Ryu Ki-chul, Honeywell PMT Advanced Materials Korea Representative
Q. Please introduce Honeywell.
Honeywell is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable.
Honeywell has won numerous awards globally, with award categories ranging from innovation technologies to corporate culture. Here I just name a few: World’s Most Admired Companies, World’s Most Ethical Companies, 2019 Best Company for Female Executives, 2021 Sustainable Development Model Enterprise Award, 2020 Innovative Connected Enterprise of the Year, and multiple design awards for Honeywell products such as Reddot and iF design awards.
In Korea, back in 2018, Honeywell was credited by Ministry of Environment for contributing to reduction of CO2 via eco friendly refrigerant supply in the market.
Q. What are the recent cosmetic material trends after COVID-19?
People care about their health at a much higher-level post Covid 19. Safety to use and good functionality to protect health are increasingly top asks. This empowers the industry to invest more to address customers’ demand for healthier products at a faster pace.
Customers are growing more interested in climate change and sustainability. Conscious beauty refers to the fact that consumers are aware and mindful of the origin of the products they use. More and more customers will consider products with effective ingredients and safe to use, but green in use and good for the planet. In turn, this will push industry to research and develop earth-friendly technologies but no compromise of functionality and performance.
Q. Are you launching any new products at this exhibition?
Yes, we are introducing Honeywell Solstice® Propellant (1234ze) and Honeywell Solstice® Enhance (1233zd). Solstice Propellant is a propellant gas used for aerosol application which brings EWG 1 grading with non-flammability feature while creating rich foam and spray texture compared to hydrocarbon gas used in the market. Also Solstice Enhanced is phase changing material. It has 19 degrees of boiling point which it helps long cooling effect in formulations.
Q. Why did you develop the new ingredient?
A: The world attaches great importance to climate changes. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) increasingly becomes top of mind of corporate management. With the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, many countries are eventually phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) due to high global warming potentials (GWPs).
HFC products have come under pressure as potential contributors to global warming. The industry and our customers also want solutions which are more environmental-friendly, regulatory compliant and safe.
At Honeywell, we believe “what’s good for the earth is good for business”. In response to current macro trends and future restrictions on the use of HFCs, Honeywell introduces Solstice® Propellant and Solstice® Enhance. Two products are based on Honeywell ultra-low GWP hydrofluoro-olefin (HFO) technology, which can help reduce climate impact without compromising using on performance.
Q. How is new raw material different from existing raw materials?
HFOs are the fourth generation of fluorinated materials that are used as refrigerant, blowing agents, propellants, and solvents. The materials have all the performance benefits of HFCs but exhibits very favorable environmental properties. Therefore, both Solstice® Propellant and Solstice® Enhance deliver good performance in preserving energy, lessening the impact of climate change, and enabling a carbon neutral economy.
In the meantime, Solstice® Propellant and Solstice® Enhance are nonflammable (ASTM E-681, EU A11), ultra-low GWP of 1 or less, non-ozone-depleting, VOC-exempt (per U.S. EPA), and negligible contribution to smog formation.
Q. What is the major functionality?
Solstice® Propellant is a non-flammable and non-VOC environment friendly propellant gas. It is also EWG1 grade and helps formulators create richer and dense foam and spray texture with twice higher molecular weight. Foam texture formulated with Solstice Propellant tends to be more shiny and firm due to these features.
Solstice® Enhance is a solvent and carrier fluid, enables superb cooling, fast drying, and unique foaming action. It enables the development of innovative and novel personal care formulations for face, body, and hair products. It is highly compatible with a wide variety of commonly used plastics and elastomers.
Solstice® Propellant and Solstice® Enhance can be used in the formulations independently, or together to create groundbreaking products. In addition to providing exceptional formulating flexibility, they also offer benefits related to safety and the environment.
Q. What kind of application is new material good for?
The adoption of Solstice® Propellent in personal care application is at expansion trend. Especially in US and European countries, there are increasing case of adoption in dry shampoo which best shows Solstice Propellant’s performance as fast drying. Also with excellent spraying performance, it is being widely accepted for sun block spray applications. In Korea, Solstice Propellant has been adopted for body mousse, diaper rash spray, sun block spray and many others.
Solstice® Enhance provides unique formulation flexibility and latitude, such as cooling gels, dry shampoos, cooling misting sprays, and self-foaming cleansers, which are just some of the innovative formulations being developed.
Q. What kind of new materials Honeywell is planning to develop?
Honeywell has invested a billion dollars in research, development, and new capacity for its Solstice technology, having anticipated the need for lower-GWP solutions to combat climate change more than a decade ago. The product line, which helps customers lower their greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency without sacrificing end-product performance, includes refrigerants for supermarkets, air conditioning for cars and trucks, blowing agents for insulation, propellants for personal and household care and solvents for cleaning solutions.
In addition to Solstice® Propellant and Solstice® Enhance, Honeywell announced earlier this year, a commercial partnership with AstraZeneca to develop and bring to market next-generation respiratory inhalers that use near-zero GWP propellants to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
AstraZeneca, a global leader in treatment of respiratory diseases, is working to incorporate Honeywell's Solstice® Air (HFO-1234ze cGMP) technology as a medical propellant, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) by up to 99.9 percent when compared to current inhaler propellants. Solstice Air is the only non-flammable, near zero GWP propellant available and in clinical development today for pMDIs.
Q. Is there anything you want to emphasize in this interview?
Introducing Solstice® Propellent and Solstice® Enhance is Honeywell’s testament to continue bringing sensory innovation to personal care products. These two products not only help keep customers’ products ahead of changing environmental regulations, but also help customers provide breakthrough formulating advantages for face, body, hair, and sun care products.
Across the globe, customers utilizing Solstice technology have avoided potential release of the equivalent of more than 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equal to eliminating the potential emissions from more than 52 million cars for one year.