Sustainability data

Kraton sustainability discussions connect material efficiency with documentation discipline.

For rubber, TPE, resin and packaging polymer programs, sustainability cannot sit apart from performance. A lower-impact option still has to survive processing, meet the specification, satisfy compliance review and remain available at the scale the buyer needs.

Dashboard view

Four metrics guide responsible material review.

Kraton treats sustainability as a technical decision layer. The review compares material reduction, recyclability context, restricted-substance risk and supply continuity rather than relying on vague environmental statements.

25-50%

PCR ambition range

Many brand-owner packaging targets are moving toward meaningful post-consumer recycled content by 2030, creating new resin and processing questions.

6-18 mo

Qualification cycle

Sustainable substitutions still need trial time, customer approval and documentation review before replacing an incumbent material.

5+

Regulatory lenses

REACH, RoHS, FDA food-contact context, Prop 65 and customer restricted-substance lists can all influence the acceptable path.

3

Material families

Elastomers, plastic processing products and polymer resin systems are compared by end-use need rather than by sustainability label alone.

Research files

Evidence required before a sustainability claim becomes a sourcing decision.

Buyers often ask for a quick answer about recycled content, bio-based inputs, lower VOC systems or recyclability. Kraton's response should first define the claim boundary. Is the buyer discussing a formulation change, a packaging structure, a processing aid, a rubber component, an adhesive system or a full finished part? Each route has different proof requirements.

A responsible review may need data on mechanical retention, aging, migration, odor, color shift, melt behavior, line speed, scrap rate and supply availability. It may also need confirmation that a change will not restart customer approval or regulatory evaluation. Kraton keeps these questions visible so environmental objectives do not create hidden performance risk.

Material reduction review

Checklist for downgauging, part redesign and compound efficiency without losing service behavior.

Restricted substance screen

Framework for identifying chemistry concerns before supplier qualification or regional launch.

Packaging resin compatibility

Decision points for resin selection where clarity, sealing, migration and recyclability targets intersect.

Regulatory timeline

Compliance review is continuous, not a final document request.

Early screen

Identify geography, customer restricted-substance lists, food-contact context and any special industry standard before material selection narrows.

Sample phase

Connect requested data to sample lots, processing notes and expected test method so results can be traced during review.

Approval phase

Confirm whether the material change affects PPAP, customer validation, regulatory files, packaging declarations or supplier onboarding.

Production phase

Track specification control, change notification, alternate supply paths and any sustainability reporting requirement tied to the program.

Ask for sustainability data inside the same file as performance data.

Kraton can discuss the tradeoffs only when application, processing, compliance and supply assumptions are visible.