Flame-retardant recycled polyamides for E&E applications

Avient Corporation announced the launch of Nymax™ FR REC flame-retardant recycled polyamide grades at Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing. These new grades deliver non-halogenated fire safety performance for electrical and electronics applications while incorporating 42% – 77% post-industrial recycled content.

Electrification is reshaping the materials landscape, driving exponential growth in power distribution systems, EV charging infrastructure, and battery energy storage systems. The new grades serve OEMs, component manufacturers, and material specifiers facing tightening fire safety regulations and growing circularity targets, especially for residential and institutional building sectors.

Manufacturers of electrical and electronic (E&E) components face a convergence of pressures: tightening regulations restrict halogenated flame retardants, emerging bans target per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and OEMs increasingly requiring components that incorporate recycled content and support a lower product carbon footprint. Until now, manufacturers had to trade fire-safety performance against sustainability targets. Nymax FR REC formulations address this convergence, delivering non-halogenated compliance and qualified fire-safety performance alongside recycled content for manufacturers of power distribution systems including switchgear, busway and connectors, appliances, BESS, and EV charging infrastructure.

How Avient’s new Nymax FR REC can help

Nymax FR REC grades deliver non-halogenated flame-retardant (NHFR) performance that preserves the qualified envelope for E&E applications while using post-industrial recycled polyamide feedstock to lower environmental footprint versus prime flame-retardant polyamide. Residential and institutional power distribution systems represent the key focus for these grades, as manufacturers in these segments face both stringent fire safety requirements and growing sustainability targets.

“We often hear from customers who feel the tension between uncompromising fire safety and aggressive sustainability targets — and until now, they had to trade one for the other,” said Hermann Fuechter, Senior Manager, Global Strategic Marketing, Specialty Engineered Materials at Avient. “With Nymax FR REC formulations, I am proud we can offer manufacturers a flame-retardant polyamide that holds a V-0 rating at 0.8 millimeters and a 960-degree glow-wire result, with recycled content built in. This is the kind of progress that helps designers build the power infrastructure the world needs.”

The Nymax FR REC Portfolio

The portfolio spans PA6 and PA66 resins with 15% to 40% glass fiber loading plus unfilled options, with a staged color expansion in development. Key attributes include: UL 94 V-0 rating at 0.8 mm servi the foundation for fire safety compliance in E&E applications; glow-wire flammability index (GWFI) of 960°C — supports compliance with global electrical safety standards; comparative tracking index (CTI) values up to 600 V — measures electrical insulation reliability under moisture and contamination; NHFR chemistry — aligns with restricted-substance lists; non-PFAS formulations that anticipate emerging regulatory bans targeting per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)