Exploring the Future of Plastics: Dow & Safic-Alcan

In the vibrant landscape of the plastics industry, collaboration is not just a strategy but a necessity for innovation and growth. 

Safic-Alcan, a global distributor of specialty chemicals, and Dow, one of the world’s leading materials science companies, have established a robust collaboration to bring forward-thinking options to the plastics industry.

Today, we are speaking with Javier Sola, Plastics Business Coordinator at Safic-Alcan, and Juergen Becker, Senior Marketing Manager at Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics EMEA, about how this collaboration is driving innovation, advancing sustainable development, and offering value to customers worldwide. Through their combined experience, Safic-Alcan and Dow are at the forefront of transforming the plastics industry with cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices.

Javier Sola: Safic-Alcan has been a longstanding and valued commercial distributor of DuPont de Nemours, the American multinational chemical company. In 2017, The Dow Chemical Company, another major player in the American chemical industry, completed its merger with DuPont. With its expertise in specialty chemical distribution and strong commercial presence across Europe, Safic-Alcan was chosen as the ideal distributor for Dow's HPC (High-Pressure Copolymers). Safic-Alcan and Dow share aligned values concerning ESG criteria, focusing on Environmental, Social, and Governance objectives.

Juergen Becker: We are proud of the decades-long collaboration with Safic-Alcan on high pressure copolymers. Our work together initially limited to a few countries and industry segments, has now grown to cover the entire European region across infrastructure, transportation and consumer applications. Over the years we have jointly developed applications where our differentiated offering can bring distinct options to the industry and help customers create value. Safic-Alcan’s segment access, technical experience and industry knowledge have been instrumental in our success. We appreciate the trust we have built throughout our cooperation and look forward to continuing our journey together.

Javier Sola: Dow has committed to reduce its net annual carbon emissions by 5 million metric tons versus a 2020 baseline (~15% reduction) by 2030. By 2050, Dow intends to be carbon neutral. At Safic-Alcan, we are fully committed to supporting these objectives, actively aligning our efforts to help achieve these important environmental goals.

Juergen Becker: At Dow, we are committed to working with our suppliers, customers and value chain stakeholders to reduce the impact of our business on the climate, while also addressing customers’ demand for products that support their sustainability goals. Our close collaboration with Safic-Alcan is strongly focused on developing smart material options that improve durability and help use less material in the final product.
We are also actively innovating in circular resins with lower carbon footprint.

These material solutions are based on various technologies, including:

• Bio based resins
• Materials made with advanced recycling processes
• Incorporation of post-consumer recyclates into formulated polymers
• Polymer modifiers that support higher mechanical recycling rates

Javier Sola: There's an increasing demand for bio-sourced and recycled polymers, and Safic-Alcan is proud to offer Dow's low-impact products that meet this need. We’re excited to welcome guests at Fakuma to explore the latest innovations in SURLYN™ REN and SURLYN™ CIR. Beyond products tailored for converters, Safic-Alcan can also recommend ideal solutions from Dow’s portfolio that enhance compatibility between otherwise immiscible polymers, helping the mechanical recycling industry achieve high-quality, consistent compounds.

Juergen Becker:  As a leading material science company, Dow is continuously innovating and developing options in collaboration with our industry stakeholders to address current and future industry requirements.

What you will see at Fakuma is that we are building on our distinct portfolio of ethylene-based polymers and proprietary production processes. We see an increasing need for more durable as well as more circular materials. I would like to highlight two recent developments:

• SURLYN™ REN and SURLYN™ CIR Ionomers, two sustainable ionomer grades which pioneer the use of renewable and circular feedstocks.
• SURLYN™ REN are ionomers produced from bio-waste, such as used cooking oil (UCO), and SURLYN™ CIR are ionomers produced from mixed plastic waste through the process of advanced recycling. Both grades made using these alternative feedstocks continue to offer the properties that give the distinct look, feel and performance that the SURLYN™ material is known for.
• Our ELVALOY™ Acrylate Copolymers are suitable for advancing recycling of polymers like PET, PC, ABS and ABS/PC blends. Addition of small rates of ELVALOY™ can improve recyclate properties in terms of processability, impact performance or enhanced surface appearance.