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Combining fossil-based polymers with renewable raw materials results in a bio-attributed composition of 80 to 95%.

January 18, 2022

2 Min Read
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Image: Alamy/Jvphoto

Trinseo’s flagship Styron polystyrene, Magnum ABS, and Tyril SAN resins are now available with renewable content. These materials combine fossil-based polymers with renewable raw materials according to a mass balance process, resulting in a bio-attributed composition of 80 to 95%.

Styron CO2RE BIO Polystyrene, Magnum CO2RE BIO ABS, and Tyril CO2RE BIO SAN offer drop-in solutions to converters seeking to further their sustainability efforts. The materials offer identical performance and processability to their fossil-based counterparts. The CO2RE designation indicates a measurable product carbon footprint (PCF) reduction when compared with Trinseo’s fossil-based products.

“As customers increasingly focus on sustainable products, Trinseo continues to invest in technologies that offer an alternative to traditional petrochemicals,” said Julien Renvoise, Sustainability Commercial Manager. “Using renewable raw materials as an ingredient is an important solution as we strive to preserve our fossil resources, reduce our carbon footprint, and achieve circularity.”

A bio-waste conversion process called feedstock cracking is used to produce the BIO materials. Bio-feedstock is combined with fossil-based material resulting in material with a prescribed percentage of renewable content. ISCC Mass Balance processes and certification are involved at several points along the value chain — after raw material refining, bio-feedstock processing, and biomaterial production.

Trinseo compared the PCF of its new BIO materials with fossil-based equivalents to determine the impact:

  • Styron CO2RE BIO General Purpose Polystyrene (GPPS) — replacing fossil- with bio-attributed styrene results in an 84% reduction in CO2 footprint.

  • Styron CO2RE BIO High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) — replacing fossil- with bio-attributed styrene results in a 71% reduction in CO2 footprint.

  • Magnum CO2RE BIO ABS — replacing fossil- with bio-attributed styrene results in a 57% reduction in CO2 footprint; replacing fossil- with bio-attributed ACN results in a 14% reduction. Replacing both results in a 71% CO2 footprint reduction.

  • Tyril CO2RE BIO SAN — replacing fossil- with bio-attributed styrene results in a 74% reduction in CO2 footprint; replacing fossil- with bio-attributed ACN results in a 19% reduction. Replacing both results in a 93% CO2 footprint reduction.

The indicated CO2 reduction is based on a 100% substitution of fossil- with bio-attributed material. Note that the percentage of CO2 reduction in the constituents of ABS and SAN reflect the amount of that monomer in their formulations, making carbon footprint proportionate.

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