The engineering materials unit of Dutch polymer producer DSM (Heerlen / The Netherlands; www.dsm.com) has joined forces with four partners to develop a recyclate-based multi-layer film for meat products. The film, which is produced by the world’s largest manufacturer of artificial casings, Viscofan (Cáseda / Spain; www.viscofan.com), consists of more than 40% of DSM’s PA 6 “Akulon CRC-MB”. Other project partners are Sabic (Riyadh / Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com), which supplies polyethylene from the “Trucircle” family as a further film component (see Plasteurope.com of 27.10.2020), Spanish petroleum group Cepsa (Madrid / Spain; www.cepsa.com), and the former DSM division Fibrant (Sittard / Netherlands; www.fibrant52.com). For the production of PA 6, Sabic first supplies “cycle benzene”, from which Cepsa then produces phenol. This is then processed by Fibrant into caprolactam (“EcoLactam”).

According to DSM, all recycled materials within the value chain have the so-called “ISCC Plus” certification, so that no re-qualification is necessary. The seal of approval of the 140-member ISCC Plus association (Cologne / Germany; www.iscc-system.org) is an international certification system that can be applied worldwide to all sustainable raw materials, including agricultural and forestry biomass, recycled materials and renewable energies.