Customers have questions, compounders have sustainable answers

Compounders and concentrate makers are taking different paths to help their customers meet sustainability goals.

Many compounders recently interviewed said they were getting more requests from their customers for recycled content or bio-based materials, but they added that there can be challenges in supplying such products.

Star Plastics of Ravenswood, W. Va., launched its ReStart product line in April, including recycled-content polycarbonate, ABS and PC/ABS compounds. Those UL-recognized materials can offer the performance of prime resins in electrical products, appliances and other uses, President and CEO Doug Ritchie said.

"Customers are interested, but it requires a lot of education," he added. "They need to know everything from the top down to try to figure out what sustainability means for their companies."

"And for a materials company like us, there can be challenges in sourcing post-industrial and post-consumer materials."

Asahi Kasei Plastics North America of Fowlerville, Mich., has received multiple surveys and questions about sustainability from customers this year, according to President and Chief Operating Officer Ramesh Iyer.

"There's a lot of talk about a circular economy, but higher costs for recycled materials can make it tough to see it happening," he said.

Asahi Kasei sells most of its compounds based on polypropylene and nylon into the automotive market. There, it can help meet sustainability goals by supplying glass-reinforced compounds that can make lighter-weight parts and improve fuel economy.

RTP Co. of Winona, Minn., can meet customer-specific requirements for compounds with post-industrial recycled content, according to Strategic Planning and Acquisitions Director Jean Sirois.

"We're reacting to what our customers are seeing in the market," he explained. "We can compound most materials with recycled content.

"But the thing with supply is that you know a resin supplier can supply you with the same prime material you bought six months ago. It's not the same for post-industrial material," he said.

Sustainability "is nothing new" for Techmer PM of Clinton, Tenn., President Ryan Howley said. It's been in the firm's strategic plan since 2012.

"We set an objective then of having a net positive impact on the environment," he added. "We're not quite there yet, but we're working toward that goal."

Clariant Masterbatches of Holden, Mass., has worked with recycled additive packages for milk containers, as well as for carbonated soft drink bottles and hot-fill jars, North American marketing head Pete Prusak said. Polymer Resources Ltd. of Farmington, Conn., has worked to use post-industrial material in some utility grades of its compounds, according to National Sales Vice President William Galla.

"We can extend the life of resins in enclosures and housewares and products like hose racks," he said. "We can work with customers that need performance with materials like add glass or fillers."

LyondellBasell Industries in October announced plans to build a new small-scale pilot facility at its Ferrara, Italy, site. That facility moves LBI another step closer to converting post-consumer plastic waste into new plastics on a commercial scale, said Jim Guilfoyle, executive vice president of LBI's Advanced Polymer Solutions unit, which ranks as North America's largest compounder.

"Our proprietary molecular recycling technology, known as MoReTec, has the goal to convert typically difficult-to-recycle plastic waste such as multilayer films, returning them to their molecular state to be used as feedstock to produce new plastic for all applications including food contact and health care items," Guilfoyle added in an email.

The focus of the APS unit has been primarily on mechanical recycling and the incorporation of these materials into innovative compounded products, Guilfoyle said. The unit's post-consumer recycling joint venture — Quality Circular Polymers — "provides a unique integration, which will propel the advancement of these new formulations," he added.

Modern Dispersions Inc. of Leominster, Mass., initiated recycled-content programs more than a year ago, President Marton Kozma said.

"We always had some recycled content and bioproducts in our product mix," he explained. "But we wanted to take those materials into new spaces."

Albis Plastics Corp. acquired recycling assets through its joint venture with Barnet Polymers in South Carolina.

"We're very much involved with sustainability," President and CEO Stefan Fuhlendorf said. "We can recycle fiber into pellets near to prime. It's all post-industrial material. That's opened a lot of doors for us in the auto industry."

Packaging firms remain interested in bioplastic compounds, according to market veteran Keith Rodden, who now operates the Compound Solutions LLC consulting firm in Lebanon, Tenn.

"Compounders always have pretty good options for recycled materials," he said. "They can use engineering resins like nylon and polycarbonate effectively. There they can compete with prime without sacrificing performance. But when you get into commodity resins like polyethylene, the economics get difficult because of the higher prices of recycled resins."

For Americhem Inc. in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, sustainability "is about helping our customers fit into secular trends," according to CEO Matthew Hellstern.

"We can help with lightweighting in automotive and aerospace," he said. "And we can integrate biomaterials, but they have to perform."

Americhem has also assisted customers with color performance in post-consumer PET and can help with new product design to use recycled materials, Hellstern added.

Chroma Corp. of McHenry, Ill., also can help customers with sustainable needs on a case-by-case basis, according to CEO Tom Bolger.

"We want to be responsible suppliers in the industry," he said. "Sometimes with recycled material, it can be a challenge to get consistent color. We can work with customers on that."

Penn Color Inc. of Doylestown, Pa., is approaching sustainability in packaging options for its materials, according to Vice President of Sales Mike McGarrity. The firm currently uses cardboard drums with metal rings but might change to paper or clear plastic bags that are easier to recycle, he said.

Sustainabilty already had the attention of Aurora Plastics in Streetsboro, Ohio.

"We don't landfill anything. We even reuse our floor sweepings," Marketing and Business Development Vice President Matthew Kuwatch said.

Aurora also offers nonprime and scrap grades of material to its customers. "We always try to be good stewards," Kuwatch added.

The sustainability portfolio at Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne Corp. defines eight ways in which the firm helps its customers meet their sustainability goals and align with the circular economy, Sustainability Vice President Walter Ripple said in an email.

Ripple cited solutions that improve recyclability, reduce material requirements, enable bioderived content and facilitate renewable energy applications. He explained that these solutions support the circular economy by making it easier to recycle plastic products, reducing the amount of materials required for food and beverage packaging and using renewable resources over nonrenewable resources when possible.

"As a company, we are always looking for ways to mitigate our own impact to the planet," Ripple said. "This is why we are members of Operation Clean Sweep, where we train and audit our operations to prevent plastic pellet loss into the environment."

He added that as a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, PolyOne has invested in the organization's global goals of advancing infrastructure, innovation, education and cleanup efforts.