Covestro releases innovative solutions for coatings and adhesives through online launch

Covestro has held its 2021 online release event for a series of coatings and adhesives solutions that focus on the circular economy, covering a wide range of fields, including automotive, infrastructure, home furnishings, and packaging. Supporting these new releases, Covestro is continuing to improve its localized production capacity and strengthening its value chain to meet the growing needs of the Chinese market.

In the wake of the official announcement of China’s carbon emissions peak and neutrality goals, multiple industries are advancing green and low-carbon development. With the corporate vision of achieving a circular economy, Covestro looks forward to exploring new trends in industry development with partners from all sectors, and accelerating the transition to a circular and sustainable future. In April, Covestro completed the acquisition of DSM’s resins and functional materials business (RFM), which greatly expanded the company’s product portfolio in the field of sustainable coating resins, and the online release event highlighted some of the innovative solutions added by the RFM acquisition.

“With more innovative technologies and a pioneering product portfolio, Covestro is committed to providing customers in various industries with high-performance material solutions – helping them to further reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve sustainability,” said Zhong Xiaobin, Senior Vice President of Coatings and Adhesives, Covestro Asia Pacific. “As a pioneer in promoting the circular economy, Covestro aims to deepen exchange and cooperation with more customers and partners through the digital showroom, and to work together to promote China’s sustainable development.”
 

Promoting sustainable development across multiple sectors

In the automotive sector, Covestro developed a partially bio-based hardener for clearcoat solutions that can help meet carbon emissions regulations and promote environmental protection. This solution can be found on the Voyah FREE electric prototype SUV, where 70 percent of the hardener’s carbon content comes from bio-based^[1] raw material, reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent during the manufacturing process. Compared to a traditional hardener, this solution can help the automotive industry significantly reduce its carbon footprint while ensuring the same appearance and performance.

In infrastructure, Covestro launched an integrated primer and topcoat solution to help Zhongjing Building Materials make its first bio-based decorative panels. This solution uses a solvent-free and ultra-low viscosity one-component primer made with Covestro’s Desmodur^® polyurethane prepolymers, which can better cover porous surfaces, effectively improving production efficiency. The Decovery^® bio-based waterborne emulsion contained in the topcoat creates an ultra-matte effect, displays strong chemical and stain resistance, and is hard enough to resist different kinds of scratches, thereby meeting diversified needs while reducing carbon emissions.

In the home furnishings segment, Covestro launched its bio-based two-component waterborne technology, Bayhydur^® eco and Bayhydrol^®, which can gradually replace traditional petroleum-based products and provide better performance. The solution offers higher transparency compared to conventional two-component waterborne coatings, and can better display the beautiful and natural wood texture. It also features excellent surface properties making the woodwork more durable with strong stain resistance and easy care. For manufacturers, it can cure faster during the coating process and is suitable for automatic coating lines, which improves coating efficiency and helps save energy and reduce emissions. The technology has been successfully used in Sherwin-Williams’ bio-based waterborne coatings, which is used in Tucson’s home product series.

In the packaging segment, Covestro is addressing the challenges posed by traditional paper packaging’s use of plastic lamination for waterproofing, which makes it difficult to be recycled and repulped. Covestro’s Neocryl^® water-based barrier resin supports circular and sustainable development, as it not only provides strong barrier properties, but also allows for easier repulping of the paper, thereby reducing waste. Neocryl^® also does not contain any perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) that can cause health risks. The resin has been used in food paper wraps and is expected to be widely used in further paper packaging applications.

Exceptional production continues to lead industry upgrades

Meanwhile, Covestro is continuing to leverage a more localized R&D and production network to get closer to Chinese customers and market. One example is the ultra-series high-performance hardener, which sets industry standards. With a residual monomer content of less than 0.1 percent in weight, the ultra-hardener helps improve industrial hygiene and workplace safety. It can be widely used in many fields without compromising product quality. Covestro Integrated Site Shanghai can now independently produce HDI based ultra-derivatives and will be able to provide ultra-series products to customers in the Asia-Pacific region before the end of this year.

Furthermore, the Shanghai site received the ISCC PLUS mass balance certification earlier this year^[2], which means that Covestro is able to supply polyurethane raw material MDI made from alternative raw materials in large quantities to customers in Asia Pacific. Covestro has also established a strategic partnership with H.B. Fuller to provide mass-balanced polyurethane raw materials for its adhesives, which are mainly used in the automotive, wood, composite and textile industries.

For more information, please visit Covestro’s digital showroom.

[1] The proportion of bio-based content is measured through the ¹⁴C method in accordance to ASTM D6866-21.

[2] Mass balance is a chain of custody method that allows fossil and alternative feedstock to be mixed in production but separated in bookkeeping. It is able to track materials through the value chains and allows attribution of alternative feedstock, like bio-based raw materials, to selected end products.