Trelleborg has developed a new process for making sealing materials that uses a large percentage of leftover material from the manufacturing process to produce a compound with the same performance as the original material.
“At our site, seals are machined from tubes,” says Soeren Roepstorff, R&D Manager at the Trelleborg facility in Helsingoer. “This generates waste, and rather than allowing the waste to end up in landfill we have developed a groundbreaking process to recycle it.”
The tubes used for producing seals are polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). “Recycling PTFE materials has historically been a challenge, but now we have found an innovative solution,” says Roepstorff.
After reaching out to 34 suppliers and conducting tests with four of them, the team identified a suitable partner. The next step will be to purchase the equipment required to set up a recycling facility.
Although the Danish site was the primary location for testing the recycled material innovation, the project relies on global collaboration and capabilities.
For the past four years, all Trelleborg sites machining seals from PTFE have joined forces to define strategies to increase the circularity of PTFE materials. In 2023, Trelleborg presented its new circularity-focused sustainability target, aiming to increase the share of recycled or bio-based raw materials to 25 percent by the end of 2030.
“Following on from the setting up of the initial recycling process we aim to introduce the process at all our sites machining PTFE,” says Roepstorff.
“Apart from internal collaboration, Trelleborg cooperated with industry peers to share knowledge to find a way to solve the recycling challenge, and ultimately contribute to a more sustainable manufacturing process,” Roepstorff says. “Of course, we do not share any company secrets around our innovation. Rather, we contribute with our expertise, inviting others to join us for the good of a greater cause.”
Roepstorff notes that the market is often slow in adjusting to more sustainable practices. He adds, “We are determined to push forward and assure our customers that our recycled material meets the same high standard and performance as virgin PTFE materials do. By demonstrating this, we will also be able to help our customers to reach their own sustainability targets.”
