Collaborative plastics waste projects theme of Clariant’s K2019 participation

Clariant will unveil a series of collaborative sustainability projects at the K2019 trade fair as part of a focus on solutions in reduction, reuse and recycling. 

The speciality chemical company says the projects will showcase “proactive steps” to foster partnerships and create a more sustainable plastics industry through what it calls “Symphony of Collaboration.”

An example of the projects it will unveil includes the launch of a major new company-wide initiative specifically focused on plastics recycling. 

It aims to change the current ‘take-make-dispose’ consumer attitude, moving towards a circular economy for post-consumer and post-industrial plastic through three key elements: the development of product and system solutions for recycling; partnerships with players across the recycling ecosystem to draw on different perspectives and develop new solutions; achieving a vast and diverse understanding of the challenges by sharing knowledge across different recycling technologies and the value chain of recycling.

Clariant says one important partnership already established through such cross-company collaboration has delivered some “breakthrough results”. 

Together with the Finnish oil refining company, Neste, which is passionate about giving fat residues and discarded cooking oils a second life, Clariant has been exploring opportunities to use renewable hydrocarbons, derived from this waste. More will be revealed at K, including new products for plastic applications based on mass-balance certification for usage of renewable polyolefins.

Additionally, by working with a partner for Near Infrared (NIR) scanners, Clariant has developed new colourants for the black colouration of plastics that can be identified by NIR sorting devices. This new range of black colourants can be used for various polymers (e.g. Polyolefins, PET, PA) and applications such as packaging and E&E. This, it says, offers brand owners and masterbatch producers new opportunities.

Launch of new masterbatch 

Clariant will also use its presence at K2019 to launch its new masterbatch for PET destined for the food and beverage market. The patented oxygen scavenger is based on a new molecule that goes beyond existing solutions for PET in protecting content shelf life and taste. It’s proving a real success in initial customer trials, the company says, offering the potential to address a number of challenges for packaging producers in one solution.

In a further drive for collaboration, Clariant is also taking its ‘EcoTain’ label, currently awarded to a portfolio of more than 200 products that show what it says are “outstanding sustainability advantages”, to the next level. 

EcoTain is being expanded to include EcoTain Partnerships that will foster collaboration between at least three partners in the value chain to create concrete sustainability and business impacts, and advance environmental protection and the circular economy. 

At K 2019, Clariant will issue an open invitation to companies to come together and collaborate specifically on one particularly challenging aspect of recycling.

Clariant’s Richard Haldimann, Head of Innovation Excellence and Business Incubator, said that the company is proud to be fostering these partnerships across the value chain, from producer to recycler: “Clariant has been providing solutions to reduce the use of plastics, extend their lifetime to enable reuse, and supporting recycling for years. But we’ve learned from experience that the wider problem can’t be solved at an individual company level. It’s a system problem and collaboration is key.”