ADITYA BIRLA CHEMICALS ACQUIRES RECYCLABLE THERMOSET TECHNOLOGY FROM CONNORA TECHNOLOGIES

July 30, 2019

The acquisition of Connora’s Recyclamine technology enables end-of-life recyclability and zero-waste manufacturing to global epoxy customers.

We read in the Composites World newsletter that Aditya Birla Chemicals Thailand Limited has recently announced the acquisition of Connora Technologies’ Recyclamine technology. Connora Technologies is the pioneer of recyclable epoxy resin technology, based on a novel proprietary polyamine synthesis platform called Recyclamine.

Recyclable thermoset technology was recognized as one of the Top 10 emerging technologies in 2015 by the World Economic Forum. Aditya Birla Chemicals Limited Thailand, a parent company of CTP Advanced Materials (Germany) and owner of Epotec and CeTePox Brands, is one of the leading manufacturers of epoxy resins and curing agents globally. Aditya Birla Chemicals, part of the $48.3 billion global conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, and Connora Technologies, have been collaborating since 2016 in a Joint Development Agreement to scale-up the manufacturing of Connora’s recyclable epoxy thermoset technology.

We wanted to share this story because this technology not only enables incremental value creation through zero-waste manufacturing to customers, but also uniquely offers end-of-life recyclability options.

Recyclamine is revolutionary for the epoxy and composites industries, as it will enable the manufacturing of recyclable products. Before this innovation, it was just not possible.

Dr. Stefan Pastine, Co-Founder and CTO of Connora Technologies explains, “As a chemical technology start-up company, we always knew that forming a close partnership with a world-class chemical company would be required for our technology to get to scale. This acquisition is the culmination of a multi-year relationship and the result of the dedication and unwavering commitment to the vision of the Recyclamine technology, from both ABCL and Connora.”

Connora’s co-founder and CEO, Dr. Rey Banatao, adds, “The investment in Connora over the years from a large and well-respected global manufacturing partner such as Aditya Birla Chemicals, has been invaluable to the commercial development of recyclable thermoset technology. Due to their decades of expertise in scale-up manufacturing and sales of epoxy resins, on a global scale, I expect that over the next decade, Recyclamine technology will be commonplace in many epoxy-based composite products, from sporting goods to automobile parts and windmill blades.”

Although the story describes the use of epoxy thermosets in adhesives, coatings, and light-weighting in the aerospace, automotive, windmill, and sporting goods industries, the marine industry was not specifically mentioned.