Under the new collaboration, DSM Engineering Materials will start replacing a significant portion of the fossil feedstock used to make its high-performance polymers – amounting to several thousand tons in the short term – with that produced from recycled waste plastics and/or 100% bio-based hydrocarbons. The polymers are used in industries that include automotive, electronics and packaging.

Neste’s bio-based hydrocarbons are derived entirely from renewable sources such as waste and residue oils and fats. With regard to waste plastics, the Finnish company focuses on those that cannot be mechanically recycled and have previously been sent to incineration and landfill.

Because Neste’s bio-based raw materials are a drop-in replacement for commonly used fossil feedstocks, they can be used in existing polymers production processes.

DSM added that all of the chemically recycled and bio-based materials will be verified under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus scheme and will not require re-qualification. ISCC is a globally recognized system that covers all sustainable feedstocks, including agricultural and forestry biomass, circular and bio-based materials and renewables.

Shruti Singhal, president of DSM Engineering Materials, said the company intends to further reduce its footprint and “will offer a full alternative range of our existing portfolio based on bio- and/or recycled-based materials by 2030.”as also introduced an entire range of additives based on Neste RE.

Launch of Neste RE

In separate news, Neste has launched Neste RE, a 100% renewable and recycled raw material for producing chemicals and plastics. The company said the raw material can be used in a wide range of plastics applications, from sports gear to toys, and even in sensitive applications such as high-performing medical equipment.

“This new product provides a new solution for the industry to close the circle of material flows. Neste RE is available globally, and together with like-minded partners, we can use Neste RE as a tool to change and revolutionize plastics,” said Lars Börger, Neste’s vice president of renewable polymers & chemicals.

Other companies collaborating with Neste include LyondellBasell, Borealis and Clariant. Neste said LyondellBasell produced the world’s first commercial-scale volumes of renewable, bio-based PP in 2019. In addition, and said to be the first time ever, Borealis produced renewable PP from Neste’s renewable propane at its propane dehydrogenation plant in Kallo, Belgium, in March 2020.

Swiss specialty chemicals company Clariant has also introduced an entire range of additives based on Neste RE.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist