Dow launches biobased EPDM for auto, consumer applications

US materials firm Dow has launched Nordel REN Ethylene Propylene Diene Terpolymers (EPDM), a bio-based version of Dow’s EPDM rubber material that goes into automotive, infrastructure and consumer applications.

A key component of automotive weatherseals and hoses, Dow aims to support not just the automotive industry in achieving its sustainability goals with the launch of the new product, but as EPDM also goes into building profiles, roofing membranes, wire and cable, among others, it can help the decarbonisation of building and construction and more, it adds.

Zshelyz Lee, Global Automotive Plastics Circularity Team Leader, said, “With our commitment to deliver 3 million tonnes/year of circular and renewable solutions by 2030, we are proud to bring Nordel REN EPDM as the newest offering to help our customers achieve their ambitious sustainability goals and create a better tomorrow.”

By using bio residues from other industries as raw material, the new EPDM can further support Dow customers in the rubber industry to offer their own customers a lower-carbon product. As only waste residues or by-products from an alternative production process are utilised, these raw feedstock materials will not consume extra land resources nor compete with the food chain.

The plant-based EPDM will be made through an ISCC PLUS certified mass balance system which traces the flow of bio-based raw material through a complex value chain and attributes it through verifiable bookkeeping. Crucially, the resulting product offers identical performance to virgin material with no requalification required, helping customers accelerate their transition to more sustainable options without the need for additional time or carbon emissions from the construction and maintenance of a new parallel production stream.

The technology behind Nordel EPDM production, Dow’s Advanced Molecular Catalyst, already results in a highly efficient process that uses 24% less energy than the conventional Ziegler-Natta process, and thus 39% lower carbon footprint for the standard EPDM grades, which has been validated by a third-party life cycle analysis (LCA).