Henkel Announces Winner of ‘Seal the Cycle’ Initiative
DÜSSELDORF, Germany — Henkel Adhesive Technologies announced the winner of its “Seal the Cycle” initiative. With this international open innovation call in collaboration with Chile Global Ventures, the venture capital arm of Fundación Chile, the partners aimed to find technology solutions enabling the recycling or reusing of the millions of silicone cartridges for adhesives and sealants applications marketed around the globe annually. The initiative complements Henkel´s sustainability ambitions and underlines the company´s commitment to further drive progress towards a circular economy.
Henkel and Chile Global Ventures selected six companies from a total of 27 submissions, following a four-months process, to present their solutions in a Pitch Day. Finally, a jury of senior executives from Henkel picked CRDC Global Limited (CRDC). Founded in 2018, CRDC has the mission to create value from the world’s plastic waste by converting it into RESIN8™, an eco-aggregate that improves concrete. The technology has the potential to address the challenge of recycling millions of utilized silicon cartridges. CRDC’s patented solution allows for the conversion of cartridges into a fine grain synthetic lightweight aggregate for further use across the industry, for example in products that improve insulation, reduce weight and lower water absorption globally. These features are especially beneficial in the production of cementitious-based building blocks for sustainable and affordable housing. Among others, CRDC used the RESIN8™ technology in 2021 to build social housing in Costa Rica in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Henkel nominated the RESIN8™ technology for its innovative potential to increase the affordability of construction products using less materials and reducing weight while maintaining the key properties of strengths.