Ascend Performance Materials acquires Circular Polymers

Ascend Performance Materials, based in Houston, Texas, has acquired the majority of Circular Polymers, a recycler of post-consumer high-performance polymers such as polyamide 6 and 6.6, polypropylene, and PET polyester, based in California.

With the agreement, Ascend will have a reliable source of top-notch PCR materials for its ReDefyne sustainable polyamides, which will be introduced at K 2022.

Circular Polymers, which as part of the acquisition will now be known as Circular Polymers by Ascend, uses a novel method to recover and treat the post-consumer carpet and has diverted almost 2,500 tons of garbage from landfills into new products since 2018.

Phil McDivitt, president and CEO of Ascend, said that they are focused on helping their customers reach their sustainability goals and Circular Polymers by Ascend provides materials that offer strong performance with a significantly smaller environmental footprint compared to other technologies like pyrolysis. The demand for their circular goods has increased significantly since they launched ReDefyne across all of their business areas, including automotive, consumer, electronics, and high-performance fibers and textiles.

Ascend recently unveiled two new initiatives to lessen the carbon footprint of its goods and has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030.

David Bender, the founder of Circular Polymers and CEO, said that since 2018, they have concentrated on enhancing the sourcing and processing of post-consumer high-performance polymers. Bringing Ascend on board will speed up their expansion and ensure that these materials are used again in new, high-performance, long-term applications.