International. Eastman announced that it has again won the Bronze Cradle to Cradle Certified (C2C) recognition of safe materials, and that for the first time it reached the Platinum level from now until December 2019.
The certificate is applicable to eight of Eastman's polymer lines, including Cadence, Eastar, Ecdel, Embrace, Neostar, Provista, Spectar, and Tritan. This is the first time that Eastman products have achieved the highest position in terms of safe materials, and for the first time the Tritan copolyester has been included in this certification.
The C2C certification process, administered by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, looks at finished products and evaluates the materials with which they are manufactured, what can be done with them when they are discarded; water and energy use; and the company's social responsibility strategies. The platinum rating was the result of evaluation by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), an accredited organization independent of Eastman, which evaluated all components of the formulation and found none of those included in the list of hazardous materials as defined by C2C.
"Eastman is committed to improving the quality of life in a material way, and we strive to create a safe and sustainable product portfolio," said Holli Alexander, Manager of Sustainable Strategic Initiatives at Eastman. "We are honored to have C2C certification for our materials since 2005. This new level of recognition is a great achievement with which we will continue to incorporate these standards into our products."
Certified materials are used in a wide range of products and industries, including architecture, design and construction. For example, Eastar copolyester is used to make pen caps, pen barrels, toys, sporting goods and much more. The Embrace family of resins is used to make shrink films compatible with modern recycling infrastructures. Tritan is ideal in consumer markets, and household items, as well as in medical devices and packaging that require transparency, hardness, chemical resistance, color stability, and functional integrity after being sterilized.
