Polybutylene terephthalate which incorporates up-cycled post-consumer recycled content

05-Apr-12

SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business announced a major new sustainability milestone with its longstanding customer, Volvo Trucks: the first use of an up-cycled material in a North American heavy truck from post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. Specifically, SABIC’s Valox iQ* polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) resin, which incorporates up-cycled water bottles, is used for the brackets of the side air deflection system for all seven models in the 2012 Volvo VN platform of heavy trucks. Valox iQ resin not only helps Volvo deliver top performance under harsh driving conditions, but also contributes toward greater sustainability. Additional SABIC solutions used to further enhance sustainability and performance in Volvo VN trucks include lightweight Noryl GTX* resin for the fenders, tough Cycoloy* resin for the grille and clear Lexan* resin for forward lighting. This joint achievement by Volvo Trucks and SABIC is the latest in a series of standard-raising innovations delivering environmental benefits. Choosing Valox iQ resin enabled Volvo Trucks to develop a sustainable, high performance solution with the outstanding quality its customers have come to expect. SABIC not only provided the up-cycled PCR resin, but also the application development and technical support to help the world-leading truck manufacturer turn the design into a tangible part and make progress on its sustainability goals. SABIC’s Valox iQ resin may contain up to 60% PCR content and can help reduce the resin’s carbon footprint by as much as 49% vs. virgin PBT resins. Yet, unlike other recycled materials, which lose performance through successive melt histories, Valox iQ resins are up-cycled to deliver comparable or better performance than conventionally manufactured materials. As a result, Valox iQ resin delivers excellent resistance to impact, chemicals and stress fatigue.