Colibri the perfect match for recycled material

Colibri® – the perfect match for recycled material

Plastic production and recycling in Europe ยง Global production of plastics: 322 million tons in 2015 ยง Around 25,8 million tons of plastic waste are generated in Europe every year ยง Less than 30% of waste is collected for recycling ยง Plastics production and incineration of plastic waste produces approximately 400 million tons of CO2 a year

European strategy for Plastics in a circular Economy § Improve Product Design § Changes in design and production of plastic products lead to higher plastics recycling rates § Goal: all plastic packaging is recyclable by 2030 § Better and more harmonized separate collection and sorting § Boosting demand for recycled Plastics: development of a European market for recycled plastics, e.g. in construction and automotive Sector à Using more recycled and less virgin material à Little or no growth in volume demand for prime materials à Prime polymer supplier will also offer resins from recycling sources

Recycled material – a challenge for colour matching § Brand owners already made commitments to use more recycled material in their products § Challenge for the supplier: § Recycled polymer has a different colour and/or different properties compared to virgin material à Known colour recipes are not working in the recycled material or in the blends § Each batch of recycled material or blend with virgin material is different à New calibration samples have to be build to get reliable recipes à New colour recipes have to be developed for each material § Enormous work when working with traditional Colour Matching systems

Colibri® – Colour Matching with special features for recycling material Colibri® Multi-Flux Algorithm offers a lot of advantages when using recycled material: § The recycled material can be added easily for usage § No calibration samples of the colorants have to be done in the recycled material § “Virtual” blend of recycled material and virgin material can be created § Very good correction quality helps to develop new recipes in short term § Colorantsets of the pigment manufacturer can be taken as starting point § Clariant and BASF Colorantset in HDPE for pigments and concentrates § Including of other polymers (also recycled material) easily possible

How to use recycled polymer in Colibri® PCR 1

PCR 2

§ Tests with 2 different LDPE Post Consumer Recycled Plastics (PCRs) with different colour and opacity § Add the PCR as alternative binder to the Clariant Colorantset: § Preparation of one full shade and mixtures with white or white and black depending on the colour of the PCR § Calculation of optical data for the PCR

How to use recycled polymer in Colibri® Example 1: Dark and opaque PCR 1 § One full tone and 3 white mixtures § Black mixture is not necessary as PCR itself is very dark

Example 2: Lighter and translucent PCR 2 § One black mixture, one full tone and 3 white mixtures § Black mixture improves matches for dark colors

Example – Characterization of PCR 1 in Colibri § Characterization of an opaque recycled material § 3 white mixtures and full shade § 1 white mixture and full shade are sufficient § No mixtures of colorants with this polymer § Mixtures with colorants only in the “Masterpolymer”

Example – calibration samples and optical data of PCR 1

Example – Colour Matching of a green shampoo bottle with PCR2

§ First shot quality of the recipe might be slightly worse than it would be in a virgin polymer § But with only one correction the colour is within tolerance § Very good colour match even with only a few calibration samples of the recycled material and without characterization of all colorants in this material

Example – Colour Matching of a green shampoo bottle PCR 1 First trial

PCR 2 First trial

PCR 1 Correction

PCR 2 Correction

Even though different qualities of recycled material were used, it was possible to match the colour shade with good accuracy

Example 2 – Colour Matching of RAL 5014 with PCR 1

Example 2 – Colour Match results RAL 5014 • It was possible to match the RAL shade with both PCRs in suitable precision with only 1 correction

PCR 1 First trial

PCR 1 Correction

• Depending on the colour and opacity of the PCR there might be shades which cannot be matched easily § Choice of suitable PCR color for each match § Consider mixing of PCR with virgin material to enlarge color gamut to be covered by the PCR PCR 2 First trial

PCR 2 Correction

Example 3 – Colour Matching using a mix with virgin material PCR 2 and virgin polymer: Colour Match of brilliant Coca Cola red using the attachment function

Example 3 – Matching results

Example 3 – Matching results By mixing recycled material with virgin polymer even brilliant colours can be matched, which would not be possible with the pure PCR

PCR 2 First trial

PCR 2 Correction

ColibriŽ – the Colour-Management software for the global supply chain