30 Percent Bio Content Arkema Launches Low Carbon Rheology Additives in Europe

Arkema is shifting its entire European production of acrylic thickeners to bio-based versions, targeting up to 30% bio-content and promising a carbon footprint reduction of up to 25%. This major move comes as global demand surges for sustainable materials in coatings and adhesives.

According to Hélène Pernot, Arkema’s Global Sustainability Marketing Director for Coating Solutions, these new additives will help manufacturers meet carbon reduction targets while maintaining top-tier performance. She emphasized the importance of designing greener home and construction materials to meet evolving standards.

The bio-based thickeners are compatible with applications such as architectural and industrial coatings, sealants, plasters, and adhesives, offering comparable performance and cost to their fossil-based predecessors, according to Yohann Trang, Global Market Director for Building Materials.

These thickeners will be sold under the Rheotech™, Thixol™, and Viscoatex™ brands and are among the first to use Arkema’s newly launched bio-based butyl acrylate, produced at its Carling facility in France. The primary feedstocks for these renewable ingredients are sugar beet and sugarcane, meeting the EN16640 standard for bio-content certification.

As sustainability becomes a business imperative, Arkema’s move sets a new benchmark in the specialty additives industry. This development shows that high performance and eco-design can go hand-in-hand, opening the door to greener innovation across the coatings value chain.