In France, specialty chemical maker Arkema has converted its full line of acrylic thickeners produced in Europe to 30% biobased content. The move lowers the product carbon footprint of the specialty additives—frequently used in coatings and adhesives—by 25%.
“Used in architectural paints, industrial coatings, plasters, renders, adhesives, sealants, and various applications to optimize the rheology of those systems, those biobased acrylic thickeners are identical in term of performance and cost for our customers. This evolution reflects our commitment to more sustainability across the value chain,” Yohann Trang, Global Market Director – Construction Materials @Coating Solutions, said in a press statement.
The biobased acrylic thickeners will be sold under Rheotech™, Thixol™ and Viscoatex™ brands. They are the first products made with the recently announced bio-sourced ethyl acrylate produced at the Arkema acrylic monomer facility in Carling France.