To meet market transition to circular economy, Hexpol launches TPE with recycled content

Hexpol TPE GmbH is expanding the use of its thermoplastic elastomer compounds to meet sustainability goals as the market transitions to a more circular economy
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Thomas Köppl, product manager of the Hexpol TPE Group, said at the Fakuma trade show on October 12: “We are improving many production processes, how compounds are produced, what energy sources are used, and a lot of optimization is being done to reduce CO2 emissions
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Our goal is to calculate every climate impact of a product
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The company's first bio-based TPE, Dryflex Green, launched in 2019, contains raw materials from renewable sources such as plant and vegetable crops, such as sugar cane
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The range includes grades based on styrenic block copolymer and thermoplastic polyolefin technologies with biobased content up to more than 90 percent, “depending on the hardness and performance profile,” says Köppl
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Special grades of these materials have high melt strength and stretchability for the production of foamed materials, according to a company press release
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Foamed materials achieve lightweight benefits and cushioning in applications such as cushions, protective clothing, and seating
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Köppl said: "We are re-developing the collection every day because there are now so many new raw materials coming to the market
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We can add bio-components and achieve new properties that were not possible in the past
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Released this year, the new Dryflex recycled TPE can create grades for automotive materials used in many interior applications, including up to 60 percent post-consumer materials
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"TPEs with recycled content typically have some odor and reducing properties," Köppl said
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Hexpol's recycled TPE has no odor issues because its post-industrial plastics are sourced from injection gates or extruded scraps, a "very clean source," he said
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Not only are these materials suitable for applications such as floor mats and small skid pads, Köppl says, they can also be used for important sealing functions and shock absorbers, such as under the hood, doors, windows and HVAC components of automobiles
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Over the past six years, he said, recycled materials could be used in "an increasing number of applications" including "very critical things like indoors where you have odor and emission requirements, temperature requirements .
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mechanical and flame retardant properties" , these are not always easy to achieve
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"I'm sure we can't put it in every application," Köppl said.
"Every raw material has certain properties, and it's our day-to-day job to choose the right material to make TPE to specification
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Change the way raw materials are processed

“By choosing the right raw materials, CO2 emissions and other [life cycle analysis] data can be significantly reduced,” Köppl said, “especially for sustainable product lines, but also for other product lines
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Sales of its bio-based materials are growing, but the company also plans to encourage other ways to conserve resources to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
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Products can be engineered from non-bio-based raw materials, making them lighter and less dense, and eliminating waste from the injection-molding process, Köppl said
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He added: "Choosing the right source is important
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It's a process; it never ends.
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The circular economy is the most important thing
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"You can now see a lot of hard plastics moving in a sustainable direction, but soft plastics are not so easy to achieve,
" he said
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