October 22, 2024 – The chemical industry is actively exploring new avenues for sustainable materials as environmental awareness continues to grow. Recently, global chemicals giant SABIC unveiled an innovative initiative, utilizing advanced recycled ocean-bound plastics (OBP) to produce its circular SABIC PP polypropylene. This not only aids in reducing marine pollution but also accelerates the process of plastic recycling. The product is part of SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE sustainable material solutions™ series and successfully meets the stringent performance requirements for food-contact certified vacuum containers.
SABIC announced that B!SAES Getters’ POD business unit has decided to adopt SABIC’s OBP-based polypropylene resin as the material for its containers. Through extensive collaboration, both parties jointly selected SABIC®PP 576P, a high-gloss product within SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ circular resin series, with an OBP content of up to 50%. Khaled Al Jalawi, Global Director of Circular Economy Business at SABIC, expressed high praise for this collaboration, emphasizing that this decision not only helps consumers improve food preservation through SABIC’s powerful vacuum system in OBP-based PP molded containers but also marks a crucial step towards broader sustainability, significantly driving the transition of the plastic economy towards circularity.
According to Color Masterbatch Industry News, the OBP used by SABIC is sourced from discarded plastics collected within 50 kilometers of the coastline. Through advanced recycling technology, these waste plastics are transformed into plastic raw materials. These recycled PP resins are provided in natural colors to C.E.L. (Costruzioni Elettromeccaniche Legnaghesi), a leading Italian thermoplastic resin processor. C.E.L. creates different sizes and various customized colors for B!POD containers by adding special masterbatches. Notably, these reusable containers can fully integrate into the existing PP material recycling stream at the end of their lifespan. Ginevra della Porta, Chief Innovation Officer and B!POD Leader at SAES Getters, stated that sustainability is embedded in this innovation from concept to final application, not only adopting advanced vacuum technology to minimize food waste but also using SABIC’s OBP-based materials to prevent plastic pollution in oceans. Additionally, the containers in various colors specifically represent endangered species, such as orange for orangutans and gray for whales, aiming to raise consumers’ environmental awareness. Market research also indicates that these reusable rigid containers for food preservation have the potential to reduce the consumption of over 300 non-recyclable plastic bags per person per year, equivalent to a reduction of 30 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions per person.
Furthermore, the selected OBP-based SABIC PP 576P resin has obtained food-contact approval, is PFAS and BPA-free, easy to process, and exhibits excellent properties such as dimensional stability, low warpage, good impact strength, and high gloss during molding. This ocean plastic solution has also received full certification from the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS regulatory chain. As of now, B!POD food vacuum containers have been fully promoted in the EU, Switzerland, and the UK in mid-2024, while Asian countries will follow in 2025. These containers, made from SABIC®PP polypropylene resin containing approximately 50% ocean plastic, highlight SABIC’s steadfast commitment to driving the development of sustainable materials.