Elkem’s 100% Recycled Silicones Named “Sustainable Product of the Year” by BIG

Elkem ASA has received the Business Intelligence Group’s “Sustainability Product of the Year” award for its pioneering SILCOLEASE™ RE range, its first line of 100 percent recycled silicones. The award recognizes companies that integrate technological advancements with tangible sustainability outcomes.

The SILCOLEASE™ RE products are solvent-free silicone release coatings used in key sectors such as labels, packaging, and adhesive tapes. These coatings enable materials to peel away cleanly and efficiently, essential for manufacturing processes that rely on high precision and productivity.

Elkem reports that its recycled silicones achieve a carbon footprint of about 1.1 kg CO₂e per kg, compared with an industry average near 6 kg CO₂e per kg for conventional silicones. This represents an estimated 80 percent reduction in emissions across the product life cycle.

Performance Without Compromise

A frequent challenge in adopting recycled raw materials is maintaining the technical performance of virgin equivalents. Elkem emphasizes that SILCOLEASE™ RE meets that standard. Testing has shown that the recycled silicones perform equivalently in key properties such as anchorage, reactivity, and release force.

This means converters and manufacturers can substitute the recycled variant directly into existing coating systems without costly process adjustments or performance losses. The solvent-free formulation also supports broader environmental compliance goals by reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.

From Lab to Pilot Production

The journey toward SILCOLEASE™ RE involved extensive collaboration between Elkem’s R&D teams, industrial partners, and academic researchers. Early laboratory work demonstrated the feasibility of using recycled feedstock in high-quality silicone release systems.

Following initial success, Elkem scaled up production to a pilot unit at its Saint-Fons site in France. This facility enables industrial trials on liner-coating machines and validates performance under real-world production conditions.

The project received partial funding through the French “France 2030” initiative and the European Union’s NextGenerationEU recovery plan, both of which prioritize technologies that advance circularity and reduce dependence on virgin resources.

Enabling Circularity in Silicones

Silicones, prized for their durability and thermal stability, have long posed challenges for recycling. Elkem’s recycled product line represents an important step toward circular production in an industry historically dependent on linear material flows.

By offering a drop-in recycled solution, Elkem provides manufacturers with an immediate tool to reduce Scope 3 emissions from purchased materials, an increasingly important metric under evolving sustainability reporting frameworks such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Industries that rely heavily on silicone coatings, adhesive labels, packaging, consumer electronics, and automotive manufacturing, can adopt this material innovation without waiting for future technology readiness.

Advances in Silicone Recycling Science

The recognition from BIG follows a series of research breakthroughs by Elkem. Earlier in 2025, the company and its partners announced progress in chemical recycling, transforming used silicones back into chlorosilanes, the base chemicals for silicone production.

This “back-to-monomer” approach allows for full circularity by converting silicone waste into raw feedstock suitable for new production, rather than down-cycling or energy recovery. The work was detailed in a scientific paper published in Science and attracted attention for proving that high-value silicone materials can be chemically recycled at scale.

In parallel, Elkem is developing mechanical recycling methods for silicone rubber, particularly high-consistency rubber (HCR) used in elastomer products. A recent proof-of-concept demonstrated over 50 percent incorporation of recycled material while retaining mechanical performance.

These projects are part of RENOV (Recycling & Reincorporation of Elastomer Materials), an open innovation initiative that includes partners such as Hutchinson, Nexans, and national research organizations.

Industry Collaboration and Future Outlook

Elkem plans to present further results at the K 2025 trade fair in Düsseldorf, one of the plastics and elastomer industry’s leading events. The company aims to showcase samples from its recycling programs and engage with potential partners across the value chain.

However, scaling silicone circularity will depend on several factors. Collection and sorting of silicone waste remain complex, as materials are often dispersed across small production sites and end-use products. Process economics will also determine how quickly recycled silicones can compete with virgin materials.

Additionally, Elkem has entered an exclusive sales process for its Silicones division, with a transaction expected in the first half of 2026. Industry observers are watching closely to see how future ownership may influence the pace of R&D investment, market rollout, and partnership strategy.

Practical Implications for Industry

For companies pursuing net-zero targets, Elkem’s recycled silicone technology presents a set of actionable opportunities:

• Substitute materials: Assess whether existing release coating processes can integrate SILCOLEASE™ RE with minimal technical adaptation.

• Engage in validation: Participate in pilot programs or supplier trials to confirm product performance in specific applications.

• Collaborate upstream: Work with suppliers to secure consistent sources of recycled feedstock and establish closed-loop recovery systems.

• Quantify benefits: Incorporate the carbon reduction potential of recycled silicones into lifecycle assessments and sustainability disclosures.

These steps can help manufacturers align procurement decisions with decarbonization strategies while maintaining product quality and performance.

A Turning Point for Silicone Circularity

Elkem’s award-winning product demonstrates that even complex specialty materials can be redesigned for circularity without compromising industrial functionality. As sustainability pressures grow across value chains, initiatives like SILCOLEASE™ RE offer tangible examples of innovation translating into measurable environmental benefit.

The recognition from the Business Intelligence Group not only validates Elkem’s progress but also highlights the broader transformation underway in material science. For stakeholders across the adhesives, packaging, and industrial manufacturing sectors, the message is clear: circular materials are transitioning from concept to commercial reality.

Source: elkem.com