Sustainable Plastics - July/August 2020 - 23

sports

From Castor
beans to
Sustainable
Sport
applications
High Perfomance
Materials

CASTOR PLANT

CASTOR OIL

CASTOR SEEDS

B

io-based materials,
said Mougnier during
a recent webinar, are
materials that are
bio-sourced, or in other words,
made from renewable sources.
"Bio-based materials are not all
biodegradable and ours are not,
but as thermoplastics they are
recyclable" he stressed.
The bio-based trend is a logical development in light of the
push towards improved sustainability, leading to a more
eco-friendly approach to innovation, as consumers look for
responsible sports products
that also provide the quality
they are used to.
Bio-based materials meet
these requirements, and can
deliver performance that is
equal or even superior to conventional materials. "In my
opinion, this combination of
performance and low environmental impact is a winning
one, now and for the future,"
said Mougnier.
The sustainability trend
in sports is visible in various
ways. In the outdoor market,
he noted that brands were increasingly using recycled polyesters, recycled nylons or even
bio-based materials in an effort
to produce more ecologically
responsible products.
Footwear is another area
where sustainability has taken
hold. A well-known example is
Parley and adidas: on Earth Day

Sebastien-Jun Mougnier, sports
market development manager
at Arkema
in 2015, Parley first announced
its partnership with adidas. In
the five years since, the brand
has worked on phasing out
single-use plastics and microbeads and launched entire
product lines. The Parley shoe,
for example, uses materials
based on recycled plastic bottles for the upper. New brands,
such as Veja or AllBirds - have
introduced shoes made from
recycled materials, biobased
materials, or even both.
Winter sports equipment is a
third area where biobased materials have gained a foothold.
Renewably-sourced materials have been used for a number of years already to produce
high-end ski boots.

Performance is key

"What's interesting is how the
message has changed," said

Mougnier. "Yes, sustainability as
a topic is becoming more and
more important, but in a product,
it's performance that counts."
Performance materials that
are biobased can deliver results
that are just as good or better
than conventional materials, he
added. "Arkema has two product lines that fall into that category: Pebax Rnew materials,
high-performance thermoplastic elastomers, and Rilsan polyamide 11 polymers - each range
designed for extreme lightness,
energy return, fatigue resistance, and durability."
Arkema's biobased materials
are made from castor oil, which
is derived from the seeds of the
hardy, drought-resistant castor
plant. Castor oil is an ingredient used in pharmaceuticals
and cosmetics, but not food.
No GMOs are used. The castor
oil is used to produce amino 11,
which is then polymerised into
100% biobased Rilsan polyamide11. The same monomer
is also used to produce the
partially biobased high-performance TPE, Pebax Rnew range,
which has a bio-content of between 30% and 97%.
"The Pebax Rnew material
is a copolymer based on a rigid block and a soft block," said
Mougnier. "The soft block is
based on polyether, while the
rigid block is a long-chain polyamide. For Pebax Rnew products, we use biobased Rilsan

POLYMER

AMINO 11

polyamide 11 in the rigid block.
So far, the soft block, the polyether, is not biobased."
Arkema has been producing
Rilsan resin for over 70 years
and Pebax resin for some 40
years. In that period, the company has gained a wealth of
experience and expertise in
production optimisation and
yield optimisation, as well as in
the formulation and chemistry
optimisation of the products to
meet the challenging technical
requirements of its customers, said Mougnier. "PEBAX®,
RNEW® and RILSAN® are all
registered trademarks belonging to ARKEMA," he added.
As a result, they are available
in a wide range of grades, with
a bending modulus from very
flexible to very stiff - from 20
megapascal up to 20 gigapascal.
"We have a grade that is
highly suitable for biobased,
breathable, stretchable and
waterproof membranes for
sports. The soft grades can
also be used to make biobased
foams. Others are used for injection moulding, for the top
skins on skis and snowboards,
biobased yarns and even 100%
biobased 3D printed sports
components."
However, one of the first
applications was in textiles, in
the 1950s.
"Now the bio aspect is becoming more and more important, we
continued on page 24
July/August 2020

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