Chemical major Sabic and speciality polymers producer Kraton have entered into a new collaboration, the companies have announced.
Under the agreement, Sabic will supply certified renewable butadiene from its Trucircle portfolio for use in Kraton’s certified renewable styrenic block copolymers (SBC). Sabic’s certified renewable butadiene is derived from animal-free and palm oil-free ‘second generation’ renewable feedstock, such as tall oil, a by-product from the wood pulping process in the paper industry. According to the cradle-to-gate lifecycle analysis, from sourcing the raw feedstock to producing the polymers, each kilogram of the company’s bio-based butadiene reduces CO2 emissions by an average of 4 kilograms compared to fossil-based virgin alternatives. Additionally, each ton of the butadiene also cuts fossil depletion by up to 80 percent.
“Sustainability in SABIC is embedded across our organization and goes hand in hand with our commitment to helping our customers and their customers meet their own sustainability targets. Developing more sustainable solutions requires partnerships across the value chain,” said Mohammed Al-Zahrani, Vice President, Chemical at Sabic.
Kraton will use the certified renewable butadiene in the production of its newly launched ISCC Plus certified renewable CirKular+ ReNew series consisting of products with up to 70% certified renewable content according to the mass balance approach. In this approach, renewable and fossil fuel feedstocks are combined in the production process. The method also enables the tracking of renewable content in the value chain and attributes it based on verifiable bookkeeping.
The company announced in December 2021 that it had received the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus certification to produce ISCC Plus Certified renewable styrenic block copolymers at its facility in Berre, France and has since successfully done so using Sabic’s renewable butadiene. Production volumes of these new mass-balanced CirKular+ ReNew products are expected to increase gradually to meet growing market demand over the coming years.
"Value chain collaboration is instrumental in achieving progress towards a circular economy,” said Holger Jung, Kraton Senior Vice President, and Polymer Segment President. "This is an exciting innovation for our customers as it can help reduce the carbon footprint of fossil-based HSBC made in our Berre plant by up to 65 percent.”
International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS certification is a globally-recognised system that provides traceability of recycled and renewable-based materials across a complex supply chain, by following predefined and transparent rules.