Sustainable Products

At Kraton, we are changing the perception that sustainability comes with a tradeoff. We operate in a demanding market where both sustainability and product performance are important to our customers. What differentiates us is the ability to innovate new solutions that bring top performance and help our customers reduce their environmental footprint in their supply chains and products.

In the asphalt industry, our Highly Modified Asphalt (HiMA) technology helps reduce the thickness of paving by 30 to 50 percent while achieving equivalent engineering properties and enabling reduced raw material usage. Our SYLVAROAD™ RP1000 enables asphalt recycling and reuse up to 100 percent. In healthcare, our Cariflex™ polyisoprene products are safe alternatives to natural rubber, which can cause life-threatening allergies in users of surgical gloves. For adhesives, our AQUATAC™ tackifier dispersions are made from biobased raw material CTO and can effectively replace fossil-based products in pressure-sensitive adhesives. Designed for the automotive market, our SBC-based, slush or injection molded soft touch solutions are an excellent alternative to PVC, as it doesn’t contain intentionally-added phthalate plasticizers; it also has lower environmental impact with improved performance.

European Certification
for Biobased Products

Kraton is committed to expanding our sustainable solutions portfolio to customers. In November 2016, we received the European certification for biobased products, a key differentiator in the biobased product market. The certification is based on the European standard EN 16785-1, which enables independent assessment of claims on the biobased content of products.

SYLVALITE™ Tackifier

The SYLVALITE™ 9000 rosin ester tackifier is based on the biobased raw material CTO. It is an innovative product designed especially for the demanding hot-melt adhesive applications and as a sustainable option to achieve high-performance adhesion. The tackifier meets the high standards of color stability and is designed to provide excellent bonding strength across a wide range of applications.

Highly Modified Asphalt (HiMA)

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Highway Administration identified asphalt paving as America’s top recycled product. Kraton’s recyclable Highly Modified Asphalt (HiMA) technology can be used for a wide variety of paving applications, including base course, binder and surface courses and bridge decks. HiMA helps reduce pavement thickness by 30 to 50 percent and raw material usage while achieving equivalent engineering properties. It also improves paving resistance to rutting and cracking, leading to longer paving life and reduced maintenance. This combination of fewer raw materials and increased lifecycle means less maintenance, resulting in reduced energy consumption – a major leap toward more sustainable road construction

Cariflex™ Polyisoprene Products

Exposure surgical gloves and condoms made of natural rubber latex can cause a life-threatening allergic reaction in some people. Our Cariflex™ polyisoprene products can substitute natural rubber and are ideal for applications demanding hypo-allergenic properties, purity, protection and consistently high quality. The product is anionically polymerized by means of a process developed by Kraton, which yields polymers with low levels of impurities. The high molecular weight polyisoprene resulting from this process is free of naturally-occurring proteins found in natural rubber latex, reducing the risk of allergic reactions while delivering equivalent performance criteria.

AQUATAC™ Products

Our AQUATAC™ tackifier dispersions are based on the biobased raw material CTO and are used to formulate water-based pressure-sensitive adhesives. These adhesives – designed for tape and label applications – can replace fossil-based products. AQUATAC™ is especially designed to be formulated into a pressure-sensitive adhesive where high shear strength and adhesion are both required. The AQUATAC™ FC-8560 tackifier dispersions were developed for label applications requiring European food contact approval, which must be proven safe for food packaging to be successful.

Styrenic Block Copolymers (SBC) for Automotive Interiors

Kraton developed SBC-based, slush or injection molded soft touch solutions that can be used in a wide variety of automotive applications on class A surfaces, such as door panels and instrument panels. These applications have predominantly used polyvinyl chloride (PVC), one of the world’s most common plastics. However, Kraton’s SBC-based polymer solutions are an alternative to PVC, as it contains no intentionally-added phthalate plasticizers; it also delivers lower environmental impact with improved performance. These solutions offer improved soft touch and aging properties while maintaining good, low temperature performance. It is also recyclable. With 25 percent lower specific gravity and the potential to down-gauge part thickness, a 30 to 40 percent reduction in component weight may be achieved with our solutions compared to PVC. The overall weight reduction helps decrease vehicle fuel consumption.

SYLVAROAD™ RP1000

SYLVAROAD™ RP1000 Performance Additive received the prestigious Ethical Corporation 2016 Responsible Business Award for Sustainable Innovation. The award recognizes businesses for pioneering new practices, products and ways of doing business with regard to sustainability and development. The additive is a reclaimed asphalt paving solution enabling a step change in the amount of reclaimed asphalt in the mix, leading to more sustainable and resource-efficient road constructions.