SABIC's Functional Forms plant in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands, has been accredited under the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS scheme for providing a new range of LEXAN film and sheet products based on certified renewable feedstock.
The new film and sheet product offering connects with the company’s existing TRUCIRCLE initiative and responds to a globally growing demand for further sustainable material solutions in an increasingly more circular plastics economy.
“We are proud of being the first in the industry to receive ISCC PLUS certification for film and sheet products based on renewable polycarbonate,” says Bart Kiekens, Segment Leader Electrical & Electronic Films Europe for SABIC’s Functional Forms business in Bergen op Zoom. “This gives our LEXAN film and sheet customers a valid alternative for enhancing their environmental balance and achieving ambitious sustainability targets.”
The ISCC PLUS certification honors the implementation of a mass balance accounting system that traces the material flow across complex supply chains from the feedstock to final products by following predefined and transparent rules. These rules then define whether a product can be classified as renewable or circular. For SABIC this means that for each ton of renewable or circular feedstock fed into the production process and substituting fossil-based feedstock, approximately one ton of the output material can be classified as either renewable or circular. The mass balancing approach also allows OEMs to document and quantify the sustainability of their applications made from these certified materials.
In addition, SABIC has performed a life cycle analysis (LCA), assessing the environmental performance of the renewable route in comparison to the traditional fossil-based route at both cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-gate plus end-of-life levels, relying on PAS 2050 methodology for biogenic carbon accounting.1 The results show that each kilogram of SABIC polycarbonate resin based on certified renewable feedstock has the potential for reducing fossil depletion by up to 35 percent and lessening the carbon footprint of applications by up to 60 percent. Overall, this also makes a significant contribution to SABIC’s efforts of mitigating the impact of its products on climate change.
“Our new bio-based LEXAN film and sheet products are manufactured using polycarbonate resin partially sourced from second-generation feedstock that is not in direct competition with the food chain,” adds Alda Shabanaj, Product Manager Film & Mass Transportation Europe at SABIC. “The resulting materials can help our customers create value with durable and recyclable application solutions across multiple industries.”
Reference
1. Publicly Available Specification Method for quantifying product carbon footprints.