• Orthex Houseware storage products made from Ineos Styrolution's materials
• Biomass balanced styrene as plastic feedstock supplied by BASF
• Certified production processes and materials

September, 15, 2022 - Orthex, a leading Nordic producer of household products, has selected a range of Ineos Styrolution's sustainable Luran ECO raw materials for its range of SmartStore Compact storage products. Luran ECO is a styrene acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) resulting from a cooperation between Ineos Styrolution and BASF. It is built on BASF's production of styrene monomer derived from renewable feedstock based on a mass balance approach. Ineos Styrolution uses the material as feedstock in its production of new sustainable styrenics solutions. According to an independent third-party assessment, the carbon footprint of the new material is 93% lower compared to the fossil-based Luran version.

Orthex Group is a leading Nordic houseware producer that has a focus on making long-lasting products with an increasing utilization of recycled and bio-based materials to replace fossil-based plastic.

As a next step, Orthex's storage solutions brand SmartStore will start using new biomass balance based Luran ECO raw material for the entire SmartStore Compact storage range. Orthex Group's main criteria for selecting this material by Ineos Styrolution are easy processability, compliance with food contact regulations, and a reduced carbon footprint.

Alexander Rosenlew, CEO of Orthex Group, comments: "This new raw material solution will support our long-term carbon neutrality target. Ineos Styrolution and BASF make it possible for us to offer consumers more sustainable products. This supports our target to increase the share of sustainable raw materials in our production to 80% by 2030."

Luran ECO with reduced CO2 footprint

BASF's biomass balance (BMB) based styrene is used by Ineos Styrolution in the production of bio-attributed styrenics specialties, mainly transparent styrenics materials such as the company's NAS family of styrene methyl methacrylate (SMMA) products and the Luran family of SAN products.

The BASF and Ineos Styrolution processes within the end-to-end mass balance based production of the new solution portfolio are certified by ISCC+.

Artur Sokolowski, Director Sales Electronics & Household EMEA at Ineos Styrolution, comments: "Orthex is an innovative and fast-moving company. I am pleased to see that we have been able to provide a solution to Orthex that helps them to reach their ambitious sustainability target."

Biomass balanced styrene

To produce styrene BMB, BASF replaces fossil resources like naphtha or natural gas with renewable feedstocks derived from organic waste or vegetable oils. It is one way to produce styrene via a mass balance approach. Mass balance is a chain-of-custody model that keeps track of the total amount (e.g., circular or other alternative) of feedstock throughout the production process and ensures a proper allocation to the finished goods.

Raw material and plastic producers like Ineos Styrolution and BASF can thus offer products with a better environmental profile but the same features as those manufactured from fossil feedstock. The allocation process via the mass balance approach as well as the products are certified by independent auditors. Read more about BASF's biomass balance approach (basf.com).

"BMB feedstocks on one side and feedstocks based on chemically recycled plastic waste on the other side, both replacing fossil resources, are a very appealing way to contribute to an improved carbon footprint of subsequent products," says Stefanie Kutscher, Head of Business Management Styrene at BASF's Styrenics Business Europe. "Alternative raw materials already in the economic cycle enable us to produce with less virgin fossil raw materials. So, both mass balance approaches aim to achieve the same."

Orthex is a leading Nordic houseware producer of consumer brands SmartStore storage products, GastroMax kitchenware, and Orthex home- and plant-care categories. Orthex's net sales in 2021 was 88.7 million euros and operating profit was 9.3 million euros. The company has customers in more than 40 countries and local sales offices in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Orthex is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange.

Source: Ineos Styrolution