DuPont, CABEE and its Partners Held Seminar on Sustainable Flame Retardants for Energy-efficient Buildings in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, China, May 13, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- DuPont (NYSE: DD), together with the China Association of Building Energy Efficiency (CABEE) and its partners Lanxess, ICL Industrial Products (ICL-IP), Shandong Sunris New Materials Co., Ltd. (Sunris), and Guangzhou Fuda Thermal Insulation Materials Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou Fuda), held a Seminar on Sustainable Flame Retardants for Energy-efficient Buildings in Shanghai on May 12, 2021. The seminar was held to further promote the ban of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and the application of a safer alternative to HBCD. DuPont also released the White Paper on BLUEDGEtm Polymeric Flame Retardant at the symposium.

In China, production, use, import and export of HBCD has been banned since December 26th, 2016 with the exception for use in EPS and XPS for building insulation, which has a 5-year exemption that will expire on December 26th, 2021, according to the official announcement No.84 (2016) of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China.

As an innovative solution, the BLUEDGEtm Polymeric Flame Retardant (FR) technology has been used globally to replace HBCD in EPS and XPS insulation foams. In China, DuPont, together with the three licensees of the BLUEDGEtm Polymeric FR (Lanxess, ICL, and Sunris), is providing samples to downstream EPS and XPS partners to complete process and performance validation before HBCD is phased out. Lanxess, ICL and Sunris are the only three DuPont licensed manufacturers of this novel, IP protected chemistry. Their tradenames for BLUEDGEtm Polymeric Flame Retardant (FR) in the market will be EI 3000 (Lanxess), FR-122P (ICL) and SR-105 (Sunris) separately.

A rigorous Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) evaluation and extensive testing of BLUEDGEtm illustrates that it has very low toxicity and environmental impact. Today, BLUEDGEtm is regulatorily approved in multiple countries globally, and is the only flame retardant allowed for use in polystyrene foam insulation under the Nordic Swan Ecolabel program. As a technology that was designed specifically to be a safer alternative to HBCD, the BLUEDGEtm Polymeric FR technology is advancing DuPont's 2030 Sustainability Goals as a Safer by Design innovation.

Products with BLUEDGEtm pass the EN class E, German B2 and China B1 and B2 flammability tests. Products containing BLUEDGEtm, such as STYROFOAMtm Brand XPS Insulation, have all passed the Class E testing requirements. These products are effective in maintaining the overall market expectations regarding performance of the foam insulation, including their density, compressive strength and flexural strength and fire performance, as well as their dimensional stability, water absorption, without any volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. DuPont holds over twenty patents in China that cover composition of matter and process to manufacture the Polymeric FR.

The commercialization of BLUEDGEtm has already been in place by several companies. In 2013 in Europe, much of the qualification work was completed. Similarly, in 2019 in China, Guangzhou Fuda produced FUDAXPSeco insulation boards with BLUEDGEtm polymeric FR, which have been used in a floor heating project and a roof insulation project respectively. As the first manufacturer in Europe and the first producer in Korea to switch entirely to BLUEDGEtm, BASF is now the first to do so in China in its Neopor® products. In 2015, BASF started to sell BLUEDGEtm-containing Neopor® into the China market and the EPS panel foamed by Neopor® beads has been widely used in residential buildings as wall insulation materials.

"Technology innovations like BLUEDGEtm are essential to enabling the transition to sustainability in the built environment, and we're excited to help lead that transition as we take one more step towards facilitating a global conversion," said Tim Lacey, global vice president & general manager, DuPont Performance Building Solutions. "Our objective is straightforward?offer solutions that drive ever-higher standards of sustainability, quality, performance, and safety that work in many building environments to meet the increasing demands of energy efficiency and architectural design."

About DuPont Water & Protection
DuPont Water and Protection is a global leader in creating water, shelter and safety solutions for a more sustainable world; enabling its customers to win through unique capabilities, global scale and iconic brands including Kevlar®, Nomex®, Tyvek®, Corian® Design, GreatStufftm, Styrofoamtm, and Filmtec®.

About DuPont

DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a global innovation leader with technology-based materials and solutions that help transform industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics, transportation, construction, water, healthcare and worker safety. More information about the company, its businesses and solutions can be found at http://www.dupont.com. Investors can access information included on the Investor Relations section of the website at investors.dupont.com.

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5/13/21
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