Manufacturers across sectors face mounting pressure to reduce their product carbon footprints (PCFs), with plastics at the centre of defossilisation efforts. Advances in bio-based and recycled-based materials, alongside PFAS-free options, are enabling significant progress, paving the way for simplified regulatory compliance and long-term competitive benefits. Christa Weber, Head of Circular and Low Carbon Solutions at Envalior, examines the drivers behind this shift and the technologies powering it.
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Actuators are a key application area for Stanyl polyamide 46 compounds from Envalior.
Twenty years ago, claiming you could make high-spec components from used cooking oil would have probably got you some funny looks at trade shows. But today, circular and bio-circular feedstocks – including recycled oils, discarded fishing nets, industrial glass fibre waste and agricultural byproducts – are used in materials for demanding, high-performance applications. Global suppliers, including Envalior, now offer extensive bio- and recycled-based ranges, making significant investments in sustainable solutions.
Regulatory momentum: Legislation leads the way
While market demand provides a ‘pull factor’, regulatory frameworks deliver the ‘push’. Europe’s updated End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Regulation will require defined minimum percentages of recycled-based plastics in new vehicles, forcing automakers to rethink material sourcing. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) sets recycled content targets for specific products, while the updated Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) seeks to increase the use of recycled content in the packaging sector. Meanwhile, extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes hold manufacturers accountable for environmental impacts throughout product lifecycles.
Recycling methods: Mechanical versus Chemical
With ‘business as usual’ no longer a viable option, using recycled-based feedstocks offers a viable solution. However, successfully implementing these feedstocks requires an understanding of the two dominant processes involved: mechanical and chemical recycling. In mechanical recycling, used plastics are shredded into flakes, melted, and reformed into pellets – a physical transformation that maintains the polymer’s original structure. It’s cost-effective and energy-efficient, but the resulting materials can degrade with successive processing cycles and are subject to contamination limitations.
Chemical recycling breaks down plastic waste at the molecular level through processes such as pyrolysis and gasification. It converts waste into basic building blocks that can be reformed into virgin-quality polymers. This enables the handling of contaminated or mixed waste streams that mechanical recycling cannot process, producing materials with performance rivalling fossil-based alternatives. However, it requires a higher energy input and more complex infrastructure.
By adopting an approach that encompasses both mechanical and chemical recycling methods, manufacturers can benefit from a range of recycled-based options that span the quality and performance spectrum.
Bio-based solutions: Performance parity using plants
Incorporating bio-based materials can help manufacturers improve the environmental profile of their products, including a reduced carbon footprint and lower levels of dependence on virgin fossil resources. Similarly to chemically recycled feedstocks, bio-based options, certified through mass-balancing, match the performance of virgin fossil-derived polymers through sophisticated processing that converts plant-based inputs – like agricultural residues and energy crops – into ‘building blocks’ that are chemically identical to fossil-derived ones. For example, using circular and bio-circular caprolactam enables the production of high-quality polyamide 6 grades without the use of fossil-derived feedstocks.
Sourcing matters: Ensuring transparency and traceability
Responsible sourcing is critical for bio-based feedstocks. Plant matter should be produced according to good agricultural practices and avoid competing with food or feed chains, focusing instead on agricultural residues, waste or crops grown on marginal land unsuitable for food production. Certification schemes like ISCC PLUS provide the transparency to verify sustainability credentials, ensuring bio-based materials deliver genuine benefits rather than shifting impacts elsewhere.
PFAS elimination: Developing future-ready material solutions
Materials providers are addressing another sustainability challenge: removing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from portfolios. These ‘forever chemicals’ persist in environments and human bodies, prompting regulatory action across Europe and the US. The EU’s PPWR aims to ban PFAS in food-contact packaging, while its REACH (registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals) regulation proposes further restrictions. US restrictions are also tightening in states such as California and New York, driving demand for PFAS-free alternatives that maintain performance standards.
The challenge is particularly acute in applications that have traditionally relied on PFAS for chemical resistance and thermal stability, such as flame-retardant grades for automotive and electronics, and wear and friction components. However, many suppliers now offer PFAS-free grades that match the performance of PFAS-containing counterparts, proving that compliance doesn’t require compromises on properties.
A holistic sustainability strategy: No longer a “nice-to-have”
While innovation at the material level is essential, the sustainability imperative now extends beyond individual products to entire supply chains. Reporting requirements, particularly the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), require large manufacturers to disclose their Scope 3 emissions, including Indirect emissions from purchased goods (raw materials). To a certain extent, this means that corporate sustainability performance depends on partners’ environmental credentials.
So, for materials suppliers, operational carbon footprint may become a competitive differentiator, and companies demonstrating measurable emission reductions can offer customers pathways to improved sustainability metrics.
For example, the Envalior CARES sustainability strategy brings together a range of environmental and social commitments across the key pillars of Low Carbon, Sustainable Resources and Social Responsibility. This is designed to ensure business growth aligns with sustainability progress, helping customers meet environmental targets. The transition to more sustainable materials is about more than environmental responsibility; it’s becoming a strategic necessity.
Sustainable innovations showcased at K 2025
Envalior recently presented sustainable material solutions at K 2025 (October 8-15), including:
- The Stanyl B-MB PA46 range, which is ISCC PLUS-certified with bio-based content by mass balance attribution, enabling materials with up to 50% lower carbon footprints than fossil-derived grades.
- New Durethan ECO and Durethan BLUE grades for demanding electrical and electronic applications like high-voltage connectors, containing up to 90% ISCC PLUS-certified bio-based and recycled content by mass balance attribution.
- Sausage casings made with Durethan BLUE PA6, enabling up to 80% lower carbon footprint than conventional counterparts while maintaining performance and food safety standards critical for food contact applications.