Acting on sustainability for business value

Patricia Albisser 17/02/2012

84 4 minutes read

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Klaus Ritter, Huntsman Advanced Materials’ Marketing Manager for Composites, Tooling and Adhesives, explains how a new and very different value chain is emerging as the drive for sustainability evolves, focusing on the coherent practices Huntsman is putting in place to rise to the challenge.

Once merely a ‘hot topic’ but now an integral driver for commercial value, sustainability is firmly on the business agenda. Every global company wants to be ‘green’ and there is a common consensus regarding the content of sustainability encompassing the economy, society and the environment.

Huntsman’s sustainability program
Huntsman’s view is that sustainability has evolved into a holistic programme with a coherent structure, no longer residing as a new or emergent part of product lifecycles. Innovation in material science, across the whole lifecycle of development, will play a pivotal role in balancing technological advance with sustainability, especially when it comes to ensuring the long term viability of technologies which benefit society and quality of life.

Huntsman’s material innovations and processes are designed to respect the environment as much as possible through each step of their lifecycle. A comprehensive approach to sustainability reflects this mission-critical purpose with key elements including; raw materials, synthesis, products, processes, application and recycling.

Raw materials
The global push for renewable fuels and demand for new products based on environment-friendly feedstocks are widening the scope for the bio-based, raw materials market. Huntsman’s feedstocks have historically come from the petroleum refining industry. However, the company’s raw materials for making differentiated chemicals are now increasingly sourced from bio-based matter.

Examples of bio-feedstocks include biodiesel, glycerine, vegetable oils and bio-ethanol, to name a few. Renewable fuel technologies are rapidly emerging and Huntsman is constantly scanning the renewable space for potential raw materials. The evaluation of agricultural feedstocks for making innovative bio-based products is an area in which Huntsman is also active, prioritising sources with the lowest impact on food availability or deforestation.

The business is leveraging its core competencies in synthesis and formulation to produce a range of bio derived materials. For example, in the ranges of reactive diluents for epoxy resins, Araldite® DY-CNO and Araldite® DY-S are low viscosity epoxy functional reactive diluents, produced using up to 55 and 85% bio raw materials respectively.

In electrical insulation, Huntsman is supplying tailor-made prefilled systems for encapsulating electronic components for automotive, telecom, lighting and general industry applications. Either based on epoxy or polyurethane chemistry, these systems are prepared with bio-sourced raw materials up to 60 or 75% respectively.

Resource management
To enhance resource management and reduce waste, Huntsman recycles valuable solvents for formulation testing and synthesis. Huntsman has also developed innovative packaging to reduce material waste, using less plastic in combination with recycled cardboard in a design that enables easy separation of plastic and cardboard, for more efficient and easy recycling.

The company also looks at ways of creating cost and energy savings by decreasing distances between production sites and its customers, while also qualifying raw materials sources close to Huntsman plants when possible. The organisation is also on course to achieve the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System standard for all European sites by 2013.

Sustainable processes, products and applications
High Pressure RTM, a solution for producing automotive composite parts with reduced cycle times provides another example of the work the company is involved in to align performance with the growing need for sustainability. This technology enables fast cycle and demolding times for the production of epoxy resin-based parts, creating significant cost and energy savings.

Innovation plays a pivotal role in driving positive change, balancing technological advance with sustainability. If correctly applied, material science can embody the catalyst for this process through the identification of less polluting, CO2 neutral, more cost effective and sustainable solutions to ensure the long-term viability of technologies which benefit the fabric of our society and quality of life as a whole.

In 2011 Huntsman announced technical involvement in a project demonstrating the possibilities of building a concept electric car using sustainable components and processes. This involved new concepts for developing different automotive components using rapid manufacturing resins as well as encapsulation solutions for the car’s components and high strength composite resins and composite bonding solutions.

Environmental benefits and low emission technologies
Huntsman’s high quality materials enable customers to develop low emission and renewable energy products through the utilisation of fast processes designed to consume less energy and achieve lower CO2 emissions.

Araldite® Cast & Go power distribution resin is a good example of a system designed to reduce the effects on the environment while increasing productivity. This solvent-free system, for use on all indoor electrical insulation materials, is applied with simple equipment, without the need for post curing after demolding. Optimised for a quick curing reaction, it provides the added benefits of lower investment costs, simpler and faster processing, with less maintenance, minimal wastage and very low emissions.

Demand for advanced thermosetting resin systems that meet both the performance and environmental requirements for use in industries including aerospace, oil exploration and electronics is at an all-time high. In response to this, Huntsman is developing new benzoxazine thermoset resins that are the reaction products of an amine, a phenol and formaldehyde. Benzoxazines offer excellent flame retardance and many advantages for formulating halogen-free systems for use in composites, coatings, adhesives and encapsulants.

Committed to reducing, and where possible, eliminating the use of potentially harmful VOC substances, the company is putting a lot of effort into water based products and in replacing harmful or non-environment friendly raw materials in all ranges of formulations.

Two examples illustrate those efforts: the company has recently come to market with one of the first DDM & DEDDM free casting resins for tooling applications and also several bis-phenol A free hardeners for epoxy resins, enlarging the prestigious Aradur® range.

Leading the way
Sustainable technologies may well be a driver for the world economy, offering countries whose traditional industry base is under pressure a viable commercial partnership between technology and marketing.

Focussing on innovation and developing products and solutions to solve new challenges, such as the growing global demand for lowering energy consumption or developing alternative energy sources, will continue to define the direction of Huntsman’s research and development. The energy value chain, broad range of products and holistic approach to sustainability makes Huntsman the first choice for customers seeking innovative, sustainable solutions.

www.huntsman.com/advanced_materials

Patricia Albisser
Huntsman Advanced Materials (Switzerland) GmbH
K-401.5.77
Klybeckstrasse 200
CH-4057 Basel
Switzerland
Phone: +41-61-299 2664
Fax: +41-61-966 8130
Email: patricia_albisser@huntsman.com