Product Innovations Make Everyday Life More Sustainable
Ecology and economy – do they actually go together? Yes! But how? The answer is demonstrated by ALTANA’s product innovations, which contribute to conserving resources and protecting the climate. In doing so, we help our customers to produce in a low-emission or energy-efficient way themselves and to increase the safety of their products.
Shopping at a supermarket, on the train heading to work, or at home during dinner: Every day, we touch hundreds of objects. And most of them contain solutions from the ALTANA Group. Our researchers’ developments help make everyday life more sustainable, safer, and more pleasant.
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Sustainable product innovations
Sustainable product innovations
ALTANA offers companies around the world specialty chemical solutions that make everyday products better and more sustainable. We convince our customers with added value and give them competitive advantages through our work. While some solutions improve the functions of end products and extend their service life, others optimize our customers’ value chains in terms of energy and resource consumption. And still others make it possible to reduce critical substances in end products or replace them with less critical ones.
Innovative, environmentally friendly products that are safe to process play a key role here. They help ALTANA’s customers realize their own sustainability concepts. Based on this understanding of sustainability, the Group is continuously opening up new fields of business and paving the way for further profitable growth.
“Our decades of experience in researching and developing innovative solutions that contribute to sustainability will help us achieve our climate protection targets. We want to leave our footprint in innovations, not emissions," says ALTANA CEO Martin Babilas.
The definition of a sustainable chemical product is still an ongoing discussion in the chemical industry and in regulatory bodies. Major players in the industry together with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have therefore developed the Portfolio Sustainability Assessment (PSA). The methodology is underway to become the common standard in order to drive forward the sustainable transformation in the chemical industry. Using the PSA methodology as a starting point, we are currently working on assessing our portfolio to transparently highlight sustainable products that help our customers to fulfill their sustainability targets.
Additionally, we are integrating sustainability considerations as early as in the research and product development processes already, to ensure that the products of tomorrow will also be sustainable according to transparent standards. Furthermore, we are closely monitoring regulatory and industry developments and the introduction of new standards like “Safe and Sustainable by Design” to evaluate if implementing those at ALTANA is of value for our customers.
All these activities help us transforming our product portfolio to a more sustainable one so that our customers can reach their sustainability targets and daily life itself becomes more sustainable.
ACTEGA
Researchers in the ACTEGA division focus in particular on the development of environmental innovations for the packaging, printing, and healthcare industries:
Sustainable protection through ACTGreen® Barrier Coatings
Packaging is part and parcel of everyday life. So it is extremely important to pay attention to sustainability in this area. For example, by using ACTGreen® Barrier Coatings. These coatings are environmentally friendly, seal the substrate surface, and protect the packaging from external and internal influences. The packaging remains attractive and can fulfill its functions unrestrictedly.
PVC-free sealing compounds with Provalin
PROVALIN has an absolutely unique selling point worldwide. The brand stands for the only PVC-free sealing material for metal vacuum seals. It is used, for example, for foodstuffs in jars. PROVALIN can be recognized by its blue color.
Saving tons of steel with low gauge sealant
Small changes can create big effects. Low gauge sealant, for example, helps reduce the weight of crown caps by up to 0.3 grams. This may not sound like much, but over 300 billion crown corks are manufactured worldwide every year. As a result, the savings potential is 90,000 tons. By way of comparison, the Eiffel Tower contains 7,300 tons of steel. Most beverage bottlers have already switched to this technology.
BYK
With innovative additives and high-tech instruments, BYK helps improve the properties and quality of coatings, plastics, and other applications:
More resistant rotor blades with BYK-C 8001
The first certification of an additive for wind turbines that increases their energy efficiency is unique worldwide. This environmental innovation makes it possible to build longer and more durable rotor blades of almost identical weight by increasing the strength of the materials.
Dispersing additive for electromobility
The number of electric cars is increasing sharply worldwide – and a dispersing additive from BYK is helping promote this development. It ensures that the electrode material needed for battery production can be manufactured with lower energy intensity. The idea was developed more than ten years ago in collaboration with Japanese customers.
Biodegradable surface protection with CERAFLOUR
Climate protection is more than just reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. That’s why BYK researchers have developed CERAFLOUR biopolymers that on the one hand improve material properties such as surface protection, and on the other consist of over 97 percent renewable raw materials and are biodegradable.
ECKART
ECKART is the world leader in the production of metallic and pearlescent pigments. The division is constantly developing new environmental innovations to make entire markets more sustainable:
Thermally insulating aerated concrete with aluminum flakes
Thermal insulation is an important tool for significantly reducing CO2 emissions. Aluminum flakes for autoclaved aerated concrete from ECKART lend a hand by serving as a blowing agent that creates air-filled bubbles – pores. The latter have a heat-insulating effect.
Less heating energy with IReflex
Researchers at ECKART have developed the thermos principle for the home. Aluminum pigments in wall paints reflect up to 50 percent of the heating energy back from the walls. At the same time, heat is reflected outside in the summer.
Environmentally compatible automotive coatings with SiO2-encapsulated metallic effect pigments
Waterborne coatings are environmentally compatible and of high quality. A new environmental innovation based on SiO2-encapsulated metallic effect pigments (SiO2 stands for silicon dioxide) provides a significant degree of additional flexibility in the use of waterborne coatings.
ELANTAS
With increasing electrification and digitalization, the demand for smaller and more powerful electronic devices is also growing. Here, ELANTAS makes an important contribution to saving material and energy in the electrical and electronics industry with innovative protective and insulating materials:
Reliable thermal management supports long-life electronics use
The number of newly registered electric cars is on the rise, and so the demand for thermal interface materials (TIM) is also growing. Thanks to their thermally conductive properties, these materials ensure long-lasting use of lithium-ion batteries. TIMs also ensure that power electronics and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles function reliably and for a long time.
Innovative insulation systems for offshore wind turbines
Offshore wind turbines reach up to 240 meters into the sky. ELANTAS provides specialized insulation systems designed to facilitate the generation of green electricity at high voltages for several decades. These systems are engineered to withstand the unique conditions of offshore environments, significantly contributing to the long-term safe and resource-efficient electricity generation of wind turbines.
Environmentally compatible polyester resins promote sustainable electromobility
Chemistry enables climate protection and sustainability. But how? For example, by means of new components for the manufacture of products based on unsaturated polyester. Thanks to this novel environmental innovation, manufactured products are free of any hazard classification and labeling.
