With a view to further reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its products, German plastics processor Ensinger has expanded has its stock shapes portfolio with shapes made from bio-based and reprocessed materials. The family-owned company, which is focussed on the development, manufacture and sale of compounds, stock shapes, composites, finished parts and profiles made from engineering plastics, is committed to achieving a sustainable future and has set a net-zero climate goal that was recently approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
The two newly launched product lines allow Ensinger to respond to the growing demand for more circular products in this sector. The new, mass-balanced bio-based plastics are produced from byproducts from the wood-processing industry and other organic waste. The company said that the plastic plates, rods, and tubes are manufactured similarly to products made from conventional materials, guaranteeing similar property profiles. Apart from minimal colour deviations, the bioplastic products offered by Ensinger have comparable specifications.
The second new product line comprises products from reprocessed plastics: plastics derived from mechanically treated returned materials and production waste, thus providing a second life to fossil fuel-based materials. According to Ensinger, the material properties of these products may deviate slightly from those of conventional materials, but ‘this is significantly outweighed by the environmental benefits’. The reprocessed stock shapes are available in the form of rods, tubes and plates.
Material solutions are just one part of Ensinger’s sustainability efforts. The company has formulated a sustainability initiative that is made up of four building blocks. The two new product lines fall within the company’s ‘Reuse for Tomorrow’ theme, which is focussed on the repeated use of raw materials - a long-term goal of the sustainability initiative. The ‘Prepare for Tomorrow’ theme encompasses several environmental projects and energy-saving measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the supply chain, while ‘Reduce for Tomorrow’ aims to reduce the CO2 footprint at the start of the production chain. Finally, under its ‘Recycle for Tomorrow’ ambition, Ensinger is supporting the transition to the circular economy through the systematic recycling of engineering and high-performance plastics. One of Ensinger’s most important product lines is insulating profiles, which consist of 100% unmixed recycled polyamide.
“Many plastics still end up undergoing thermal recovery instead of being recycled. Because we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, sustainable use of plastics is essential,” said Nina Finkbeiner, head of Product Management in the Stock Shapes division. “Here at Ensinger, we feel obliged to find ways of making the ecological footprint of our products as small as possible. Our sustainable solutions are aimed at reducing dependence on fossil-based raw materials.”