Minimizing material impact

Environmental impact is an important criteria in new material developments, and as a responsible co-engineering partner of system-critical elastomer components it is a core point of focus for Datwyler. The industry is demanding more Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) calculations and regulations surrounding the use of certain chemical compounds are pending. To deliver greater accuracy and to remain compliant, it is important to scrutinize processes and material development activities in partnership with all key stakeholders. For the development of the highest quality new products, the concept of Eco Design is applied. It is an approach that considers environmental benefits throughout the life cycle of products. The process incorporates assessing cost, manufacture and performance of the final product, and crucially its environmental impact – from the sustainability of raw materials to its ultimate recyclability.

Eco-design considers environmental aspects at all stages of the product development process

Working together yields accurate results and viable products
Through collaborative efforts with industry manufacturers, Datwyler is able to engineer new
materials and products with a comprehensive understanding of their functionality. This shapes the overall design direction. By combining material expertise and engineering, we gain insights into the ramifications of using sustainable compounds in material creation. This proactive approach allows us to evaluate their viability in terms of functionality, safety, and compliance.
Importantly, gaining a 360-degree view of the process and ensuring transparency in the provided data drives greater accuracy of Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). The data is the core of the calculation, so as many data points as possible are needed. Each parameter is valuable, from energy consumption to transportation and everything in between surrounding product composition. Datwyler generates results using a combination of a software and in-house primary database information. The equation is simple – good data in equals accurate LCA out as a result. This good data can also provide valuable feedback, highlighting steps that could improve efficiency and therefore productivity and optimization
of processes. We follow guideline procedures at all times in compliance with ISO14067 and
ISO14044. From a material perspective, Datwyler customizes elastomer formulations in accordance
with the guidelines required by its end customer. Whenever it is necessary to change a material composition – for example, to include sustainable compounds – customer approval is needed. Such changes are not always straightforward, as substituting a high-performance compound with a sustainable alternative may require compromises on the overall performance. That is why the outlined co-engineering approach is vital to adopt at an early stage, to identify any challenges quickly and to ensure all customer parameters can be met when using an alternate material formulation.

Sustainable materials testing
There are several areas of focus that can contribute to a more sustainable material overall.
We have assessments ongoing to incorporate recovered carbon black and vulcanized
elastomer crumb into material compounds. These products can be obtained via pyrolysis of
end-of-life tyres or mechanical grinding of elastomer waste, and can replace a percentage of
the original compounds without compromising performance. Datwyler has already
successfully deployed compounds containing recovered carbon black in a damper
application, have a couple of compounds containing own grinded elastomer waste in
industrial scale production and further tests are ongoing.
The investigation of sustainable materials also extends to the substitution of standard
ingredients with renewable alternatives including:

• Eco grades of polymers
• Rice husk silica
• Cellulose based fibers
• 100% bio-based processing oils and other processing additives