Sustainability a 'huge push' for DuPont

DuPont's Mobility and Materials unit is seeing "a huge push" on sustainability, according to Global Research and Development Vice President Scott Collick.

"All of our customers are focused on their carbon footprints and are looking at recycled content and biomaterials," Collick said Oct. 18 in an interview at K 2022.

Customers' preferences on sustainable materials depends on their industries, he added. Collick also said the rise of mass-balance standards "gives us a lot of flexibility. … It was a real breakthrough in the industry."

Use of a new Zytel HTN nylon resin offers "the best of both worlds" in a plastic/metal battery cooling application, he said. The combination offers the flexibility of plastics with the thermal conductivity of metal.

Other DuPont materials on display at K 2022 are focused on sustainable materials and application developments. New products include materials for sustainable solutions, automotive electrification, robotics, consumer electronics, sporting goods and footwear.

DuPont's booth at K 2022 includes Future Lab, a section of the stand where designers and engineers can find eco-friendly solutions that are new or have yet to be introduced to the market. These materials include Hytrel ECO B-brand thermoplastic elastomers made with biomass; Rynite-brand PET based on post-consumer recyclate; and foamable grades of Hytrel for weight reduction.

Officials said Hytrel ECO B delivers performance equivalent to Hytrel grades made from fossil feedstock but with biomass content up to 72 percent by weight. In running shoes, standard and foamable Hytrel is being used in filament uppers, insoles, midsoles and outsoles. One DuPont customer also recently launched patented, foldable swim fins, thanks to an upgrade from Hytrel ECO B.

The Mobility and Materials unit of Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont is being sold to Celanese Corp. of Dallas in an €11 billion deal that was announced in February. The European Commission recently approved the deal after Celanese agreed to the commission's remedy commitments, including the sale of an elastomers business.

Celanese offered to divest its global thermoplastic copolyester business, including its production facility in Ferrara, Italy; and the Pibiflex and Riteflex brands. That business competes with a similar DuPont business.

"Celanese and Dupont's Mobility and Materials business compete head to head in the supply of thermoplastic copolyester, an essential input for the automobile sector," said Margrethe Vestager, EU competition chief. "With their transaction, they would have a combined leading position in the market with only a few alternative suppliers."

In July, DuPont opened a new biopharmaceutical tubing plant in South Carolina. The firm marked the opening of the Liveo Healthcare Solutions plant at its Cooper River site in Moncks Corners, S.C., on July 28. Officials said that the new plant will expand capacity for biopharmaceutical tubing extrusion to meet increased demand. The new plant has created 25 jobs, with 25 more expected by mid-2024.

DuPont is a global supplier of specialty chemicals and related products. Its plastics products include nylon resin and Tyvek polyethylene film.