SONGWON highlights its sustainability focus at K2019
Publishing date: 18.10.2019
Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd., the 2nd largest manufacturer of polymer stabilizers in the world and a key global specialty chemicals player will be showcasing its sustainable solutions and highlighting its focus on sustainability and positioning as an enabler of circularity during K2019.
At SONGWON’s core lies the organization’s deep and long-term commitment to sustainability. The company is guided everyday by its sustainability vision, objectives and corporate values and aims to align ecological awareness with economic necessities and a heightened sense of social responsibility across all of its business activities. Dedicated to doing everything it can to contribute to a more sustainable world, SONGWON is using the opportunity at K2019 to demonstrate how its commitment and strategy are contributing to accelerating the transition towards a circular economy in the plastics industry, and how it is positioning itself to be an enabler of circularity.
“Today’s plastics industry players are seeking solutions that can meet the ever-evolving requirements for sustainability. SONGWON is responding to these needs by directing our innovation efforts towards improving the sustainability of plastics as well as supporting customers by applying our additive expertise and using specialty chemistry as a powerful enabler for transforming and reusing materials to create new solutions that close loops,” explains Olivier Keiser, Corporate Sustainability Officer (CSO).
“We’ve identified the major global issues relating to plastics, as well as industry trends and are focused on providing targeted solutions that signal both our confidence in plastic as a material and our aim to develop more sustainable and safer additive solutions within the plastic materials segments.” Keiser points out that SONGWON’s approach is a pragmatic one involving small but highly relevant steps over a period of time.
Sustainability and SONGWON
Keiser is SONGWON’s 1st CSO. He was appointed early this year and the strengthening of SONGWON’s in-house sustainability management function signals the organization’s increasing commitment to pursuing its sustainability strategy in partnership with selected stakeholders. SONGWON’s management drives the overall strategic objective to create lasting value by managing innovation, operations and business practices to meet the changing demands of the company’s markets, stakeholders and society. As one of the forerunners in the industry, SONGWON seeking to become a sustainability-focused leading player in the specialty chemicals.
Plastics add value every day to many areas of daily life and their broad spectrum of properties (flexibility, lightweight, durability and protection etc.) have made them popular. With consumers and policymakers demanding urgent action to stop single-use plastics, SONGWON is responding by looking for alternatives that can significantly contribute to reducing plastics’ negative impact while playing a part in improving recycling and reuse. Furthermore, it aims to raise public awareness of the benefits plastics provide but also of the urgent need for an overall more responsible management of plastics waste.
SONGWON offers a broad portfolio of products that positively contribute to sustainable development activities by extending the service life of plastics by making them more durable and thereby reducing unnecessary waste. The organization is also supporting the development of stronger, lighter weight materials which use less resources due to the use of the most suitable stabilization systems and contribute to reducing emissions in final products.
Keiser underlines that although “repair, refurbishing and recycling of products are already an industry reality, the role of additives and related manufacturing technologies as key circular economy enablers are just as important”.
Sustainable solutions
SONGWON is at K2019 with a spectrum of high-performance products for a wide range of applications that demonstrate its commitment to providing innovative solutions that improve the recyclability of plastics. SONGWON’s range of polymer stabilizers prolongs the lifetime of polymers, contributes to making materials reusable and stabilizes the polymer through the mechanical recycling step. In this way, SONGWON supports its customers to make their processes more ecological, faster and also more efficient and contributes to enabling the plastics industry to make a positive contribution to the environment.
Automotive interiors
For automotive manufacturers, SONGWON is exhibiting its solution for preserving the quality of recycled plastics which enable their use in under-the-hood applications such as engine room covers, cable ducts, battery housing etc. Apart from meeting the industry’s requirements of improved long-term heat stability, SONGWON’s innovative stabilizer blend, SONGXTEND® 2721 increases the quality and upgrades the performance of recycled-PP while extending its service life.
Agricultural films
Contributing to more sustainable agricultural applications, SONGWON will showcase SABO®STAB UV 216 which provides protection and extends the life of agricultural films, even when high levels of pesticides are used. SONGWON’s products are also used in the production of greenhouse and mulch films which both reduce water consumption levels.
Coatings manufacturing
Demonstrating its commitment to improving sustainability throughout the coatings value chain, SONGWON is showing its new collection of water-miscible products that were developed to meet the increased demand for environmentally acceptable additives. Combining the efficiency of conventional products with the benefits of water miscibility and low-to-zero VOC generation, but also of easy dosing and handling, the light stabilizers and antioxidant: SONGSORB® CS 400 WB, SONGSORB® CS AQ01 and SONGNOX® CS 2450 WB provide a synergistic stabilization package for water-based coating systems.
Flame retardant applications
Flame retardants play a very important role in avoiding fire risks in a broad range of applications ranging from electrical appliances to construction materials. At K2019, SONGWON is launching its first generation of SONGFLAME* synergists.
These enable the design of halogen-free formulations for a broad variety of materials, ranging from foams to various polymers such as polyolefins, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Apart from thermoplastics, SONGFLAME technology is also recommended for thermosets, wood, coatings and adhesive applications.
* Trademark registration pending
Packaging
SONGWON’s range of solvent free adhesives for flexible packaging are also on display. Not only economically viable but also high performing, they cater for a wide range of customer needs as well as meet today’s EHS standards. SONGWON’s HI-THANE™ A-7332 / HI-THANE™ A-6200 solvent free polyurethane adhesive system for flexible packaging offers environmental benefits as well as excellent performance. Equipment is easier to clean and the solvent-free adhesive is 100% reactive meaning less energy is used during application, curing and transportation than in conventional systems.
Collaborating for the circular economy
Collaboration has enabled SONGWON to lead the way in sustainable packaging and label printing. Partnering with the German innovative packaging specialists, Berry bpi group, SONGWON is using specially developed heavy-duty PE-bags, made of recycled materials originating from different waste streams, including industrial printed bags that have already been used. SONGWON is one of the 1st chemical companies in the world to package its products in 20kg PE-bags made with 50% recycled PE, and the organization is aiming to increase this percentage to 80% without compromising the quality.
In addition, SONGWON is one of the 1st companies in the industry to use a fiber laser marking technology for full label printing where all the solvents required for de-inking the packaging is also continually recycled in a closed loop process.
“SONGWON has always recognized the value in collaboration,” says Keiser. “To progress we need to work closely with customers, suppliers and other relevant and engaged stakeholders. By collaborating and working together with our partners through the value chain and applying our experience and expertise, we are positioning SONGWON to drive the shift to the circular economy.”
Want to find out more about SONGWON and sustainability? SONGWON’s CSO Olivier Keiser, together with the company’s other global and local representatives will be in Hall 6, Booth B07 at K2019 waiting to share more information with you.
