Increased demand for solutions for green PE
10/12/2020
Plastic production has increased enormously since the 1950s and every year 280 million tonnes are created around the world. Polyethylene (PE) is one of the plastics that globally accounts for a large production and process volume annually. A sustainable version which has grown in popularity, is PE based on renewable raw materials. Nexam Chemical offers fossil-free carriers in their masterbatch, which makes the products they are used in more circular and durable.
Plastic can today be made of oil, but it can also come from other sources. Green PE is made of fossil-free raw materials and has properties that are equivalent with traditional, fossil-based polyethylene qualities. This means that no new investments are required, for example regarding new equipment. The difference is that green PE is significantly better for the environment.
Green PE is, just like fossil-based PE, especially suitable as a material in the packaging industry. Recyclability is a major global issue in the packaging industry, where large quantities of household packaging risk becoming waste and thus contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. With green PE, this risk is minimized as the material is manufactured from residual products and other recycled materials. It also has a high recyclability in itself.
Increased opportunities
The market for recycling and sustainable materials is already large, but it will grow further in the foreseeable future. Both industry and consumers are becoming more and more aware of how fossil fuels affect the environment and climate. In addition, both rules and actions taken by the authorities, linked to potentially environmentally harmful products, are increasing. Bio-based and recycled materials are expected to increase most of all packaging materials over the coming years. Already, green PE in the packaging market is estimated at 470 thousand tonnes each year, and has grown by 15% annually over the past five years.
Resource efficiency is the future and green conversion is a prerequisite for our industry to be able to continue developing. As an important part of many product and service offerings in sustainability, Nexam Chemical offers fossil-free carriers in our masterbatches; a solution that significantly reduces the ecological footprint of polyethylene products.
With our masterbatch, it becomes easy to distribute color pigments and other additives in an efficient way during processing. Our technology and knowledge of how to put together and distribute different color and additive products so that they have the optimal effect in the end product, is used to create increased durability and endurance, and more.
Our masterbatch solutions with green polyethylene are used today by leading actors in the market. Among our customers’ goals is the desire to inspire both partners and customers to develop products that are more sustainable and that contribute to a brighter future.