Driving the circular economy by making TPU raw materials more sustainable

In applications ranging from automotive interiors and shoe soles to irrigation hoses and 3D printed parts, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is valued for being so easily fine-tuned to a wide range of uses. This popularity means that identifying a more sustainable raw material base for TPU is an important task, since consumer demand for more circular plastics is rising across all sectors. 

As one of the global leaders in polymers, we are helping our customers transition to a more circular economy and to enhance their own environmental credentials by making the raw materials for TPU plastics more sustainable, reducing the carbon footprint without sacrificing on product performance. 

We’re already working with partners across the value chain in many industries as we focus our efforts on three key areas: using more bio-based resources, developing recycling streams that reuse TPU as a raw material and integrating ISCC-certified mass balance resources into TPU plastic feedstock. 

The suffix CQ directly placed after the brand Desmopan® identifies our more sustainable solutions that contribute to the circular economy, highlighting all products with a significant share of alternative raw material.

The abbreviation ‘CQ’ is two-fold. While the ‘C’ stands for circularity, the ‘Q’ refers to the intelligence quotient. Together, C and Q underline how essential thought-leading, innovative solutions can drive circularity forward.  Products carrying the CQ suffix are produced using partially alternative raw materials– such as feedstocks from waste, biomass,  and/or captures CO₂ – and/or renewable energy. These material solutions can be from segregated or mass-balanced feedstocks. By activating multiple circular production pathways, we enable our customers and partners to increase their use of renewable resources, and lower their overall environmental impact.

Mass balance is an approach that enables our customers to gradually replace fossil chemical feedstocks in their products using a drop-in solution that is available today. We begin by taking delivery of certified alternative feedstocks like bio-based raw materials, which can be used directly in our plants. The process and material flow are audited according to the third-party International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS standard. This ensures that feedstock quantities and flows are systematically traceable, and can then be attributed to specific products using a mass balance approach that is certified by an independent global standard. 

 

A more circular material with the same quality and performance as a fossil-based feedstock can be dropped into existing systems without technical investment or production interruptions. In 2022 we will be introducing our first portfolio of ISCC mass balance certified TPU CQ products.