ECOPRO

Sustainable colorants for a circular plastics industry

Many colorants used in polymers and plastics are still fossil-based and barely biodegradable. This hinders recycling and composting and can lead to environmental pollution. At the same time, there is growing demand for natural colorants that are both technically reliable and commercially viable.

Within ECOPRO, biobased colorants and application-specific color masterbatches are developed and tested in prototypes of end products. Through extensive testing and life cycle analyses (LCA), the sustainability, stability, and processability of the colorants are demonstrated. This gives companies concrete insight into how they can color their products in a more environmentally friendly way while making their production processes circular.

Collaboration between research and industry

ECOPRO is a collaboration between TUS, DeltaQ, WWU, and MNEXT. Together, research and industry expertise is combined to scale up biobased colorants and make them industrially applicable. MNEXT focuses on the development, synthesis, and scale-up of the colorants, ensuring they are suitable for use in real production environments.

Practical and applicable

The project not only delivers innovative, sustainable colorants but also practical routes for implementation. This makes it easier for European companies to take the step toward circular and environmentally friendly materials.

With ECOPRO, work is underway to create an industry where plastics are not only functional and colorful but also sustainable and circular.