Trelleborg launches lower-carbon EPDM grades

Trelleborg, Sweden – Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has launched two sustainable ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) grades delivering up to a 55% reduction in product carbon footprint (PCF).

Based on materials created from “non-fossil sources,” the new range includes 70 Shore A and 80 Shore A materials which, Trelleborg Group said, offer “uncompromised performance” compared to conventional EPDMs.

The rubber grades are created from “raw polymers based on non-fossil sources derived from renewable ingredients such as cooking oil, straw, forestry residue and tall oil,” said project manager Dr Jekaterina Miller 21 April.

Furthermore, the materials offer significant environmental benefits as the feedstock comes from circular sources, she added.

According to Miller, the final formulations are “comparable” to traditional EPDM elastomers made from fossil-sourced inputs and provide “equivalent application performance.”

Trelleborg said its calculations, based on “recognised methodology,” have shown that moulded articles made from the 70 Shore A and 80 Shore A grades can achieve “up to a 33% and 55% reduction in PCF respectively.”

In compound form, the materials achieve carbon footprint reductions of 51% (E7T11) and 61% (E8T12) compared to traditional EPDM, the company added.

The grades were developed in partnership with Arlanxeo and are based on its ISCC+ certified bio-circular EPDM, produced using a “mass balance approach” to track renewable feedstock use.

Trelleborg said it further compounds the materials with recycled carbon black sourced from used tires and other secondary materials.

The range – E7T11 (70 Shore A) and E8T12 (80 Shore A) – is targeted at applications including O-rings, gaskets and custom-engineered components across sectors such as automotive, industrial processing, energy and construction equipment.

To support PCF claims, Trelleborg said it worked with Sphera Solutions on calculation methodology, which is currently undergoing validation by certification authority Dekra.