Sasol Chemicals releases carbon footprint-reducing adhesive wax

06 Aug 2024 --- South Africa-based Sasol Chemicals has launched SasolWax LC100, an industrial wax grade with a 35% lower carbon footprint, designed for application in packaging adhesives. 

The company says the product offers superior capabilities compared to previous adhesive lines and achieves significant cradle-to-gate product carbon footprint (PCF) benefits. 

SasolWax LC100 follows the recent launch of SasoBit LC, a lower carbon solution for the asphalt industry. Both wax grades offer drop-in alternatives to the benchmark grades, enabling customers to reduce their Scope 3 GHG emissions without compromising on performance. 

“With a 35% reduction in carbon footprint without compromising on quality, our lower carbon product range allows customers to significantly improve their sustainability performance while meeting the highest industry standards,” says Dirk Uys, vice president for sales. 

“We are committed to expanding this significant improvement in the PCF to more markets and applications, enabling customers across other industries to benefit from our sustainable solutions.” 

Third-party verification 
Sasols Chemicals’ model for calculating PCFs for its GTL FT wax value chain has undergone a third-party review and complies with ISO 14067, an international standard that outlines the requirements and guidelines for quantifying the carbon footprint of products throughout their life cycle. 

“Our teams have worked hard to come up with a solution which our customers have been seeking: significantly reducing carbon footprint, but keeping superior performance,” Uys says. 

“An independent third party verified our methodology for calculating the PCFs. This rigorous approach ensures our customers can confidently choose our more sustainable wax solutions as drop-in alternatives to significantly reduce their Scope 3 emissions.” 

In the packaging and adhesives market, where hot melt adhesives (HMA) are prevalent, the SasoWax LC100 grade provides properties including:

• Enabling odorless, crystal clear HMA formulations in combination with metallocene.
• Polymers, through low viscosity, high crystallinity and stability.
• Smoother, thinner adhesive application, resulting in more box closures with less adhesive per closure.
• Enabling high-speed packaging lines due to fast set times.
• Improved durability and stability.
• Thermal stability, boosting operational efficiency for HMA manufacturers.