Technological watch

LANXESS’ launches Durethan® BLUEBKV60H2.0EF, an easy-flowing compound made with ninety two percent sustainable raw materials – that’s more than in any other prime quality glass-fiber-reinforced plastic.
First Grade in the Scopeblue Series
The new plastic grade is the first product from LANXESS in the new “Scopeblue” series. The brand label identifies products that either consist of at least 50 percent circular (recycled or biobased) raw materials, or whose carbon footprint is at least 50 percent lower than that of conventional products.
“A carbon-neutral future can become reality only if we start using more sustainable products,” says Frederique van Baarle, who heads the high-performance materials (HPM) division at LANXESS. “Our first product marketed under the Scopeblue brand represents a real solution for the circular economy. The compound is a certified premium material that’s based on sustainable raw materials.”
Power Ingredient: Sustainable Cyclohexane
One of the raw materials used in the production of this is cyclohexane from sustainable sources – meaning cyclohexane that is either , recycled bio-based or produced by means of . The material is also strengthened with 60% by weight of glass fibers comprising industrial glass waste instead of mineral raw materials.
The alternative raw materials that LANXESS uses in the precursors for polyamide 6 are chemically identical to their equivalents of fossil origin (“drop-in solutions”), so Durethan® BLUEBKV60H2.0EF exhibits the same characteristics as the virgin material and can be processed just as easily using exactly the same production tools and facilities with no conversion work needed.
“This high-strength, high-rigidity structural material can be deployed wherever its purely fossil-based equivalent Durethan® BKV60H2.0EF has traditionally been used in series production – so in automotive construction for the production of car front ends, brake pedals and oil pans,” says Dr. Guenter Margraf, head of global product management at HPM.
But developers are setting their sights on more than 92% sustainable raw materials. “We’re currently working on increasing the content of sustainable raw materials in this compound to 100%,” says Margraf. This requires ammonia synthesized with carbon-neutral hydrogen. Over the medium term, the specialty chemicals company is also planning to replace the additives used in its plastics with sustainable equivalents.

ISCC Plus Certified Raw Material
The sustainable origin of the raw materials is certified to ISCC Plus (“International Sustainability and Carbon Certification”). This applies to not only the LANXESS production sites in Antwerp and Krefeld-Uerdingen but also all precursors originating exclusively from suppliers that are also ISCC Plus-certified.
The mass balance method, which was introduced with ISCC Plus certification, compares raw materials used against product quantities on the market to establish a link between input and output for accounting purposes. If the raw material quantity required for manufacturing a defined product quantity is substituted with sustainable alternatives, the method can be used to determine the quantity of sustainable mass in the product. This makes the product’s sustainability characteristics transparent for users.
LANXESS' Complete Durethan® Range

Source: LANXESS