Global Collaboration with Avient
Shark Solutions Group is proud to announce a global collaboration with Avient Corporation, a global leader in specialty TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) formulations. The collaboration has enabled the creation of new, ready-to-use Avient TPE materials for consumer and industrial applications called reSound™ R, a material that can support the sustainability goals of manufacturers worldwide.
Avient’s growing reSound™ R recycled-content thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) portfolio is formulated with rPVB (recycled polyvinyl butyral). The rPVB, recycled from broken automotive windshields and architectural glass by Shark Solutions, enables Avient TPEs to contain 25 percent post-consumer recycled (PCR) content.
With approximately 75 million broken windshields needing replacement annually, thousands of tons of PVB – found in the inner layer of the glass – can be reclaimed rather than landfilled. Shark Solutions recycles the outer glass layers for use in the construction market while the PVB layer is reclaimed and reprocessed for various uses, including as an alternative raw material source for polymers.
Avient’s leading formulation expertise enables reprocessed, high-quality, non-toxic PVB to be upcycled into more sustainable, high-performance TPEs. Developed in 45 to 55 Shore A durometers, the new reSound R grades are supplied in a natural color and are ideal for general purpose applications in the consumer and automotive industries. They are easily colored, and can be overmolded to polypropylene (PP) in a number of applications, including personal care items, lawn and garden tools, golf clubs, and footwear. Automotive end uses include those that could benefit from vibration damping, such as door mats, door damping and glove boxes.
“Together with Shark Solutions, we are helping support customers’ sustainability goals and the circular economy,” said Matt Mitchell, director, global marketing of Specialty Engineered Materials at Avient.
“We are committed to creating high-performance raw materials from what was once a waste stream of laminated glass,” said Jens Holmegaard, CEO and Founder of Shark Solutions. “Avient shares our vision of a world where limited natural resources are preserved for future generations through these types of products.”
