Sustainable Plastics - March/April 2023 - 23

recycling
Traceability is key
to generating trust
Raw materials producer Ascend Performance Materials is the
largest fully integrated manufacturer of virgin PA66 resins in the world. Because
the company owns the manufacturing process from start to finish, it can drive
its production and its products to be as environmentally friendly as possible,
emphasised Phil McDivitt, CEO of Ascend. With ReDefyne, a portfolio of recycled PA
grades, Ascend has moved into a new phase.
S
ustainability is an
area in which Ascend
has invested
heavily and will continue
to do so, said CEO Phil
McDivitt. The company has
seven compounding facilities,
all of which operate on a carbon-neutral
basis and all use
renewable energy, and the
company has had a dedicated
sustainability team in place
for some three years.
" Obviously, we are a large
virgin producer, " said McDivitt.
" But we are now also
moving through a journey of
sustainability, which means
working on projects like ReDefyne,
which is all about
material reuse back into our
products. And then there's
the third piece, which is biofeedstock. "
Ascend,
he added, is focused
on reducing its products' carbon
footprint, and it is only
with projects like these that
this will be achieved and that
the company's commitment to
reducing its greenhouse gas
emissions by 80% by 2030 will
be realised.
The ReDefyne project
ReDefyne is a portfolio of sustainable
polyamides created
with up to 100% pre- and
post-consumer recycled polyamide
66 or 6. The new product
line was introduced in Düsseldorf,
Germany, last October
at K 2022, and it was there that
Sustainable Plastics sat down
with the Ascend team to talk
about the project.
" When you're talking about
recycled materials, you're talking
about pre- and post-consumer
recycled resin; and in our case,
it's polyamide. ReDefyne includes
both, " said McDivitt.
" Post-consumer makes up
the bulk of the waste in the
market and is very, very difficult
to recycle, to bring back into
a second life, " added Pierrick
Cassin, the then-senior business
development manager at
Ascend Performance Materials
working on the ReDefyne
project. (He has since moved
to a different role elsewhere.)
The team is currently working
on the life cycle analysis of the
recycled grades, he said. " I am
working on calculating the carbon
footprint of the products,
and I'm also trying to be the
link to the customers. "
His team's mission is to produce
high-quality products
based on both post-industrial
and post-consumer plastic
waste. To that end, among
other things, compounding
is required " if we are to bring
the highest value to the market
technically and in terms of
sustainability, " he said. But also,
reliability and the ability to generate
trust are crucial.
An important aspect in that
respect is traceability. ReDefyne
products are third-party-certified,
and Ascend is
partnering with ITW Global
Fasteners to pilot blockchain
traceability according to the
UNI EN 15343 through Plastic
Finder's Certified Circular
Plastic program.
" We are the first ones to do
full blockchain technology and
certification according to the EU
regulation, " said Cassin. " Inside
the blockchain technology is a
QR code and a batch number
- it is produced batch by batch
- enabling us to tell a customer
where the material originated
from, where it was produced,
when, the colour, the density;
almost like a certified certificate
of analysis. " The QR code, he
added, is used with Ledger.
Integrity
According to Cassin, there are
standards being developed
that aim to address two important
issues in the recycling
market today: the lack of certification
and the lack of traceability.
By using this blockchain
technology, Ascend is anticipating
on the implementation
of these standards.
" Plastic Finder looks at our
whole process and certifies it
according to the regulations.
For consumers, customers, and
the markets, traceability is what
counts, " said Cassin. " Being able
to demonstrate that what we
are saying is true and in compliance
with the regulation is how
we generate trust. So, recycling
is a tool, while the blockchain is
a tool for traceability - and it's
continued on page 24
March/April 2023
23
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Sustainable Plastics - March/April 2023

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