Circularity is one of the most important considerations in plastics processing today, which is why we wanted to learn more about how Solvay’s Technyl4earth is enabling more value chains to close the loop both for their customers and their own corporate social responsibility.
Airbag
Engineering Plastics Business Unit Director Bertrand Lousteau talked EPPM through the latest milestones for this high-spec polymer, and in particular its potential for automotive applications.
Technyl4earth, launched at K 2016, is a recycled PA6.6-based product made from car airbag cushions offering mechanical properties almost in line with virgin PA6.6. At Fakuma 2018, it was announced that Kärcher, the cleaning technology innovator, is using Technyl4earth in its spray lances for high pressure cleaners – the latest coup for the material and its developers.
Kärcher
Technyl4earth production is at capacity, and at a time when the virgin PA6.6 supply chain is under pressure, the material has a vital role to play, potentially winning over new business which might not have been in the market for a recycled material under other circumstances.
The recycled PA6.6 is optimised for applications such as plugs and sockets, and railway insulation. Automotive is certainly a tough nut to crack, but now Technyl4earth is becoming more widely used, this ambition will become easier.
“First we want to debottleneck,” said Lousteau, “then we want to make new partnerships in the industry to secure the source of the airbags and secure an outlet into the industry.”
The ultimate goal is to have carmakers buy back the recycled product produced from the unexploded airbags they originally manufactured, securing an unlimited supply of material in the future, so there is no waste at all.
The debottlenecking stage, Lousteau explained, aims to improve capacity by between 10 and 20 per cent to reduce the stress on the industry. The process is expected to take up to three years, during which time Solvay will be making new partnerships in the industry for its source of airbags. The conversations the materials giant is having with the automotive industry not only concerns securing a circular pipeline for Techyl4earth, but discusses how best to harvest the material to be recycled – namely exploring the best ‘design for recycling’ practice when constructing the vehicle in the first place, so the airbags can be removed easily.
“Negotiations are tough both outside and inside the company to convince people – which is always the case when you are doing something new,” Lousteau said. “It takes time and patience. Innovation takes time and luckily at Sovay we have a culture of patience.”
Patience is key for Lousteau and the team at present, as demand for Techyl4earth is more than outstripping supply, with Solvay having to ask one German automotive brand to wait a year before it can fulfil its needs – and when they can, the material will begin to cascade down to other brands.
“The performance is already there,” said Lousteau. “It’s at a point where we have a very high-end recycled material, we just don’t have enough of it.”
The quality of the material is so high due to the fact the material it originates from is such a high-end polyamide.
“Kärcher was using Tecnnyl PA6.6 and they switched to using Technyl4earth,” Lousteau said.
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