CYCOLEN® — When Recycled Material Varies, Formulation Expertise Matters
CYCOLEN® combines customer-specific recycled polymers with precise color matching, additive formulation, and GRAFE’s material expertise.
With CYCOLEN®, GRAFE, based in Blankenhain, is expanding its portfolio with a new product brand for masterbatches specifically designed for coloring recycled polymers. The focus is on customer-specific solutions in which the masterbatch is tailored to the recycled polymer specified by the customer.
Recycled materials continue to gain importance in the plastics industry. At the same time, they present technical challenges for processors: Depending on their origin, sorting, and processing, quality, inherent color, and processing properties can vary significantly. This is precisely where CYCOLEN® comes in. GRAFE develops individually tailored masterbatch formulations designed for the specific customer material, the desired target color, and the application-specific requirements.
“With CYCOLEN®, we’re creating a solution for processors who not only want to use recycled materials but also want to integrate them into their applications in a way that ensures color consistency, functionality, and process reliability,” explains Lars Schulze, Head of R&D Product Development. “The key is that we don’t start with a theoretical standard material, but rather use the customer’s specific recycled polymer as the basis for development.” If a fully recycled-material-based concept is desired or required for the end product, GRAFE evaluates the material provided by the customer to determine its suitability as a carrier polymer for masterbatch production.
The new product brand is aimed at plastics processors who use post-industrial or post-consumer recycled materials in their material cycles and wish to combine them with color, additive, or functional solutions. Suitable plastics include PET, HDPE, PP, LDPE, and PMMA, among others. Depending on the application, GRAFE develops its masterbatches in customer-specific colors, pellet forms, and batch sizes. For project-specific customer requirements, the company also evaluates advanced material solutions in the form of compounds.
Color matching presents a particular challenge. Recycled polymers often have their own inherent coloration, which must be taken into account during formulation development. GRAFE analyzes the customer-specific raw material and adjusts the colorant dosage accordingly. In this way, natural material variations can be compensated for, and defined color targets can be achieved more precisely.
“Not all recycled materials are the same. Each material source has its own unique properties,” explains Dr. Michael Dirauf, Team Leader of Analytics. “Our task is to understand these properties and use them to develop a stable, processable, and visually appealing masterbatch. To do this, we rely on close collaboration between the DESIGN CENTER, MATERIAL SCIENCE, Analytics, and Production teams here at GRAFE.”
In addition to coloring, CYCOLEN® masterbatches can also be formulated with functional additives. These include, for example, stabilizers, processing aids, lubricants and anti-blocking agents, impact modifiers, as well as UV or thermal stabilizers. The goal is to specifically improve the processing and performance of recycled materials and to facilitate the use of recycled plastics in high-quality applications.
CYCOLEN® also opens up new design possibilities. In addition to classic colors, optical effects, particles, textures, or laser markings can be achieved. Especially with regard to circular product concepts, direct marking of the plastic can be an interesting alternative to additional labels. This ability to be laser-marked is retained even after further mechanical recycling cycles within a closed system.
With CYCOLEN®, GRAFE supports its customers in making recycled-material-based concepts industrially viable. The new brand combines the circular economy with GRAFE’s core expertise of over 30 years: customized masterbatch solutions developed for specific applications and tailored to customer requirements.
“The use of recycled materials will continue to grow in many industries,” emphasizes Sebastian Grafe, Managing Director. “With CYCOLEN®, we offer our customers a solution that does not view sustainability in isolation, but rather combines it with color, function, and process reliability.”