The Munich-based WACKER chemical company is manufacturer capable of using renewable resources to produce commercial quantities not only of dispersions based on vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE), but also of further products based on vinyl acetate – all known by the VINNAPAS® brand.
To do so, the company uses acetic acid generated as a byproduct in the woodworking industry. TÜV SÜD, the international technical inspectorate and certification body, has certified WACKER’s biomass balance method as meeting its international CMS 71 standard.
Independent certification assures customers that WACKER has replaced the required quantities of fossil resources with an equivalent amount of renewables for its biomass-balanced products right at the start of production.
WACKER markets this innovative product class under its new VINNECO® line, encompassing all its polymer products based on renewables.
More and more customers in construction, paints, adhesives, textiles and the paper industry value the use of renewable raw materials,” says Dr. Christoph Riemer, head of the Consumer&Industrial Polymers business unit at WACKER Polymers. He added, “We can now meet that wish with our vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymers.
After all, our approach to sustainability begins right at the raw-material stage.” In the case of WACKER’s new polymer class, the acetic acid comes from the woodworking industry. The wood originates from sustainably managed forests that are PEFC® certified.
The bio-based acetic acid meets WACKER’s quality standards and is characterized by very high purity, very good color compatibility and very low water content.
As a result, the bio-acetic acid’s chemical and physical behavior is identical with that of conventional, fossil acetic acid. What’s more, mixing both types of acetic acid does not affect the end-product’s properties.
