TAGS: Automotive Sustainability and Bioplastics
Dow has announced the launch of NORDEL™ REN Ethylene Propylene Diene Terpolymers (EPDM) at the German Rubber Conference (DKT) 2024. This is a bio-based version of Dow’s EPDM rubber material, used in automotive, infrastructure, and consumer applications.
Aids in Decarbonization of Building and Construction Sectors
A key component of automotive weatherseals and hoses, NORDEL™ REN EPDM aims to support the automotive industry’s sustainability goals. It also aids in the decarbonization of building and construction sectors. EPDM is used in building profiles, roofing membranes, and wire and cable.
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At Dow, we recognize the necessity to support our customers in their decarbonization journeys, as we drive towards our own carbon neutrality,” said Zshelyz Lee, Global Automotive Plastics Circularity team leader. “
With our commitment to deliver 3 million metric tons per year of circular and renewable solutions by 2030, we are proud to bring NORDEL™ REN EPDM as the newest offering to help our customers achieve their ambitious sustainability goals and create a better tomorrow.”
Explore Dow's NORDEL™ EPDM rubber portfolio.
Uses Residues/By-products from an Alternative Production Process
NORDEL™ REN EPDM uses bio residues from other industries as raw material. This allows Dow customers in the rubber industry to offer their own customers a lower-carbon product. As only waste residues or by-products from an alternative production process are utilized, these raw feedstock materials will not consume extra land resources nor compete with the food chain.
The plant-based EPDM will be made through an ISCC PLUS certified mass balance system. This system traces the flow of bio-based raw material through a complex value chain and attributes it through verifiable bookkeeping. The resulting product offers identical performance to virgin material, with no requalification required. This helps customers transition to more sustainable options without additional time or carbon emissions from constructing and maintaining a new parallel production stream.
Dow’s Path to Zero
The arrival of NORDEL™ REN EPDM is part of Dow’s continuous endeavors towards carbon neutrality. The technology behind NORDEL™ EPDM production, Dow’s Advanced Molecular Catalyst, already results in a highly efficient process. This process uses 24% less energy than the conventional Ziegler-Natta process and has a 39% lower carbon footprint for standard NORDEL™ EPDM grades, validated by a third-party life cycle analysis (LCA).
In addition to extending its range of innovative low-carbon options to help customers reduce their Scope 3 emissions, Dow is also accelerating investments in renewables and transformative next-generation technologies to reduce its own Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, achieve net zero, and protect the planet.
Dow’s Portfolio of Rubber technologies for Decarbonization at DKT 2024
NORDEL™ REN is featured at DKT 2024, along with a range of EPDM and Silicone rubber technologies. These technologies help lower the carbon footprint of diverse industries:
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SILASTIC™ Solutions for electric vehicles (EV) including high consistency rubbers (HCR) and liquid silicone rubbers (LSR) for fire protection and connectivity, advancing electrification of the automotive industry to reduce tailpipe emissions
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SILASTIC™ silicone for self-sealing tires, designed to form a self-sealing layer on the inner surface of a tire, allowing long-distance driving without loss of air pressure and supporting easy disassembly of vehicle part for separate recycling of silicone
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NORDEL™ EPDM innovation for microdense weatherseals, aiding in the reduction of overall density of weatherseals and of tailpipe emissions through lightweighting, by bringing enough strength to maintain critical performance of the rubber material
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Dow’s patented innovation for the creation of LUXSENSE™ silicone synthetic leather, the world’s first silicone-based luxury synthetic material bringing sustainability with lower carbon emissions cradle to gate, solvent-free fabrication process, and animal-free, while offering exceptional haptic feedback and remarkable abrasion resistance.
Source: Dow
