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Arkema joins a consortium of companies to explore and advance the recyclability of post-consumer PET (from bottles and other plastic items). The goal is to recover monomers from post-consumer PET for reuse as raw materials, with the goal of creating and improving a more durable polyester powder resin for the coatings market.
The project, “SusChemPol”, is led by the Spanish Superior Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and was founded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación within the framework of the NextGenerationEU initiative. SusChemPol is derived from “enhancing circularity using renewable monomers and sustainable polymer recycling chemical strategies”.
“This project came naturally to Arkema,” explains Neil Tariq, global sales director for Arkema’s coating resins branch. “As a supplier of polyester resin for solventless powder coating technology, we are constantly exploring new avenues, partnerships and scientific research that advance the circularity of our products. We are excited about the long-term goals of this project and look forward to sharing more innovations with our customers and partners in the years to come. »
Arkema says its powder coating offerings and experience enable the production of the company’s low volatile organic compound technologies for the coating industry, as well as water-based, UV/LED/ EB and high solids.
Powder coatings are well positioned to drive sustainability through an optimized coating process that uses minimal energy, waste and time, and the ability to collect and recycle unused powder, or even reuse it, depending on the society. Powder coatings find different applications in industries including appliances and furniture, automobiles, and sports stadiums.