- The asymmetric snowboard binding features Envalior’s Durethan® Blue, an eco-friendly nylon, allowing Union Binding Company to create its most sustainable snowboard binding yet.
- Durethan® Blue, made from 90% sustainable raw materials using a mass balance approach, includes bio-based, recycled content and provides high flow and heat stabilization.
- Durethan® Blue has met all of Union Binding Company’s internal quality control standards for strength, cold temperature durability, and overall product lifecycle.
DÜSSELDORF, Germany, Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Envalior today announces it has partnered with Union Binding Company, a snowboard binding manufacturer based in Italy, to deliver redesigned Travis Rice Falcor Signature Snowboard Bindings. The asymmetric binding utilizes Envalior’s Durethan® Blue, a nylon, which enables Union to make its most sustainable snowboard binding to date. The new material is a member of Envalior’s sustainable product family, attributed with 90% of sustainable raw materials, based on a mass balance approach via the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS certification program that ensures sustainability and traceability throughout the supply chain.
What makes the redesigned snowboard bindings unique is the all-new 2 Layer baseplate construction, which allows for two individual layers: the core and the frame. The two layers enable the use of unique engineering materials to achieve the desired ride and feel of the binding. Durethan® BLUEBKV315ZH2.0 allows the core of the binding to be stiff and responsive, while the frame is softer and more flexible than traditional snowboard baseplates, allowing for a unique ride feel and increased side to side freestyle flex.
Performance meets sustainability
Union selected Durethan® Blue for its redesigned snowboard binding because the material is partially crystalline thermoplastics, offering high mechanical strength and stiffness, good dielectric properties, and good friction and wear properties. It serves as the ideal drop-in replacement for fossil-based products. Durethan is offered as bio-based, mass balanced, and recycled-based and leads to a product carbon footprint reduction of more than 60% CO2-eq in comparison to conventional, fossil based material.
Ninety percent of Durethan® Blue’s raw materials are sustainable, based on a mass balance approach, which allows companies to track the flow of sustainable and non-sustainable materials within their supply chains. The ISCC PLUS certifications assure that the amount of bio-based or recycled material corresponds to the amount used in production processes. Manufacturers can gradually transition away from fossil resources to renewable alternatives while maintaining product quality and performance.
Durethan® Blue has passed all of Union’s in-house quality control tests for strength, durability in cold temperatures and product lifecycle. Every pair of Union bindings goes through rigorous testing during the R&D and design phase, initial production and the main production cycle.
“At Envalior, we are committed to sustainability, and this innovative solution demonstrates that sustainability and high performance can coexist, thanks to our ISCC-certified material and mass balance concept,” said Günter Margraf, Director of Sustainability for Envalior. “Our material meets the demands of winter sports without compromising performance, and we’ve integrated this solution into our existing production processes, making the shift to sustainable options easier. Sustainability isn’t just a goal—it’s the path forward.”
“Union is committed to increasing the use of more environmentally friendly materials because it’s crucial to show that we can continue to use plastics in our lives—as long as we find sustainable options and use them responsibly. This approach ensures we’re not compromising the future of our planet,” said Pier Patriarca, Lead Product Engineer at Union Binding Company.
Further information on Envalior’s products and Sustainability Ambitions can be found at: Sustainability.
An overview of the Travis Rice Falcor Signature Snowboard binding can be found at Falcor Men’s Snowboard Binding | Union Binding Company.
Photo: Union Binding Company
About Envalior
Envalior is a global leader in Engineering Materials with over 4,000 employees worldwide. It was established in 2023 through the merger of Lanxess Performance Materials and DSM Engineering Materials. With a long track record of customer-driven innovation, Envalior specializes in developing sustainable and high-performance material solutions. Focus markets include Automotive, New Mobility, Electronics & Electrical, and Consumer Goods. For more information, visit Envalior – SUSTAINABLE & HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENGINEERING MATERIALS.
About Union Binding Company
Union Binding Company was founded on the idea of a simple, yet ambitious mission: to create the best-fitting, highest-performing, and most durable snowboard bindings the world has ever seen. Since its humble beginnings in 2004, Union has evolved into the global leader in snowboard bindings by relentlessly pushing the boundaries of innovation, performance, and design. Union believes that ideas, determination, and people are the core of who we are today and the driving force behind where we’re headed tomorrow. Union’s headquarters are in Delebio (SO), Italy. For more information on Union Binding Company, head to Union Binding Company | Snowboard Bindings.
Forward-Looking Statements
This company release contains certain forward-looking statements, including assumptions, opinions, expectations and views of the company or cited from third-party sources. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause the actual results, financial position, development or performance of Envalior GmbH to differ materially from the estimates expressed or implied herein. Envalior GmbH does not guarantee that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors, nor does it accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the opinions expressed in this presentation or the actual occurrence of the forecast developments. No representation or warranty (expressed or implied) is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, any information, estimates, targets and opinions contained herein, and no liability whatsoever is accepted as to any errors, omissions or misstatements contained herein, and accordingly, no representative of Envalior GmbH or any of its affiliated companies or any of such person’s officers, directors or employees accepts any liability whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from the use of this document.
Media contact
Candace Roulo
tel: +1 248 200 8919
email: mediarelations@envalior.com
SOURCE Envalior B.V.
