Envaliar launches line of Pocan PBT compounds with bio-based BDO

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Envalior (Düsseldorf, Germany), a Lanxess company, announces the launch of the Pocan The sustainable content of thermoplastics is certified and classified according to the ISCC PLUS International Sustainability and Carbon Certification standard. The precursor of BDO is used cooking oil, a second generation raw material.

In addition to used cooking oil, other sources of sustainable raw materials are currently being explored, including post-consumer recycled materials (PCR). According to Envaliar, material innovations have broad potential in typical PBT applications such as connectors and housings, as well as in structural and functional components.

Three product variants of the Pocan X-MB with glass fiber content of 20% and 30% are currently certified according to ISCC PLUS. In principle, the entire Pocan range can be produced based on biocircular BDO, including hydrolysis-stabilized, flame-retardant and/or laser-transparent product variants. “We will quickly expand the new product line in close collaboration with our customers,” says Marc Marbach, director of Envaliar’s global PBT business.

Pocan X-MB’s PBT base resin offers customers a sustainable material content of 26%. The company states that this proportion can be significantly increased in compounds if, for example, post-consumer recycled PET and recycled glass fibers (rGF) are used, in addition to sustainable BDO. This is the case with the Pocan T3230 RC X-MB, which contains a total sustainable share of around 71%.

The carbon footprints of these products are said to be 30% smaller than that of equivalent standard compounds. Efforts to accurately calculate these footprints for each compound and make them available to customers are ongoing. “In doing so, we also aim to help ensure that our customers and theirs can also prepare full lifecycle analyzes of their products,” says Marbach.

BDO produced from used cooking oil is chemically and physically identical to fossil-based BDO. Therefore, PBT compounds produced from it have the same chemical, physical and processing properties and the same quality as their fossil counterparts. They meet the same technical specifications and certification standards. In this way, Envaliar customers can use X-MB compounds as “drop-in” solutions to replace equivalent fossil-based PBT products and employ continuous production processes.

Envaluor notes that the ISCC PLUS certificate of the Pocan X-MB series does not only apply in Germany and circular BDO. It can be extended to all factories worldwide where the company produces PBT compounds. Envaliar will manufacture the Pocan X-MB range in multiple locations around the world and sell them as certified products. The company’s sustainability efforts are guided by the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Prior to Pocan with 30% rGF content by weight; Pocan ECOT3230 with 30% recycled PET (PCR) by weight and 30% rGF content by weight; and flame retardant, halogen-free PBT Pocan ECOBFN4231 containing 25% rGF by weight.