Sustainability: Biomaterials to the fore in new E4S ranking

London – Advances in the fields of biomaterials and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) chemistry dominated the fifth staging of the ERJ Elastomers for Sustainability (E4S) programme.

Five of the entries in the new E4S Top 10 Ranking, feature bio-derived polymers or additives, including top-placed UPM’s project to establish large-scale production of wood-based renewable functional fillers (RFFs).

In the same select group are: Arlanxeo, Nynas and Semperit, for the progress respectively of their Keltan Eco EPDM, Nytex Bio processing oil and Green Evo Star EPDM projects – as well as Xillix, a new entrant in the RFF arena.

In the field of SBR, Synthos’ progress with the commercialisation of its Sprintan 918S grade in the tire industry just missed out on top spot, while Eneos (formerly JSR Elastomer) impressed the judges with its SBR binder for SiOx anodes in lithium-ion batteries.

Also in the Top 10 were: Eneos’ ultra-high strength hydrogenated polymer; Cabot with new details about its engineered elastomer composites (E2C) project; and Techsyn’s tire technology platform for improved sustainability.

E4S identifies today’s most important R&D projects to enhance the environmental profile of elastomers/rubber materials in sectors including automotive, tires, construction, consumer, industrial and medical.

Details of the E4S Top 10 projects are published in the July/August issue of ERJ magazine.