Trinseo | What Exactly Are Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) Containing Resins?

September 18, 2019

What Exactly Are Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) Containing Resins?

Chart Like most industries, consumer electronics is placing a growing emphasis on sustainability. Meanwhile, a recent convergence with other sectors, such as automotive applications, appliances, and medical homecare devices, has taken consumer electronics far beyond the realm of mobile phones and laptops. Electronics are intrinsic to our everyday lives — just as sustainability must be.

At Trinseo, we offer a series of post-consumer recycled (PCR) content-containing resins that allow product designers to create products that are relatively more environmentally friendly. Trinseo’s EMERGE™ ECO Series, launched in 2018, contains up to 75 percent of PCR resins and can be used in many applications, particularly for the consumer electronics sector. In fact, Trinseo can customize the PCR level to fit customers’ requirements.

PCR content-containing resins incorporate used and recycled plastic waste created by consumers, such as unwanted electronic device casings, toys, used safety goggles, and water tower bottles. Before the plastic waste is turned into resins for reuse, it is gathered and sent through a proprietary recycling process by reputable PCR suppliers. Trinseo researches and verifies supplier reliability to meet customer requirements for the PCR compounds’ quality and regulatory compliance for our customers.

Trinseo has engaged Thinkstep in generating “cradle-to-gate” data for our PCR content-containing products, comparing the difference in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission, water usage, and energy consumption to virgin materials. In all cases, Trinseo’s PCR containing resins had a reduced environmental impact compared to traditional virgin resins, as shown in the chart at right.

For more information on our commitment to sustainability, please visit Trinseo.com/Sustainability where you can download the full 2019 Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report.