GE Plastics Launches New Family of Waste-Derived Resins for Automotive Industry

27 July 2006

GE Plastics has introduced two new resins to its portfolio: Valox iQ and Xenoy iQ resins. The new products, which the company announced in Japan, are immediately available to global automotive and non-automotive manufacturers.

Valox iQ resins are created with polybutylene terephthalate (PBT)-based polymers derived from 85% post-consumer plastic waste. Xenoy iQ resin is an alloy of polycarbonate (PC) and PBT-based polymers, also derived from 85% post-consumer plastic waste. Both consume less energy and yield less carbon dioxide (CO₂) in their manufacturing than traditional resins.

GE’s proprietary process—which does not involve recycling, but rather, a novel way to regenerate and upgrade synthetic solid waste—reduces CO₂ emissions by at least 1.7 kg per kg of resin, and saves up to 8.5 barrels of crude oil per tonne of resin, according to GE.

Replacing all the PBT used in 2005 with the Valox iQ and Xenoy iQ resins would have created an outlet for more than 562,000 metric tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste.

In terms of both eco responsibility and high performance, Valox iQ and Xenoy iQ resins represent one of the most significant technological breakthroughs coming out of GE Plastics in recent years.

—Greg Adams, vice president and general manager of GE Plastics' Automotive business

The new products were developed as a result of a two-year initiative at GE Plastics that examined the company's manufacturing processes to redefine how its products can be made to be cleaner and more environmentally responsible than traditional materials.

GE is working with leading global automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers including DENSO, a Tier-1 automotive supplier headquartered in Kariya, Japan, to validate applications. In addition to automotive applications, the new GE products are good candidates for applications in the consumer electronics and transportation industries.

Other products currently in development include a thermoplastic elastomer utilizing post-consumer waste, and a next-generation Valox iQ resin grade that will combine post-consumer-waste feedstock with a bio-based feedstock to eliminate additional carbon dioxide emissions and replace petroleum-based material.