K Fair, one of the world’s most prominent events for product innovation in the plastics and rubber industry is held once every three years in Düsseldorf, Germany. And last year, the K 2022 trade fair brought together more than 3,300 industry leaders and global organizations to showcase their innovations and shaping the direction of the global plastics and rubber industries.

The key focus of K 2022 was centered on the environment along with innovation under the following three topics: (1) circular economy and the vision for the development of new materials to improve quality of life, (2) the global concern of reducing the effects of climate change, and (3) the application of digital technology to advance the industry in every dimension.

SCGC “INNOVATION THAT’S REAL”

K 2022 is another global platform where SCGC has showcased plastic innovations for sustainability under the concept “Innovation That’s Real” by presenting how to power the world with green innovation along with high value-added products or, HVAs, in the effort to develop products that are environmentally friendly as well as beneficial to customers and consumers and that respond to global megatrends, encompassing infrastructure, consumer product packaging, automotive parts, medicine and health, and energy solutions, to truly meet every need.

Real Environmentally Friendly:

SCGC showcases plastic that is better for the planet and helps to reduce the negative impact on the environment in a sustainable way, optimize the use of resources, and lessen the emission of global warming-inducing greenhouse gases, falling under four solutions under the SCGC GREEN POLYMER™ brand:

• REDUCE: Resource consumption can be reduced with S411B HDPE resin, which is manufactured with SMX™ technology and is used to form household product packaging that decreases packaging weight by up to 22% while retaining strength and original properties, such as shock absorbency and chemical resistance, thus reducing the use of resources like plastic resin as well as greenhouse gas emissions at the same time.

• RECYCLABLE: To design recyclability into products, Recyclable Packaging Solution has been developed for the production of mono-material PE, PP, or PO plastic packaging for easy recycling. It comes with the innovative BWO1501G film layer coating to prevent air permeability, the first in ASEAN to receive RecyClass international standard accreditation.

• RECYCLE: SCGC’s high quality HDPE LDPE and PP post-consumer recycled resins (PCR) are made out of cleaned and sorted post-consumer plastic that has gone through a mechanical recycling process followed by SCGC’s unique formulation to achieve high quality in accordance with Global Recycled Standard (GRS). There is also an odorless formula that is suitable for use in personal care product packaging, in which fragrance is a key feature. It can replace virgin plastic resin by 25-100% and also contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70%.

At the event, SCGC put on a joint exhibition with Sirplaste, the leader in recycled plastics in Portugal, marking an important step in expanding into the European recycled resin market.

Meanwhile, post-consumer plastics that are difficult to recycle are put through an advanced recycling process to convert them back into raw materials for use in petrochemical plants to produce Certified Circular Polyolefin Resin plastic pellets with properties and quality equivalent to those of virgin plastic resin and which can be used to produce food packaging. Certified Circular Polyolefin Resin has been granted ISCC PLUS sustainability certification throughout the supply chain.

• RENEWABLE: SCGC offers bio compostable compounds – a new environmentally friendly alternative that is ready for use in the formation of plastic film for the production of household and industrial biodegradable bags, certified by one of the world’s leading institutions like DIN CERTCO, Germany, to be industrially compostable under the temperature of 60 °C, at which it will convert into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass within 180 days without leaving any residue in the environment and thus be fully recirculated into the ecosystem as a reusable resource.

Real Fight Against Climate Change:

Manufacturers in all industries are looking for ways to reduce the impact of climate change. Especially in the automotive industry, the popularity of electric vehicles is on the rise. This led to the development of a lightweight yet strong material like SCGC™ PP P1085J for the production of automotive parts that are thinner and lighter than those made with traditional materials while still meeting the safety standards set by car manufacturers, thus building confidence for drivers. The material flows well and can be molded with precision (MFR 130), answering to manufacturers’ needs.

Real Betterment for the World:

Good urban development must be coupled with good infrastructure and utilities that are constantly being improved and developed. This also applies to plastic innovation, which plays an important role in essential infrastructure. SCGC has developed high-quality PE plastic for pipe production, namely PE High Abrasion Resistance, PE resin made with SMX™ technology for the production of pipes that are four times more abrasion resistant than PE100 pipes, thus helping to extend their service life even further; SCGC™ HDPE PE100RC, plastic pellets for the production of water and gas pipes compatible with trenchless installation, answering to the needs of urban society; and SCGC™ HDPE H624WC, HDPE resin for cable sheathing with good flow properties, thus enhancing efficiency in the production of electrical and telecommunication cables.

Real Drive for Positive Change

Innovations encompassing all aspects of the social dimension, from medicine with special grade PP and PVC resins for medical equipment and developing collaborative solutions to meet the needs of medical professionals and patients, to energy innovation with SCGC Floating Solar Solutions integrated floating solar farms and emisspro®, furnace wall coating to reduce heat loss in industrial plants, all the way to the establishment of the i2P (Ideas to Products) Center for innovation and product development to power every possibility and turn ideas into reality, which is the heart of commercial innovation development, for customers, brand owners, partners, and various organizations, as well as inventing and developing innovations together to meet future market needs.

Real World-class Technology & Sustainability

Collaborating on and creating sustainable growth for the ASEAN chemical manufacturing industry through Long Son Petrochemicals (LSP), a subsidiary of SCGC and Vietnam’s first fully integrated petrochemical complex with a world-class production base, and the application of advanced technologies throughout the value chain to enhance operational excellence as well as to develop production processes that are safer and more environmentally friendly.

K 2022 was, therefore, a significant event that will set the direction and update the trends and progress of technology and innovation in the plastics industry, which will help spark new ideas to drive the entire chemical industry towards the common goal of sustainability in a world that belongs to all of us.