Friedrichshafen, Germany — Celanese Corp. has drawn a circle around acetal with a new sustainable solution.
At Fakuma 2024, Dallas-based Celanese introduced Hostaform/Celcon ECO-C acetal. Officials said these are the first acetal materials to be made from low-carbon ISCC CFC-certified methanol.
Low carbon methanol — generated at a Celanese plant in Texas — makes ECO-C acetal the firm's lowest product carbon footprint acetal copolymer. The material retains the inherent characteristics of acetal, such as high stiffness, thermal stability and wear resistance.
ECO-C acetal "is a circular solution that's also a drop-in solution and is very competitive," sustainability marketing director Oliver Kuisle said Oct. 16. "More and more of our customers are looking for some form of lower carbon footprint or increased use of renewable content."
He added that customers' preference for sustainable materials can change based on the industry they're in. Kuisle also said the technology used to make ECO-C eventually could be used at other Celanese plants as well.
In a news release, global sustainability leader Steffi Gotzel said Celanese's commitment to sustainability "goes beyond simply offering greener alternatives. We aim to empower our customers with materials that meet or exceed their performance needs while also aligning with their sustainability goals."
Zytel ECO-R nylon is another sustainable material introduced by Celanese at Fakuma. This recently introduced line of nylon 6 and 6/6 resins incorporates post-industrial recycling feedstocks.
The manufacturing approach for the new material includes either mass balance or controlled blending of post-industrial content that's at least 30 percent in the final product by weight and lowers carbon footprint by as much as 32 percent.
Celanese also is introducing electrically friendly (EF) formulations based on its Zytel nylon resin. Officials said these new solutions give manufacturers of vehicles and electronic devices more latitude to incorporate creative designs into their electrical applications without concern of electrical corrosion.
Dallas-based Celanese posted sales of almost $11 billion in 2023. The firm ranks as the world's largest acetal maker and became a major producer of nylon and other engineering resins in 2022 when it acquired the specialty plastics business of DuPont Co.