Technological watch

Clariant prioritizes sustainability and collaborative action at K 2019 in several new initiatives supporting greater circularity and resource-efficiency for the plastics industry launched at the show.
With the pressing need for sustainable development and effective solutions to the plastic waste challenge a major topic for K visitors, Clariant reinforces its proactive commitment, fostering partnerships and delivering viable, innovative solutions that make it easier for industries to adopt a more sustainable approach to product design, processing and lifecycle.
New EcoCircle Initiative
Significant support for reduce, reuse and recycling of plastics will come from the new EcoCircle initiative, which addresses the entire process along the circular plastics value chain. EcoCircle brings together Clariant’s business-wide competencies and technologies of relevance to mechanical and chemical recycling to screen and develop products with outstanding circular advantages. Importantly, in parallel it provides a platform to facilitate knowledge exchange, customer collaboration and value chain co-creation of ideas on specific circular topics with external partners, from consumers to brand owners, recyclers, resin producers, and academics.
To support EcoCircle’s goals, Clariant is introducing world-wide EcoCircle Centers of Excellence dedicated to collaborative research and joint development of products and solutions for a circular plastics economy. The first is in Pogliano, Italy at the innovation project house of Clariant’s Business Unit Masterbatches.
Extending Re-use and Recycling Options
Hans Bohnen, Member of Clariant’s Executive Committee, comments: “Collaborative efforts across the plastics and recycling value chains will ensure the value of plastics isn’t wasted but instead retained, recovered and reintroduced without negatively impacting the environment. The long-term goal has to be a circular economy for plastics and Clariant prioritizes support for this from all of our business areas, with products and technologies that reduce dependency on fossil materials and extend re-use and recycling options.”
Projects concentrating on mechanical recycling of packaging materials are already underway, with a focus on joint development projects with customers and value chain partners to further develop packaging design, including coloration of recyclates and the recycling process. Future facilities will include a mini recycling plant for polyolefins and supporting laboratory capabilities.
Clariant’s Additives business is currently investing in establishing an EcoCircle Center of Excellence, set to be inaugurated in 2022.
Additives is also the first to implement Clariant’s brand new sustainability product designators on solutions for the plastics industry, highlighting specific benefits in some very important sustainability areas.
Clariant’s Four Sustainability Designators
Introduced at K, Clariant’s four sustainability designators recognize that customers and markets are often looking for sustainability attributes. The four suffixes will be applied to the end of product names, to make it easy for customers to identify products with key advantages.

• Aqua – water saving products that support customers and/or the value chain in saving at least 20% water in direct use or end-use of their products.
• Terra – products with a high renewable content, minimum 50% Renewable Carbon Index (RCI) based on mass balance certification or real renewable content.
• Circle – products with the primary purpose to support customers and/or the value chain in reduce, re-use or recycle of plastic products, showing a beneficial performance that is validated in the market.
• Vita – products from natural origin with at least 98% RCI real renewable content.