Improving sustainability with PU elastomers

At UTECH Europe 2021 from November 16-18 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, Covestro will showcase a range of innovative polyurethane elastomer (PU)-based solutions for various industries that help customers achieve their sustainability goals. This is in line with the company's vision to become fully circular.

Offshore energy generators need materials that are strong and durable. To this end, Covestro offers this industry materials that extend the life of equipment installed in wind farms by protecting turbines, submarine cables and more. On the other hand, these companies are also looking for ways to reduce their environmental footprint. To this end, Covestro has developed a Desmodur® PU system made from a material with CO₂ technology: It helps reduce the use of fossil raw materials and outperforms the previous material solution overall in its mechanical properties.

In the mining industry, the need for solutions to reduce overall costs and increase efficiency in terms of performance and durability is critical. In addition, the industry is seeking insights to improve its waste management and reduce its environmental impact. To this end, Covestro offers a high-performance solution that allows waste to be reintegrated into the production process. Overall, this solution helps reduce the end-of-life costs of parts while maintaining their technical performance. In combination with the use of components made from CO₂-free materials or bio-based raw materials, these solutions have an even more positive impact on the carbon footprint.

Mass-balanced products as alternative

Mass balance is a chain-of-custody method that mixes fossil and alternative raw materials in production, but treats them separately in accounting. It enables the allocation of alternative raw materials to selected end products. The mass-balancing approach introduces alternative raw materials into the value chain while taking advantage of the existing chemical infrastructure's high efficiency and economies of scale, accelerating the industry's transition to a circular economy for plastics.

Mass-balanced products from Covestro with allocated alternative content have a significantly lower CO₂ footprint compared to fossil-based alternatives, but show the same good quality and properties. For MDI raw materials, Covestro already relies on mass-balanced products. As part of its comprehensive program to drive the transition to a circular economy, the company is gradually shifting its system offering to alternative raw material sources, including renewables.

Covestro's booth is located at E28 at the MECC Exhibition & Convention Center in Maastricht.