect our planet.
The Trucircle portfolio spans design for recyclability, mechanically recycled products, certified circular products from feedstock recycling of used plastic, certified renewables products from bio-based feedstock and closed loop initiatives to recycle plastic back into high quality applications and help prevent valuable used plastics from becoming waste.
[1] SABIC internal LCA study has not undergone ISO 3rd party critical review
[2] Source: World Economic Forum
[3] LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR POSTCONSUMER RECYCLED RESINS: PET, HDPE, AND PP, Franklin Associates, A Division of Eastern Research Group (ERG) December 2018
[4] http://www.petresin.org/news_didyouknow.asp
[5] IPCC 2013 GWP 100a V1.03
[6] Cumulative Energy Demand V1.11
