Grafenberg, Germany -- Plastics specialist Rampf Giessharze aims to produce the majority of its materials from renewable resources by 2013, the company said in a 15 Feb statement.
The announcement was made as the group presented its latest range of plastics made from bio-polyols at the Bio Based Chemicals Europe conference in Milan at the start of Feb.
Rampf Giessharze, which specialises in PU and epoxy resin systems, said it has also set itself the target of doubling its sales of bio-polyol-based PU resins by 2012. One such product is an electro casting PU made of bio-polyols, which is used in the charging plugs of electric vehicles.
"Saving resources is the order of the day in every key sector," said Rampf ceo, Dr Klaus Schamel in the statement. "The challenge we face is to develop products which are both economically and ecologically viable."
One business division, Rampf Ecosystems based in Pirmasens, Germany, is dedicated exclusively to the recycling of polyurethane and research into renewable raw materials the company said, and has been since 1999.
Chemical processes such as glycolysis, acidolysis or polyolysis, are used to create recycled polyols, which are then fed back into the polyurethane manufacturing process, either to other Rampf companies or to external system suppliers.
Rampf currently has a thermal glycolysis plant for the recycling process, which it says is the biggest of its kind in Europe. An additional plant is due to be commissioned in spring 2011 in the company's Pirmasens location, doubling the annual capacity to around 5000 tonnes.
The company stated that bio-polyols offered manufacturers and customers many benefits, including long-term availability, carbon neutrality and improved product characteristics.
"Compared to a petrochemical-based polyurethane, the emission of greenhouse gases can be reduced by 30 percent. There is also scope for improved functionality," said Michael Kugler, operations manager at Rampf Ecosystems. LMH
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