We have been encouraging AM companies to back up their words by sharing data demonstrating how sustainable they are. As you may have seen in the latest edition of 3D ADEPT Mag, specialty chemicals company Evonik is one of the material producers that goes the extra mile to demonstrate its sustainable actions.
Read more: FOCUS | How Evonik’s use of LCA helps deliver a strong sustainable INFINAM® eCO line for the AM industry (PP 14-16)
One of the latest actions of the firm in this vein is the publication of a life cycle assessment (LCA) data for its VESTAMID® polyamide & TROGAMID® transparent polyamide products in its High-Performance Polymers Plastics Database.
There is LCA insight data published for more than 100+ products & one might expect the company to publish more information for other products in the future.
The head of Evonik’s High-Performance Polymers’ Long Chain Polyamides, Dominic Stoerkle states, “Transparency is key for making sustainable decisions, and we want to pass this data on to our current and prospective customers, who can use it to satisfy their own and their customers’ sustainability ambitions.”
For those who do not know, an LCA (life cycle assessment) is a method for checking the environmental impacts linked with different steps of a product’s life, from raw materials through their processing for seamless usage & proper disposal.
The VESTAMID® series of polyamide products from Evonik contains customizable features because it uses glass fibers, impact modifiers, or adhesion promoters. VESTAMID® is characterized by its resistance to heat, impact, water & other solvents. Their TROGAMID® series is well-known for its transparent polyamides with possible applications in industries such as optical equipment & food sector containers.
The VESTAMID® & TROGAMID® materials users can benefit from the fact-driven metrics generated by LCAs, including water & land usage along with carbon emissions. These calculations are pivotal for customers who are in the process of creating & documenting a value chain to accomplish their sustainability goals.
“At Evonik, contributing to a more sustainable future is part of how we operate. We set a goal to generate more than 50% of our sales by 2030 from our ‘Next Generation Solutions’. These are products and solutions with a positive sustainability profile above the market reference level. Regarding sustainability, transparency & customer accountability are critical. For instance, LCA data shows our VESTAMID® eCO LX9039 BBM100 has a carbon footprint of 2.7 kg CO2eq/kg product and blue water consumption of 27 kg. Designed for applications such as toothbrush filaments, manufacturers using our polyamide 12 in production now also have data to show their customers the benefits of using a material that is made with renewable energy, and 100% biobased carbon in a mass-balanced approach,” says Florian Hermes, director of sustainable business solutions at Evonik’s High Performance Polymers.
For added transparency, the High-Performance Polymers business line incorporates the LCA structural model & is certified by TÜV Rheinland Energy & Environment GmbH, an expert in technical systems & product testing based on international systems.
Author: Nagarjun M
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