What has fueled the enduring partnership between Safic-Alcan and Eurotec over the years, and what are the pivotal factors that have sustained its longevity?
Eurotec and Safic-Alcan: Introducing Sustainable Practices in the Plastics Industry
As the global conversation on sustainability gains momentum, industries across the board are reassessing their practices to align with environmental goals. Among these, the plastics industry stands out as both a significant contributor to environmental challenges and a sector ripe for transformation.
Safic-Alcan and Eurotec are joining forces as co-exhibitors at the FIP 2024 at booth A42-B39. This strategic partnership not only underscores our shared commitment to sustainability but also highlights our dedication to driving innovation in the plastics market.
Eurotec, a competitive compounder of engineering thermoplastics, provides opportunities for success on the base of reliable partnerships with its flexible, fast and tailor made solutions. Safic-Alcan is an independent distributor of specialty chemicals with a global network, and, together, they have been serving formulators with best-in-class ingredients and technical expertise since 2019.
Safic-Alcan and Eurotec come together for a joint interview to shed light on their partnership and shared commitment to environmental responsibility. Representing two pillars of the sector, this shared interview with Van Linh DANG, Business Director France Performance Products at Safic-Alcan, and Reha Gür, Vice President and Commercial Director at Eurotec, provides valuable insights into their collaborative efforts and the impact they aspire to achieve.
Reha Gür : All our business partners describe Eurotec as an engineering plastics raw material producer who is a long term partner competitive in standard grades and reliable in specialty solutions. Our business field needs us to provide service to our business partners especially while they design a new product or finding a solution for ongoing production problem. Therefore, being a competitive and reliable producer is not enough to keep our customers satisfied because they need service besides these. We know this expectation, thus our most important criteria while selecting distribution partner is having similar mentality towards welcoming the customer and their projects. Fortunately, Safic Alcan’s mentality is the same as ours as they are a long term, reliable, service-oriented partner for their customers and suppliers.
Van Linh DANG : We were very well established in the market for additives and polymers for masterbatches and compounds manufacturers, providing top-notch technical support, a reliable and responsive supply chain, and sustainable commercial support. But we were eager to extend those benefits to plastic converters. Five years ago, Reha took a bet on us as the challenger in this field, and I must say that our partnership is bearing fruit, but there is still much to do! Eurotec is the key partner for our business development with thermoplastic converters in France. We share the same desire to serve customers based on trust and a long-term vision. Our respective abilities to provide tailored and innovative solutions are crucial.
Innovation stands as a cornerstone in the plastics industry. How has the partnership between Safic-Alcan and Eurotec contributed to fostering innovation within this sector? Can you spotlight any specific groundbreaking solutions or products that have resulted from this collaboration?
RG : As part of Eurotec's sustainability efforts, PA6, PA6.6, and PP solutions with recycled raw material content and low carbon footprint have been formulated to meet Renault's material specification requirements. Our specially developed PC/ABS material for use in interior body applications such as consoles and instrument panels offers a low carbon footprint along with its mechanical properties, painting, and adhesion performance. Additionally, this material contains 65% recycled raw material content sourced from post-consumer waste. Our PBT/PET material, ready for use as a green material alternative in applications using glass fiber reinforced PBT and PBT/PET, contains 25% recycled raw material content.
On the other hand, our Tecomid BIO NI40 GR30 BK012 HS (PA6.10, 30% glass fiber reinforced, heat stabilized, black) material is approved for use in cooling systems and connector parts. This partially bio-based material with a low carbon footprint is a sustainable alternative capable of safely replacing PA66 in cooling system parts, thanks to its hydrolysis resistance. Our Tecomid NB43 GR15 BK012 HS M80I (PA6, 15% glass fiber reinforced, black, 80% recycled content) material is approved for various automotive applications. It exhibits a low carbon footprint with a high recycling rate and demonstrates good mechanical properties, stiffness, and sustainable quality.
VD : Innovation comes also with anticipating technological and regulatory changes. Having continuous exchanges with our clients and suppliers is key, and I have to say that with Eurotec we always had high level partners to discuss with. I have a recent example in mind that is close to my heart because I became a father again a few months ago! One of our sales engineers obtained certification and initiated a business stream for a safety component used in baby car seats, based on a fully Post-Consumer-Recycled (PCR) PA6 Tecomid compound from Eurotec. This component combines high-quality manufacturing with the goal of offering solutions with a lower carbon impact, and of course, no compromise was made on safety, durability and sustainability.
The plastics industry is constantly evolving due to changing market demands with focus on sustainability. How do Safic-Alcan and Eurotec stay ahead of these changes?
RG : One of the establishment principles of Eurotec is being a pioneer player in the compounding field. We have to closely follow our main acting sectors dynamics, expectations and future trends and re-shaping our operations accordingly, if needed. Today’s most popular trend in plastics is “sustainability”, which is a term that summarizes our history because we have two divisions since we started. One of them is compounding where we produce prime, near to prime and value-added green solutions, and the other one is re-granulation where we produce value-added polyamides from textile wastes. Value-added green solutions are based on recycled raw materials which have very low LCA values (kg CO2 eq) thus allow our business partners to lower their carbon footprint. These are new developments for most of the sector players, but not for us; because we are very experienced in developing and producing such materials since we started.
One of our post-consumer-based materials coming from fishing net has recently been awarded as “product of the year” in 2024. We have a wide portfolio in sustainability even for tailored solutions; thus, our partners are free to design their product without any boundaries.
VD : Our sales teams engage with our customers and stakeholders to understand their evolving needs, ensuring that our products not only meet current standards but are also well-positioned for future developments. Indeed Eurotec is definitely one of our partners who has best embraced sustainable development and quickly integrated many environmentally friendly solutions into their product offerings. We are thrilled to provide our customers multiple possibilities to decrease the carbon footprint of their goods with Eurotec compounds. Not only by using raw materials which can be recycled or biobased feedstocks, but also by providing engineered solutions that help eco-conception (lightweight focus, durability, energy efficiency, etc).
This year, we're thrilled to announce that Safic-Alcan and Eurotec will be joining forces as co-exhibitors at FIP 2024. What can visitors and customers anticipate from our collaboration?
RG : We will be presenting our new generation sustainable materials among our traditional intelligent solutions. New generation sustainable materials are frequently asked by automotive, home appliances and electrical & electronics sectors OEMs regarding to new EV projects and we have many homologated products which will be bringing benefits to our visitors.
VD : Converters can come and discuss about our solutions in diverse industries mentioned by Reha. We are eager to develop some custom-made solutions for them integrating all their technical and sustainable requests. We are looking forward to welcoming them on our booth #A42-B39.
