— By Plasteurope.com correspondent — 

German petrochemical giant BASF (Ludwigshafen; www.basf.com) has announced the expansion of its Ultrason line of polyethersulfones (PESU) with a biomass-balanced variant it calls Ultrason E 2010 BMB. “BASF is the first company to offer biomass-balanced polyethersulfone,” says Erik Gubbels, global business development and product manager Ultrason at BASF.

According to the company, 50% of the fossil raw materials used to manufacture Ultrason E 2010 BMB are replaced by ISCC Plus-certified bio-circular feedstocks at the beginning of production. These renewable feedstocks are derived from organic waste, and through a mass-balance approach, contribute 39% to the final Ultrason E 2010 BMB grade, BASF added.

Related: BASF monomers division wins global ISCC Plus, RED-cert² status

In 2020, BASF’s Performance Materials division launched the Ultrason E product line – its then-new injection moulding grade of engineering plastic. The Ultrason E0510 C2TR polyethersulfone material was especially suited for automotive parts that come into contact with hot oil due to its tribological properties, high oil resistance, and dimensional stability, the company said at the time.