Arkema, a world leader in specialty materials, together with a consortium of companies, is exploring and advancing the recyclability of post-consumer PET (from bottles and other plastic items) to regain monomers for reuse as raw materials for more sustainable polyester powder resins for the coating market.
According to the company’s website press release on September 22, 2022, the project, entitled Suschempol*, is led by the Spanish Superior Council of Science Research (CSIC) and was founded by the Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” and the “Agencia Estatal de Investigación” as part of “NextGenerationEU” Initiative.
“This project was a natural fit for Arkema. As a leading provider of polyester resin for the solvent free powder coating technology, Arkema are constantly exploring new paths, partnerships and scientific research that advance the circularity of Arkema’s products. Arkema are excited by the long term goals of this project and look forward to sharing more innovation with Arkema’s customers and partners in the years to come”, says NEIL TARIQ, global business director for coating resins ar Arkema.
Arkema’s offering and strong expertise in powder coating
Arkema is a world leader in the offering for powder coatings, as part of the company’s low Volatile Organic Compounds technologies for the coating industry, together with waterborne, UV/LED/EB and high solid systems.
Powder coatings are very well positioned to further sustainability across many very demanding household and industrial applications, including home appliances and furniture, automobiles, sports stadiums and more. This coating process is optimized to produce a high quality finish while using the minimal energy, minimum waste and time. Additionally, powder that doesn’t end up on the product can be more easily collected and recycled, or even reused.
Arkema’s solutions for more recyclability
The whole Arkema Group is actively engaged in furthering more circularity, and also develops solutions such as wash-off acrylic Pressure Sensitive Adhesives to ease recyclability.
*SusChemPol : “Enhancing circularity by using renewable monomers and sustainable chemical strategies of polymer upcycling”
