Aditya Birla Chemicals Thailand Limited today announced the acquisition of Recyclamine Technology from Chemical Technology startup Connora Technologies.
The USA based company, Connora Technologies is the pioneer of recyclable epoxy resin technology, based on a novel proprietary polyamine synthesis platform called Recyclamine. Recyclable thermoset technology was recognised as one of the Top 10 emerging technologies in 2015 by the World Economic Forum. Aditya Birla Chemicals Limited Thailand, a parent company of CTP Advanced Materials (Germany) and owns Epotec and CeTePox Brands, is one of the leading manufacturers of epoxy resins and curing agents globally. Aditya Birla Chemicals, part of the $48.3 billion global conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, and Connora Technologies, have been collaborating since 2016 in a Joint Development Agreement to scale-up the manufacturing of Connora’s recyclable epoxy thermoset technology.
Kalyan Ram Madabhushi, CEO Chemicals, believes that the acquisition of Recyclamine technology is a natural next step for Aditya Birla Chemicals, as it constantly strives to bring innovative and sustainable advanced polymer solutions to its customers. This technology not only enables incremental value creation through zero-waste manufacturing to customers, but also uniquely offers end-of-life recyclability options.
Pradip Kumar Dubey, President of Aditya Birla Chemicals Epoxy Division, says, “This acquisition reaffirms our commitment to being an Advanced materials player, offering sustainable and unique solutions that matter to our customers and society in general. Recyclamine® is revolutionary for the epoxy and composites industries, as it will enable the manufacturing of recyclable products. Before this innovation, it was just not possible to do so.”
Dr. Stefan Pastine Co-Founder and CTO Connora Technologies explains, “As a chemical technology start-up company, we always knew that forming a close partnership with a world-class chemical company would be required for our technology to get to scale. This acquisition is the culmination of a multi-year relationship and the result of the dedication and unwavering commitment to the vision of the Recyclamine Technology, from both ABCL and Connora.
Connora’s co-founder and CEO, Dr. Rey Banatao, adds, “The investment in Connora over the years from a large and well-respected global manufacturing partner such as Aditya Birla Chemicals, has been invaluable to the commercial development of recyclable thermoset technology. Due to their decades of expertise in scale-up manufacturing and sales of epoxy resins, on a global scale, I expect that over the next decade, Recyclamine technology will be commonplace in many epoxy-based composite products, from sporting goods to automobile parts and windmill blades.”
Polyamines are used in diverse applications ranging from fuel additives and lubricants, to cross-linkers in high-performance thermoset plastics, such as epoxy resin or polyurethanes. Epoxy thermosets are traditionally the material of choice in adhesives, coatings, and lightweighting in the electronics, aerospace, automotive, windmill, and sporting goods industries. Connora’s Recyclamine synthesis platform provides a modular and rapid chemistry approach for making new polyamine molecules. A unique and patented feature of Recyclamine is the ability to create cured thermoset resins that can, on command, be recycled into a reusable thermoplastic, thus enabling ‘end-of-life’ recycling and ‘zero-waste manufacturing’ in the thermoset composites industry.
The efficient recycling of composite materials should have a positive impact on the automotive and aerospace industries, where the trend to make lighter, stronger, and more energy-efficient vehicles is driving growth in the use of carbon fibre composite materials. Composites industry reports state that the manufacturing of composites today generates 5-40% of raw inputs as waste materials, for which there are few options in recycling or reuse. Making composites more recyclable through the use of Recyclamine should help reduce the overall cost of manufacturing of composite products, by re-integrating composite waste and reducing landfill costs.