Partner of Choice: 2022 Success Stories

As a Partner of Choice, we are dedicated to promoting sustainable and circular solutions in the chemical and engineered materials industry. In 2022, more than 11% of our engineered materials sold were based on sustainable feedstock. Ultimately, polyamide is a fully recyclable material. Learn more about four key projects: 

We launched our NYLEO® 4EARTH® line in our performance fiber segment to strengthen the biodegradability potential of our product offerings and do our part to help tackle the waste-to-landfill challenge in the textile industry. Using the Amni Soul Eco® technology, we were able to enhance the durability of polyamides, while still retaining the same quality features (soft touch, tenacity, abrasion resistance).

While traditional polyamide 66 fiber decomposes in about 50 to 100 years, our NYLEO® 4EARTH® – produced at our facility in Valence, France – has been proven to enhance biodegradability to decompose in under five years when landfilled. Within just five years, over 90% of the fiber is converted into biogas, while the residue is biomass.

Today, NYLEO® 4EARTH® can be used in numerous applications in the textile, flooring, flock and abrasive markets.

Among our achievements with our innovative line of sustainable polymers we were extremely proud to launch at K Show 2022, the world’s largest trade fair for the plastic and rubber industry,  two innovative solutions: 

1. The first is a sustainable variant of DOMO’s leading coolant resistant grade. The new TECHNYL® 4EARTH® A1E 218 V30 BK 34 NG LP, is based on 50% recycled materials, while demonstrating similar mechanical properties, aging performance and laser marking quality as its virgin polymer product equivalent.
2. The second new entity was the halogen free flame retardant (HFFR) version, TECHNYL® 4EARTH® A1E 60G1 V30, partially made from recycled polyamide 66, developed to reduce the environmental footprint compared to virgin based alternatives, while offering identical flame retardant properties as traditional HFFR polyamides (UL 94 V0 - GWFI 960°C all at 0.75 mm thickness).

The TECHNYL® 4EARTH® product range is specifically designed to lower the environmental impact of polyamide parts by using industry-leading recycling technology to provide a polyamide with similar performance characteristics to virgin grades, including with up to 50% filler content.

TECHNYL® 4EARTH® is produced through innovative recycling technologies with which we transform post-industrial feedstock into sustainable, premium quality engineered materials. The secondary raw materials derive mainly from the production of automotive airbags, film for the packaging industry , carpets or textiles.

TECHNYL® 4EARTH®  showcases key benefits for our customers such as reduced environmental impact, high-performance properties akin to traditional virgin-based grades, excellent mechanical properties and good aging performance and since 2022 also flame retardancy

DOMO is also tackling the next level of complexity, which is to add lighter shades to the sustainable HFFR line-up to meet the color requirements of customers for E&E products.

Using a “cradle-to-gate” assessment methodology, we have evaluated our top selling compound grades and are able to deliver life cycle assessment (LCA) reports for almost all grades produced. Performing such LCAs allows us to validate the superior environmental performance of our recycled TECHNYL® 4EARTH® grades as compared to virgin-based alternatives.

This methodology, in accordance with the ISO14040/44 standards, assesses different environmental impact criteria such as climate change, energy consumption, water use, human toxicity, etc. This enables us to understand the global warming potential (GWP) of our products, a reference metric to indicate the CO2 equivalent of our solutions.

In addition, further analyses demonstrate that purchased raw materials (scope 3 GHG emissions) account for the majority of CO2 emissions contained in our products. These findings confirm that sustainable procurement and sourcing processes are of the highest importance when tackling product-related carbon footprint reductions. This is why measuring our scope 3 GHG emissions and creating reduction strategies is one of our key strategic objectives for 2023.

In 2022, we validated the digital product passport concept developed by Circularise, an innovative supply chain transparency start-up, as part of the collaborative project established in 2019 on facilitating circularity in the engineered materials industry through the use of blockchain technology. In October 2022, we celebrated the circularity partnership at K 2022, the world’s leading trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry, where we co-hosted our booth with Circularise and jointly welcomed business contacts.

The Circularise project aims to establish an open communication standard around sharing data required to move to a circular economy. The goal of this standard is to enable traceability and improve data reliability throughout the whole plastics value chain. It makes it much easier to provide evidence of provenance for an object, as well as communication of such information as recycled content, audit reports and certificates to our customers and end consumers. With Circularise, our customers can attest to the origin and impact of their products, avoid greenwashing and build customer trust, and prove product sustainability with absolute certainty.

In 2022, we made a significant contribution to the circular economy through innovative processes in our distillation and polymerization plant at the Premnitz site of DOMO Engineering Plastics. This breakthrough consists of transforming third choice caprolactam, which otherwise could no longer be used economically, into a high-quality product in our portfolio, H27 S12, a first-class spinning granulate. The caprolactam, which is from our Leuna site, is an organic compound used to make nylon 6 filament, fiber, and plastics.

Underscoring our commitment to sustainability, we also further reduced our production of second and third choice polyamide material while continuing to invest in reusing these materials. This development demonstrates our ongoing commitment to sustainability, the circular economy and innovation in the plastics industry.