Driving Sustainable Product Development with Data

From certified environmental data to practical decision-making tools, Benvic helps manufacturers integrate sustainability into product design from the earliest development stages.

Last October, Europe’s leading polymer compounder, Benvic, achieved the EcoVadis Platinum Status; the highest sustainability ranking from the international assessor.

The EcoVadis Platinum award places Benvic in the top 1% of all rated businesses worldwide and also confirms the company’s leadership in creating polymer compounds for the new circular economy.

At this month’s Fakuma 2026 plastics exhibition Benvic will share the breadth and depth of the company’s environmental and materials expertise with the show visitors.

Benvic’s expertise will be particularly valuable for those show visitors who need to precisely integrate the sustainable factor into the plastic product design and manufacturing of the future.

The methods for calculating these production choices are built on the new and developing science of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCAs are also typically the first step in the creation of full-blown Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), a verified document that reports the environmental impact of a product across its entire life cycle.

These are ‘early days’ in the new circular economy, but the use of these methods, documents and credentials will increasingly become mandatory in the coming months and years. Full ‘cradle to grave’ manufacturing transparency and responsibility will increasingly be required.

Marta Fernández, Group Sustainability Director at Benvic, has played a key role in the company's sustainability strategy, including the development of robust environmental assessment methodologies that support Benvic's EcoVadis Platinum recognition and customer sustainability ambitions.

Sustainability Becomes a Core Product Development Criterion

The industrial procurement of the past used to typically only balance two main factors - price and technical performance. Metrics of sustainability now represent the mandatory ‘third pillar’ to be added to that equation.  Today, sustainability performance is increasingly considered alongside cost and technical performance as a key decision-making criterion throughout the value chain.

And when – with expert help - that third pillar can be accurately measured and verified, manufacturers can move forward; making informed choices with confidence and clearly demonstrating environmental credentials to their stakeholders.

Today, Benvic’s material portfolio contains thousands of formulations, spread across a wide variety of polymers, including types of recyclate (post-consumer and post-industrial) as well as bio materials.

Benvic customers most often have very specific questions and needs regarding the environmental impact of a particular compound, recycled content level, colour, or formulation variant.

An LCA Tool Designed for Early-Stage Decision Making

To support customers during the earliest stages of product development, Benvic has developed an internal LCA platform capable of modelling environmental impacts across a broad range of formulations and material options within its portfolio.

Our tool is based on the same Life Cycle Assessment methodology and it allows us to evaluate the carbon footprint and environmental impacts of virtually any formulation in our portfolio.

The key to the Benvic LCA tool is that it should be used right at the beginning of customer discussions. Marta notes that ‘our customers increasingly need environmental data right at the outset of the project; at the design phase. (It’s too late after the product has been launched! ) By combining certified EPDs with an internal LCA platform, we can provide both verified environmental credentials and fast decision-support capabilities.'

Turning Sustainability Claims into Measurable Evidence

The Benvic LCA tool will make its debut at Fakuma 2026 and is expected to attract strong interest from plastics processors for several reasons:

• More customers are requesting environmental data and carbon footprint information from their suppliers.
• Environmental reporting, Digital Product Passports and eco-design requirements are becoming increasingly important.
• LCA analysis helps identify environmental hotspots and opportunities to reduce CO₂ emissions.
• Engineers can compare different materials and formulations while balancing performance, cost and environmental impact.

Most importantly, the plastics product designers of the future can now demonstrate sustainability through facts and verified data rather than assumptions.

Marta concludes: “Instead of making generic sustainability claims, our customers can now rely on quantified and verified environmental data through LCAs and EPDs.”

She adds: “Please make a date to visit the Fakuma 2026 exhibition and see the proof for yourself. We hope to see you there.”

The Benvic Group will exhibit at Fakuma 2026 from October 12-16, Stand B3 3307.

By combining material expertise, sustainability knowledge and advanced environmental assessment capabilities, Benvic is helping customers integrate environmental performance into product development without compromising technical requirements.