Cytiva Introduces Renewable Resins Based on Borouge International Bornewables™ Into Lab Filtration Devices

Cytiva, a Danaher company and global leader in life sciences, is committed to reducing its Scope 3 emissions by exploring the use of renewable materials in place of the fossil-based resins traditionally used in its products. Bio-based plastics are still rare in this sector, and Cytiva is among the first to adopt them as alternatives to virgin fossil-based materials.

Borouge International has been a long-term partner to Cytiva, providing advanced Bormed™ polyolefin solutions for a range of sensitive healthcare applications. This history of technical collaboration, combined with IMCD’s comprehensive medical application knowledge and broad sustainability capabilities, created a strong foundation for introducing renewable resins into Cytiva’s product line without compromising the high levels of quality and performance its customers depend on. (IMCD is the official distributor of Borouge International Bormed™ range in EMEA and North America region.)

Cytiva began its move towards renewable materials with its widely used Whatman™ Puradisc and GD/X™ filtration devices, sterile syringe filters with polyethersulfone (PES) membranes and integrated prefilters, designed to process viscous, hard-to-filter samples with high solids content.

The challenge was significant: the filtration devices need to meet stringent performance standards, including the ability to withstand sterilisation processes such as gamma irradiation. In addition, any renewable solution had to be a drop-in replacement, seamlessly fitting into existing production processes and fully compliant with the rigorous standards of the life sciences industry.

Cytiva selected a grade from Borouge International’s Bormed™ portfolio, a specialised range of polyolefins developed specifically for healthcare applications. Backed by more than three decades of industry experience, Bormed provides the reliability of supply, regulatory support, and consistent quality that medical and life sciences applications demand.

The selected grade, Bormed™ HD810MO, is produced using the Bornewables™ renewable feedstock, which is derived entirely from waste and residue streams. The feedstock is ISCC PLUS–certified, ensuring full traceability from origin to resin, and Cytiva has achieved ISCC PLUS certification through to the final product—enabling verifiable sustainability claims.

The material also offers resistance to gamma sterilisation and functions as a drop-in alternative to fossil-based resins—giving Cytiva confidence that it can maintain performance while reducing the environmental footprint of its products.

By switching to Bornewables™, Cytiva has taken a measurable step towards lowering the Scope 3 emissions of its lab filtration portfolio. The ISCC PLUS certification ensures full traceability of renewable content, supporting transparency and credible reporting of emissions reductions. Because the resin behaves just like its fossil-based equivalent, there is no compromise on processability, functionality, sterilisation resistance, or regulatory compliance.

The project highlights the value of collaboration across the supply chain: Cytiva, Borouge International, and IMCD worked closely together to find an innovative solution that advances sustainability while keeping patient health as the top priority.

The shift to sustainability is a responsibility for every industry and every manufacturer. But when patient safety is on the line, the challenge becomes doubly complex. Finding the right material solutions is the key to success in medical device manufacturing.

At IMCD, we have expert teams to help you make the right material choices, with support from the earliest stages of concept and design, so you can make informed decisions. We are ISCC PLUS certified*, which allows us to offer ISCC-certified renewable materials, like those in the Borouge International portfolio.

*IMCD Germany, Benelux, UK, Sweden, France, and Italy are certified according to ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification).