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Search Engineered Polymers
What are the bio-based grades in the Lubrizol Engineered Polymers portfolio?
Our bio-based portfolio is known as Bio TPU. Bio TPU is commercialized under ESTANE ECO and Pearlbond ECO product ranges. The products can be found listed under our Products web section, links here for ESTANE ECO and Pearlbond ECO.
Where can Pearlbond ECO TPU be used? Beyond this grade, do you have other bio-based TPUs?
Pearlbond ECO 590 TPU has very interesting properties: melting temperature is around 80ºC and the recrystallization is very fast. It is very versatile and can be used for such different applications as low melting temperature yarns or webs or in a shoe reinforcer, or in powder adhesives for electronic components. It has a 67% bio-based content as certified according to ASTM D6866.
We have a whole series of commercial bio-based TPUs with a broad range of hardness from 82 shore A to 55 Shore D which are applied in extruded, co-extruded and molded parts. These materials are Bio TPU resins commercialized under the ESTANE ECO brand. In addition, in Lubrizol Engineered Polymers we are also expanding this product series with new grades under development to provide extra performance, for example, color stability.
What are the main markets for ESTANE ECO grades?
ESTANE ECO grades have low density, outstanding mechanical, physical, and chemical properties which offer significant flexibility in a wide range of applications including films, hoses, timing belts, special compounds and soft-touch injection molded parts in footwear, electronics, sports, and car interior applications.
Are ESTANE ECO TPU’s bio-based sources food competing?
ESTANE ECO 12Txx series is non-food competing. For information on other product series, please contact us.
Are there any bio-based grades for Additive Manufacturing?
For Additive Manufacturing, Lubrizol offers ESTANE 3D TPU F95A-030 BR ECO PL, a bio-based grade for fused filament fabrication with a broad 3D printing window. The infornation on this techonology can be found here.
When was Bio TPU invented?
Bio TPU was invented in 2007 by Merquinsa, and it was the first Bio TPU in the market. Merquinsa was later purchased by The Lubrizol Corporation and the Bio TPU by Merquinsa brand was rebranded to Bio TPU by Lubrizol. It was launched at the K 2007 trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany, through a news release from Merquinsa dated October 13, 2007, under the title the “World-First TPU from Renewable Sources." Pearlbond ECO and ESTANE ECO TPU resins fall under the Bio TPU category.
Apart from Bio TPU, what other sustainable solutions does Lubrizol Engineered Polymers offer?
ESTANE RNW and ESTANE PIR materials are our latest developments. Watch the Lubrizol Engineered Polymers Sustainable Solutions video to learn more. To view the video, click here.
If you want more information on the mass balance concept of ESTANE RNW TPU, you can watch a short explanatory video, link here. And for the technical information on this product range, consult this web page.
Is Bio TPU biodegradable?
Biodegradability of a thermoplastic polyurethane (e.g., in accordance with UNE-EN ISO 14855-1:2013) will not depend on the bio or petroleum source, but on its composition, i.e., on the type, structure and content of its building blocks. Bio TPU from Lubrizol is not biodegradable. However, if needed, the biodegradability of some of our TPUs can be improved by adjusting its formulation. For more information, please contact us.
How can bio content be measured/expressed?
Bio-content can be expressed as:
- Biobased mass content: expressed as a percentage of the total mass of sample according to ISO 16620-4, or
- Biobased carbon content: expressed as a percentage of the total carbon content of sample according to ASTM D6866-21.
What is the difference between bio-based and biomass balance?
Biobased
Biobased polymers are materials that are fully or partially produced from renewable resources, for example, plants such as corn or sugarcane. Accordingly, the bio-content of these materials can be determined exactly, for example by the radiocarbon method according to ASTM D6866-21.
Biomass balance
In the biomass balance approach, renewable feedstock such as organic waste or vegetable oils are used in a very first step of the chemical production (e.g., steam cracker) to obtain bio-naphtha or biogas. In the second step, bio-naphtha or biogas are mixed with fossil-based naphtha or gas and used to produce various products. In the last step, the biomass feedstock amount is allocated to specific product/s only that are sold by means of a certified method. Accordingly, the actual biomass content of a product allocated and confirmed by a producer can differ from the real one, measured, for e.g., by the radiocarbon method.
Does Lubrizol have biomass balance TPU?
Lubrizol has a biomass balance TPU series, ESTANE RNW TPU. Four commercial grades were launched in 2024 (read the press release here), and is open to the discuss the development and introduction of selected additional grades.
The mass balance concept allows the chemical industry to gradually replace fossil based raw materials with recycled and/or bio-based ones. It is a chain of custody model used to track the total amount of sustainable raw material content (tracking through the manufacturing process/supply chain while ensuring an appropriate allocation of this content to the finished product). Rather than using virgin fossil feedstocks, the sources of sustainable feedstocks include:
· Biomass – made using bio-based raw materials => Biomaterial
· Recycled polymers – made using post-use => Circular Materials
· And Biowaste – made using various sources of biowaste materials => Bio-circular materials.
The principle is simple. The amount of incoming sustainable materials is balanced with the amount of outgoing finished sustainable goods and are closely tracked. All mass balance attributed products that Lubrizol offers are certified under the ISCC PLUS certification scheme. This ensures full traceability of the supply chain for the sustainable raw materials.
Can TPU be recycled?
TPU can be recycled*. TPU is a thermoplastic material which means that it can be melted and solidified several times without a significant impact on its final properties. This impact will be different depending on how the material is processed and its age. For example, when laminating over some substrates, the cuts that are usually discarded can be recovered. In addition, after the end use’s lifetime, pieces can be disassembled to recover different components. Finally, it has been observed that TPU can improve the recyclability ratio of other polymers (for instance, some synthetic textiles).
Can we return our scrap TPU to Lubrizol or Lubrizol’s partners to integrate it in ESTANE PIR TPU?
This is a good option that we are open to consider. If you have scrap, please contact us, we will work together after assessing your case and receiving some information (for e.g., available volume, supply regularity or quality consistency).
What is the (estimated) reduction in carbon footprint for a bio-derived material vs. a traditional TPU?
We have completed Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) on certain grades and this data is available, should you be interested in knowing the carbon footprint of any of our materials, please contact us.
What is the estimated reduction in carbon footprint for a mass balance attributed product?
This will depend on the percentage of sustainable share that is attributed to the final product. Lubrizol has capabilities to optimize this according to specific needs. Please reach out to your sales representative to discuss your needs.
Is the LCA methodology applied at Lubrizol externally verified?
The suitability of the methodology used has been verified by TÜV Austria. Thanks to this, in the certificate we share we can add certification body, verification number and initial verification date.
How do you expect the accuracy of the LCA to change over time?
LCA is a method that considers the influence on the environment of all stages across the life cycle of a product, starting with the basic raw materials extraction from the crude oil or plants, up to the final material or product production (the so-called cradle to gate LCA) or up to the end of life of the functional article (cradle to grave LCA). The accuracy of LCA will depend mostly on the accuracy of the available input such as energy, water, or material consumption.
For this reason, the collaboration between different parties across the life cycle of a material or product (raw material producers, final material producers, final material consumers…) is crucial for the accuracy of LCA. Activities and collaborations in this aspect have significantly increased recently – it can be seen e.g., from numerous public funds offered from the EU or national governments inside EU countries available for R&D activities in LCA and the environmental protection area, in general, or from different initiatives like the EU Green Deal. For this reason, it is expected that the accuracy of LCA will be improved significantly. It is important to note the LCA values must be seen as a dynamic parameter that will change over time.The Lubrizol method used to calculate LCA information is according to the respective ISO norm, and validated by TÜV Austria.
*Recyclability is based on access to a readily available standard recycling program that supports such materials. Products may not be available in all areas.