Daicel officially announced on July 22, 2026, the launch of four DURACON polyoxymethylene grades containing 30% post-consumer recycled material.
The original English release was issued from Osaka, Japan. French, German and Spanish versions published on July 26 and 27 were translated distributions of the same announcement rather than separate product launches.
The new range includes standard, low-VOC, sliding and tough grades. The materials were first presented at CHINAPLAS 2026 in Shanghai in April.
Moving beyond post-industrial recycling
Since 2023, Daicel has operated its DURACIRCLE recompounding service, recycling plastic scrap collected from customer manufacturing sites.
That earlier approach focused primarily on post-industrial material generated during production. The new grades instead use POM that has already entered the market and completed a consumer or industrial use cycle.
Post-consumer material is more difficult to process because feedstock can vary by grade, contamination, age and previous operating conditions.
Daicel says its compounding and quality-control technologies have maintained key mechanical properties at levels comparable with conventional grades despite the 30% recycled content. The comparison is currently based on the company’s internal testing conditions.
Targeting performance-sensitive applications
POM is valued for mechanical strength, rigidity, wear resistance, sliding performance and dimensional stability. It is widely used in gears, connectors, precision parts and automotive components.
By offering four application-specific variants rather than one general recycled grade, Daicel is attempting to address several common barriers to recycled engineering plastics.
The low-VOC grade targets automotive and electrical requirements. The sliding version is intended for moving and wear-sensitive components, while the tough grade is designed to retain performance closer to virgin POM.
Qualification will determine commercial impact
For engineering-plastics users, laboratory performance is only one part of material qualification. Manufacturers also require consistent batches, traceable feedstock, aging data and reliable long-term performance under heat, friction and chemical exposure.
Automotive and electrical customers can require lengthy validation before approving recycled materials for production components.
The significance of Daicel’s launch is that recycled POM is being offered as a structured performance portfolio rather than as a single sustainability grade. Its commercial success will depend on feedstock consistency and customer qualification.
