Kraton Corp. recently announced that it is collaborating with SABIC to produce ISCC PLUS Certified renewable styrenic block copolymers (SBCs) at Kraton’s manufacturing facility in Berre, France. The newly launched CirKular+™ ReNew series expands Kraton’s existing suite of solutions designed to advance the circular economy. With up to 70% certified renewable content, the ReNew series reportedly offers customers the opportunity to use the mass balance approach and adopt ISCC PLUS certification to produce renewable products.

Kraton reports that it successfully produced CirKular+ ReNew series hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers (HSBCs) at the Berre plant earlier this year using SABIC’s renewable butadiene from the TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio of circular solutions. SABIC’s certified renewable butadiene is derived from animal- and palm oil-free second-generation renewable feedstock, such as tall oil co-product from the wood pulping process in the paper industry, which is not in direct competition with human food and animal feed production sources.

According to the cradle-to-gate lifecycle assessment, from sourcing the raw feedstock to producing the monomer, each kilogram of the company’s certified renewable butadiene reduces CO₂ emissions by an average of 4 kg compared to fossil-based virgin alternatives. In addition, each ton of the butadiene also cuts fossil depletion by up to 80%.

“Kraton’s ambition is to enable the bioeconomy and play a role in advancing the circular economy,” said Holger Jung, Kraton senior vice president and president of the Polymer Segment. “Value chain collaboration is instrumental in achieving progress towards a circular economy. Kraton is excited to collaborate with SABIC in using certified renewable butadiene. It enables us to develop and produce Styrenic Block Copolymers with up to 70% of certified renewable raw material content. This is an exciting innovation for our customers as it can help reduce the carbon footprint of fossil-based HSBC made in our Berre plant by up to 65 percent.”

For more information, visit www.kraton.com and www.sabic.com/en.