Many companies are struggling with the issues on how to become more climate-smart. We have the solution.
Being material-smart is about being aware of the alternatives that exist with your choice of material. It is possible to replace materials such as steel or aluminum with a plastic material that has the same quality and function, but at the same time results in savings of CO2 emissions.
We can help you achieve your environmental targets by knowing the carbon footprint our materials leave, which means that you can calculate your own environmental impact on your produced products.
Our experts have already helped a large number of customers in many different industries to save tons of CO2-e by optimizing their choices of raw materials.
“A customer chose to replace PA6 with a custom PP, but they are just an option. The possibilities are endless.”
–Henrik Palokangas, sustainability specialist for polymeric materials.
Do you also want to make smarter material choices? Contact us and we will be happy to help you.
Below you can read about some material-smart projects cases where we achieved major savings by recommending more efficient material choices for our customers.
Reduced CO2 footprint and saved costs
PA6 GF15 → POLYfill PP GF20
Henrik helped a customer in the manufacturing industry to not only reduce their CO2-e footprint but also save costs.
He analyzed the product’s actual requirements profile and replaced the current material PA6 with a customized PP. It is a material-smart choice that means that the customer only pays for the properties that the product requires. For every cent the customer saves in material costs when switching from PA6 GF15 to PP GF20, 1 kg of CO2-e is also saved in climate impact.
Changed hinges and saved weight and climate
Zinc → SCANAMID PA6
A customer in the furniture industry significantly reduced his CO2 footprint with the help of Johan.
The customer changed their hinges in zinc to the PA6 and made a major climate gain. A hinge in cast zinc weighs 100g and has a raw material climate impact corresponding to 0.4 kg CO2-e. When it is replaced with a hinge in glass fiber reinforced PA6, the climate impact is reduced by more than 60% and gives a weight saving of almost 80%.
It is a material-smart change that does not affect the product’s function or quality.
New material for well-known car manufacturer
Virgin material → Recycled REZYcom
To a well-known car manufacturer, Fredrik optimized the material in an air inlet for the heating system. Thanks to this material change, we have managed to save over 230 tons of CO2-e emissions per year for the car manufacturer, which corresponds to 1.9 million kilometers driven by a passenger car.
Better processability and lower material cost
PC → POLYblend PC/ABS
Anette has developed a material-smart alternatives for applications such as tables in airplanes, buses, trains, boats and hospitals.
When the end product does not need to be transparent, a replacement of PC to PC/ABS offers several benefits. For every 10% that a PC is replaced with ABS, the climate impact is reduced by 4%. It also provides better processability and a lower material cost.
The shift that is effective for cost and climate
ABS → POLYfill PP
ABS is a common material in, for example, toilet seats, lighting sockets and in the car industry, but Gustav guided a customer to another alternative that reduces climate impact while being significantly more cost-effective.
When ABS is changed to a PP-based material, the climate impact can be reduced by two thirds, while the cost of raw materials is reduced by one third. The material also has a better chemical resistance and better UV resistance. It shows that it is possible to be both cost-effective and climate-smart.
Reduced annual emissions corresponding to what 200 passenger cars emit per year
Virgin material → Recycled REPRO
Without compromising on either quality or properties, Aleksander helped a customer in the automotive industry to replace virgin plastic with a recycled plastic material.
By climate-optimizing the choice of materials, the customer saved over 300 tons of CO2-e per year. This corresponds to a reduction in the annual emissions from almost 200 passenger cars or a quarter of the volume of the Avicii arena in Stockholm, (former known as Globen arena).
A change that makes a huge difference
Aluminum → POLYabs
It is possible to replace materials such as steel or aluminum with a plastic material. Karl has developed an alternative that helps a customer in the construction industry to make a large reduction in their CO2 footprint.
For example, if a curtain rod with an aluminum profile is replaced with extruded ABS, the carbon footprint is reduced by more than 80%, without compromising on quality or properties. Such a change makes a huge difference when a new office complex or a new residential area is built. Another advantage over aluminum is that an ABS can be procured in a specific colour and therefore does not need to be painted.
Even small details provide big savings
Virgin material → Recycled REZYcom
Ingela has helped one of our customers in the automotive industry to make a major climate saving with the help of a relatively small part. They changed virgin plastic raw material to a recycled plastic material in a rear-view mirror, which led to a reduced CO2 footprint.
The part would be painted, which means that it could advantageously be produced in an optimized recycled quality. For example, an exterior automotive detail in PC/ABS provides up to 4 kg CO2-e in savings for every kilo of recycled material used.
