Sustainability

Global concerns about preserving our water and energy resources have motivated industry to invest in developing more resource efficient goods. The increased awareness of environmental challenges has also penetrated consumer oriented market segment such as household appliances and white goods which typically integrate modern technology that curbs energy and water consumption.

In fact, new washing machines use about half the water and energy of the average 10-year-old machine and with the gradual decline of top loaders, the average efficiency of a washing machine has nearly doubled: Observing the past 5 years, we see a 10 percent increase in water efficiency of white goods. In maximizing the energy and water savings benefits of white goods, the appliances industry has progressively replaced traditional steel tubs with polypropylene (PP) based materials tubs.

Borealis polypropylene (GB366WG or GB364WG) allows manufacturers to optimize the design of washing machines by reducing the dead spots between the tub and the rotating drum  to a minimum. Replacing steel tubs with PP eliminates the intrinsic properties of steel of generating stamping constraints which ultimately results in higher volumes of waste water between the tub and the drum. By using polypropylene as the overall base material in washing machine tubs, equipment manufacturers can produce machines that reduce water consumption by 10% or up to 1.5 liters per load.
The use of these polypropylene grades in white goods also implies water savings on a production level, adding to the overall environmental value of polypropylene based materials.  For each ton of plastics produced, only 2 m3 of water is needed from processing to finish versus steel which requires on an average more than 10 m3.

A a part of our social corporate responsibility and advancing sustainability we work closely with the value chain members on the short to long term innovations that shall enable a low carbon, less water stress, energy efficient, low cost, environmentally friendly products thus making a sustainable difference.

Innovation that drives change

“Our aim is always to be positioned to provide customers with material solutions that are second-to-none in processing and end-use performance.  That means engaging in continuous product development,” says Bala Kona, Application Marketing Manager.

An example is the upcoming introduction of BG066AP, the first PP material to offer glossy aesthetics comparable with those of ABS.  This development is expected to give the manufacturers the possibility to bring the advantages of PP properties to appearance parts such as fascias, control panels and front draws, for which, because of its gloss-level, ABS had previously been the material choice.

“Of course,” says Bala Kona, “in respect of BG066AP, gloss is only one innovative aspect of the grade.  Using selected micro-scale filler it is less dense and higher flowing, and therefore gives the potential for weight savings of up to 20% compared to ABS, as well as more than 10% reduction in cycle time and significant energy savings.  It not only offers to lower total manufacturing cost, it also raises the bar on environmental performance by lowering the carbon and water footprint "

He adds: “These are tangible benefits which shall persuade the major appliance OEMs to replace ABS with BG066AP. The existing high-price trend for ABS specialities is convincing even more OEMs that now is a good time to make the change to BG066AP as a more cost effective material solution.”