Arkema Highlights Sustainable 3D-Printing Materials at Formnext 2025

Arkema is preparing to showcase a broad range of next-generation materials for additive manufacturing at Formnext 2025, taking place from 18 to 21 November in Frankfurt. The company’s upcoming exhibition will focus on sustainable product development, high-performance thermoplastics and resin systems engineered to reduce waste, extend material lifecycles and advance circular manufacturing models.

At the centre of Arkema’s presentation is its portfolio of UV-curable resins, thermoplastic powders and pellets designed for major additive manufacturing technologies, including UV curing, powder-bed fusion and material extrusion. This range reflects the company’s strategy of combining performance with a reduced environmental footprint. By focusing on recyclable and bio-attributed feedstocks, Arkema aims to support manufacturers that want to integrate more circular practices into their production processes.

Recyclability, Efficiency and Lower Material Waste

A key highlight at Formnext 2025 will be Arkema’s Orgasol PA12 powder, a material engineered for powder-bed fusion technologies. According to the company, this powder offers high recyclability, improved surface finish and longer usability across printing cycles. Its performance is designed to cut variable material costs by up to 50% by reducing refresh rates and enabling a larger portion of reused powder in each print cycle. This helps manufacturers significantly reduce waste and resource consumption while maintaining mechanical performance.

This PA12 formulation is already applied in industrial Multi-Jet Fusion systems to produce functional components with consistent quality. By improving the quality of recycled powder and maintaining part aesthetics across multiple cycles, Arkema positions this material as a practical option for both cost-optimisation and sustainability improvements.

New Partnerships Expanding High-Performance Applications

Arkema is also leveraging partnerships to bring advanced material formulations to high-performance sectors. These collaborations will be featured prominently at Formnext:

• Axtra3D collaboration: Arkema’s flame-retardant and water-soluble N3xtDimension resins have been qualified for use on Axtra3D’s high-speed SLA printers. These materials support applications that require stringent fire safety standards, such as electronics housings or transport components.

• Carl ROTH partnership: Through this collaboration, Arkema continues expanding custom resin formulations with low-VOC and energy-efficient curing properties. These materials support manufacturers aiming to lower environmental impacts while maintaining production speed.

• Manifest Technologies partnership: Arkema’s high-temperature N3xtDimension resin is being used on volumetric additive manufacturing systems to produce thermally stable parts suitable for demanding environments. These materials target industries where thermal resistance and dimensional stability are essential.

These alliances illustrate Arkema’s approach of aligning material science, printer capabilities and sustainability requirements.

Design Innovation and Bio-Based Materials

Arkema will also feature a design-focused example of additive manufacturing: the Nomura coffee table, created with design studio Poolp. Produced using Arkema’s transparent Rilsan Clear pellets, the piece uses robotic printing techniques and demonstrates the potential for combining aesthetics, functionality and sustainability. While its primary purpose is artistic, it reinforces the role of advanced materials in enabling both structural and creative applications.

In recent years, Arkema has increased its development of bio-based and lower-carbon solutions. Previous Formnext presentations included resins developed through mass-balance processes and bio-attributed feedstocks that reduce carbon emissions compared to fossil-based equivalents. While this year’s announcement does not provide new carbon-footprint figures, the emphasis remains strongly aligned with circularity, efficient resource use and long-term material recovery.

Industry Context: Enabling Low-Carbon Manufacturing

For manufacturers working toward emissions reduction goals, Arkema’s materials offer several practical advantages:

• Reduced waste: High-reusability powders and longer-lasting resins cut material disposal volumes and improve resource efficiency.

• Lower lifecycle impacts: Materials produced from bio-attributed feedstocks or engineered for end-of-life recovery can support lower footprints in downstream value chains.

• Compatibility with demanding sectors: High-temperature and flame-retardant materials enable AM adoption in aerospace, electronics and automotive industries, sectors where performance and regulatory compliance are essential.

• Optimised cost and performance: Waste reduction and increased powder reuse create operational savings that make sustainable transitions more attainable for manufacturers.

Additive manufacturing is increasingly viewed as a strategic enabler of net-zero pathways. Lighter components, decentralised production, reduced tooling, on-demand part manufacturing and lower material consumption all support reduced emissions. Sustainable materials are a critical part of this transition.

Challenges and Future Requirements

Despite the progress shown, several considerations remain important for assessing the long-term sustainability of additive manufacturing materials:

• Lifecycle assessment transparency: Quantified environmental data will be necessary to validate the real-world sustainability gains of new materials.

• Infrastructure for circularity: Large-scale recycling, remanufacturing and powder recovery systems must mature alongside material innovations.

• Cost-performance balance: Some high-performance sustainable materials may require higher initial investment and depend on incentives, adoption scale or regulatory drivers.

Arkema’s portfolio and partnerships lay the groundwork for greater integration of sustainable materials within additive manufacturing. As the sector grows, the combination of performance, recyclability and bio-based content will become increasingly central for companies aiming to align production with net-zero strategies.

Source: www.arkema.com