K2022: Barnes demonstrates digital watermarking with sustainable ECO polymers from INEOS Styrolution for better plastics waste sorting

• Digital watermarks for faster and more accurate waste sorting
• NAS^® ECO polymer: up to 99% carbon footprint reduction

INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, has today announced that Barnes Molding Solutions[1] will demonstrate the integration of digital watermarks in complex injection molded packaging products at their booth in hall 1 at the K 2022 in Düsseldorf. The demonstration will be based on INEOS Styrolution’s sustainable NAS^® ECO polymers offering a 77% to 99% carbon footprint reduction.

Barnes Molding Solutions will demonstrate digital watermarking on an injection-moulded cap. The technology, also known as the HolyGrail initiative[2], intends to make sorting of plastics as a primary step for plastics recycling more accurate by using specialized high-speed cameras reading the watermark like a code during the sorting process.

Barnes will base its demonstration on INEOS Styrolution’s NAS[3] ECO polymer. The sustainable drop-in solution NAS ECO is based on a mass balance process certified by ISCC PLUS. It offers an up to 99% carbon footprint reduction compared to the respective fossil-based products[4].  – The actual grade used in the demonstration will be NAS ECO 30 B70.

Christian Slisse, Director of Innovation & Advanced Technologies at Barnes Group Molding Solutions, says: “We are pleased to cooperate with INEOS Styrolution since we share the same objectives for more recycling instead of incineration or plastics ending in landfills.”

Christian Dietlein, Technical Account Manager at INEOS Styrolution, adds: “We encourage visitors of the K to visit Barnes in Hall 1 and get inspired by the demonstration. It is a fine example for an innovative sustainability technology – in this case even based on innovative sustainable material.”

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Visit us at K fair in Düsseldorf, October 19-26, 2022: hall 6 / booth 6D28.

[1] Barnes Molding solutions is a strategic business unit within Barnes, which includes leading plastic injection molding brands for tooling, hot runners, and controls: Synventive®, Thermoplay®, männer®, FOBOHA®, Priamus®, and Gammaflux®.

[2] Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0 – driven by AIM – European Brands Association and powered by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste

[3] NAS is a stiff, amorphous styrene methyl methacrylate (SMMA) copolymer for demanding applications requiring excellent transparency such as water tanks, displays, food containers or boxes. NAS features an outstanding water-clear appearance, an extreme low haze as well as a good thermal and chemical resistance. The optical properties of NAS are on a similar level as PMMA, while NAS has a density and processing advantage compared to acrylic solutions.

[4] See also the press release from February 24, 2022: http://www.ineos-styrolution.com/news/up-to-99-percent-carbon-footprint-reduction-from-new-ineos-styrolution-bio-attributed-styrenics