SABIC's polymer materials help the plastics industry achieve carbon neutrality

        With the theme of "Achieving Change", Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) showcased a variety of advanced polymer technologies at K2022 to help OEMs, brand owners and processors reduce carbon emissions. The company also launched two strategic initiatives, TRUCIRCLE and BLUEHERO.

        At the launch event at K2022, Sami Al Osaimi, Acting Executive Vice President of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation's Petrochemical Business Unit, said: "The company has a wide range of innovative material solutions and cooperates with many leading companies in the value chain. In the past three years, we have made significant progress on the road to improving sustainability and promoting recycling." He is optimistic about the future market growth.

        TRUCIRCLE aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economy through design for recycling, recycling certification, renewable and mechanically recycled products, and closed-loop solutions. At the SABIC booth, the following products are TRUCIRCLE's application innovations:

        ◆Linked bottle caps

        The linked caps are injection molded with SABIC's food-grade HDPE material. Its easy-to-recycle design complies with the EU's new directive on disposable plastics - the directive requires that bottle caps must be connected to all beverage containers in Europe by 2024.

        ◆Heat-resistant single-material PE packaging bag

        This fully recyclable stand-up bag is made of SABIC's BOPE material and Covestro's heat-resistant coating resin technology. It is reported that the transparent coating is currently in the pilot stage and has been tested and verified. When processed on a flexible packaging forming-filling-sealing (FFS) production line, it has a wide sealing temperature range, thereby preventing film shrinkage and film sticking to the heat seal bar during FFS processing.

        ◆Pet wet food sterilization bag

        This packaging bag is a collaboration between SABIC, Mars Petcare and soft bag giant Huhtamaki. It uses the certified circular PP copolymer in the TRUCIRCLE series to successfully develop an innovative multi-layer film structure for Mars' SHEBA brand cat food bag. The packaging bag does not contain phthalates, and the film layer with controlled gel content contains an average of 30% recycled materials, and reduces the use of new plastics by about 25%.

        BLUEHERO is an expanding ecosystem of materials, solutions and expertise that supports the global energy transition to sustainable electricity. The materials system focuses on vehicle electrification.

        Lucid Air

        The Lucid Air is one of the most prominent highlights on the SABIC booth. The car is Lucid Motors' 2022 MotorTrend Award winner. The car uses more than 25 SABIC materials, including flame-retardant LEXAN resin. This is a polycarbonate material that meets many of the requirements of the award-winning patented battery module housing designed in-house in the car. A variety of automotive battery parts highlight how flame-retardant, high-temperature structural thermoplastic materials under the BLUEHERO initiative can help optimize electric vehicle battery packs to reduce weight, save costs, improve energy efficiency, enhance safety, and reduce environmental impact. In addition, structural parts such as the tailgate made of recycled materials on display highlight how SABIC supports lightweighting without compromising strength properties, improving the aesthetic properties of visible parts, etc.