By Nicety Machinery Co., Ltd | April 26, 2026
Industrial Polymer Processing and Compounding Auxiliary Equipment
Overview
In March 2026, global synthetic rubber manufacturer ARLANXEO announced that its manufacturing units for Therban® (hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber, HNBR) and Buna® (butadiene rubber, BR) at its Orange, Texas facility have been awarded ISCC PLUS certification. The Orange site is the first Therban® HNBR production facility in the world to receive the designation, and it brings ARLANXEO’s total number of certified sites to production locations across three continents.
The move directly expands the company’s Eco Line — its portfolio of certified sustainable elastomers — into the North American market with independently verified credentials.
What the Certification Means
ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) is a globally recognized standard that verifies traceability, transparency, and responsible sourcing across an entire supply chain. Achieving it requires documented evidence of sustainable feedstock origins, compliance with deforestation-free sourcing policies, and protection of high-biodiversity land.
For buyers of HNBR and BR rubber compounds — materials widely used in automotive seals, industrial hoses, oil-field equipment, and high-temperature gaskets — the certification delivers a formally audited, third-party-verified proof point that the elastomers they process carry a reduced lifecycle carbon footprint.
Edwin Grootendorst, Global Head of Business Specialty Elastomers at ARLANXEO, stated that the Orange site certification "further strengthens the sustainability mission of ARLANXEO, as well as the Eco portfolio of the Specialty Elastomers cluster."
The Mass Balance Approach Explained
ARLANXEO uses the mass balance methodology to produce its Eco grades. Under this approach, renewable or circular raw materials are introduced into the standard production stream and tracked through the supply chain using a certified accounting system. The resulting product carries a proportional sustainability claim without requiring a separate, fully bio-based manufacturing line.
This is the same mechanism used broadly in the chemical industry to introduce recycled or bio-based content into high-volume polymer manufacturing at commercially viable scale. For rubber compounders, it means the mechanical and thermal performance of Therban® and Buna® grades remains unchanged — the Eco designation adds a sustainability credential, not a reformulation.
Three Continents, One Eco Portfolio
With Orange, Texas now certified, ARLANXEO’s Basic Elastomers business has ISCC PLUS-certified Buna® BR production sites on three continents. Rohit Prabhune, Global Head of Business Basic Elastomers, noted that the Texas site joining existing certified Buna® locations gives the company "a truly global reach" for circular, mass-balanced solutions.
The certification geography is significant for the plastics and rubber processing industry:
- Americas — Orange, Texas (HNBR + BR): serves North American automotive, oil-and-gas, and industrial compounders
- Europe — Multiple sites including Dormagen, Germany (Chloroprene/Baypren) and Geleen, Netherlands (EPDM/Keltan)
- Asia — Singapore (X_Butyl)
This positions ARLANXEO as one of the few synthetic rubber producers able to supply certified Eco-grade elastomers to compounders on every major manufacturing continent without import dependencies or cross-regional certification gaps.
Why This Matters for Compounders
Downstream processors working with HNBR and BR — including rubber compounders, masterbatch producers, and technical parts manufacturers — face increasing pressure from OEM customers and regulators in Europe, North America, and Asia to document the carbon footprint of raw materials.
The ARLANXEO Texas certification is particularly relevant for:
- Automotive sealing and under-hood components, where HNBR is a standard specification material and OEM supply chains now require sustainability data at the material level
- Oil-field and industrial hose manufacturers processing BR and HNBR grades at high throughput, where mass-balance Eco grades allow certified claims without line changeovers
- Compounders supplying the North American market, who previously had to source certified Eco elastomers from European or Asian sites, adding logistics cost and lead time
For equipment operators running twin-screw extruders, internal mixers, and continuous compounding lines, the certification changes nothing in terms of processing parameters. ARLANXEO explicitly states that Eco grades maintain the performance and reliability of standard Therban® and Buna® products. The operational impact is entirely upstream — in procurement and documentation — not on the factory floor.
As global sustainability regulations tighten and verified carbon-reduction data becomes a standard procurement requirement across the rubber compounding sector, this three-continent network gives ARLANXEO and its customers a documented, auditable supply chain that most competitors cannot yet match.
Sources
- ARLANXEO’s Texas plant bags key sustainability certification – Indian Chemical News (March 2026)
- Arlanxeo’s Texas facility earns ISCC Plus certification – Rubber World (March 2026)
- Arlanxeo’s Orange, Texas site gains ISCC PLUS – Tyrepress (March 2026)
- ARLANXEO Achieves ISCC PLUS Certification at Texas Site – Tyre Trends
- Arlanxeo Earns Certification – KOGT (March 2026)
- ARLANXEO’s Baypren Chloroprene Rubber Plant Receives ISCC PLUS Certification – Tyre Trends
