Building Adaptive Sustainable Business Strategies

January 21, 2025
Marlie Koekenberg, Global Sustainability Business Development Leader

Sustainable business development will continue to evolve this year as new administrations take effect in both the U.S. and the European Commission. With recent research showing that plastics manufacturing and recycling have decreased in Europe, these shifts will create new challenges within the chemical industry. At Trinseo, we see this as an opportunity to lead recycling innovation. Even as European policymakers strive to simplify regulations to increase the competitiveness of the European market, the overall drivers toward a circular economy will still be present. 

Despite the shifting landscape this year, certain trends will continue to be a priority in the face of sustained demand for more sustainably advantaged solutions. The trends that rise to the forefront are data transparency for sustainably advantaged solutions and recycling technologies that support a circular economy, both of which will help the European chemical industry improve marketplace competitiveness. These topics are a priority for Trinseo this year, as part of our efforts to best support our customers throughout the ever-changing sustainability landscape.

Building Partnerships Through Transparency
Creating a more sustainable future must be a collaborative effort across the value chain. For our customers, that means providing transparent carbon footprint data to inform their decision-making processes when evaluating sustainably advantaged solutions and their fossil-based counterparts.

In 2024, Trinseo established a new tool that provides cradle-to-gate Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data for nearly 6,000 of our products, playing a pivotal role in supporting our customers in their transition to embrace more sustainably advantaged solutions. This database not only establishes carbon emission data for our products but also enables us to model the exchange of raw materials and energy sources to see the impact of our solutions. It follows the TfS guidelines and the latest European Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology, while also complying with the GHG Protocol and ISO standards 14040, 14044, and 14067.

With the European Clean Industrial Deal, Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation, and the imminent End-of-Life Vehicle Directive impacting our customers and their materials decisions, transparent data from our PCF and LCA tool will be critical to delivering solutions that are scientifically proven to be sustainably advantaged. This enables us to maintain our trusted partnerships by supporting effective material comparisons.

Expanding Our Recycling Footprint
Recycling technologies will continue to transform how we reimagine materials and enhance our ability to offer sustainably advantaged solutions. By scaling up Trinseo’s existing recycling technologies, we can work toward an industrial footprint that expands the types of plastic solutions that can be recaptured as waste streams, diverting them from landfills and incineration and thereby supporting circularity.

Trinseo’s polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) depolymerization continues to be a significant growth opportunity as, in theory, there are hardly any limits to the recyclability of a solution in a closed-loop system. Additionally, this next-gen technology expands the types of acrylic solutions that can be recycled. Moreover, our recent patent approval for dissolution-based recycling technology marks a significant step towards circularity as it efficiently recovers high-quality polymers from mixed and contaminated plastic waste streams. While our current work focuses on polycarbonate (PC) dissolution, this patent paves the way for developing other dissolution technologies, which will help guide our R&D efforts in the year ahead. 

Reimagining Materials for Sustainability
With the expansion of recycling innovation and PCF and LCA data, we can rethink our approach to sustainably advantaged solutions. 

One advantage has been the expansion of our recycled content-containing solutions for both plastics and latex binders. In 2024, we saw new partnerships for our PLEXIGLAS® and ALTUGLAS™ R-Life portfolio, including French artist Miguel Chevalier’s installation in Paris over the summer. 

Additionally, we introduced recycled content into latex binder applications using this same depolymerization technology. The resulting regenerated monomer can be used to polymerize latex binders found within coatings applications. By integrating recycled content, we can further the industry’s efforts to make sustainably advantaged coating products.   

However, reimagining the building blocks of our solutions is just one way we are thinking about sustainability. Trinseo is also working in the battery industry to evaluate alternative materials that can help manufacturers meet forthcoming sustainability regulations including innovation of products that do not do not intentionally add PFAS in the manufacturing process. Latex binder innovation can help advance electric vehicles by supporting the longevity of batteries. 

Alongside this, Trinseo has also innovated battery enclosures to enhance performance, protection, productivity, and profitability. We leverage a technology where thermoplastic resin is directly compounded with glass fibers for enhanced mechanical properties, and then compression molded into a custom part shape. The benefits of this process include short cycle times that are ideal for high volume manufacturing, part toughness due to the integration of long reinforcing fibers, along with structural flexibility and design freedom for complex part geometries using thermoplastics.
As the sustainability landscape evolves, Trinseo will continue to remain agile and proactive in adapting our business development strategies. By focusing on collaboration, innovation, and competitiveness, we can support our customers in navigating the challenges of sustainability while building lasting partnerships based on trust and shared values.

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