Plastics & Additives

Being a resin market expert didn’t used to be one of the hats you had to wear. But now more than ever, it pays to understand what’s driving your biggest cost.

It's a big promise but the supplier says it has customers' firsthand experience to back it up. This new and improved purging agent combines non-melting but softening thermoplastic scrubbing granules with an expanding proprietary additive. This combination removes color and contamination without leaving behind residue due to the combined power of the thermoplastic's scrubbing action and the expansion of the additive.

At the midway point in the three-year project's life, the company leading the research says good strides are being made in advancing rotational molding. Processors interested in the Rotoflex project can also track it online.

DuPont has started ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) production at its Chinese joint venture Beijing Hua Mei Polymer Company Limited, with plans to market the EVA produced there under the Elvax brand. DuPont says the joint venture will supply a broad range of specialty EVAs targeting market segments like packaging, adhesives, wire and cable, footwear, renewable energy, and electronics.

Sand and extruded copolyester sheet combine for a flood wall that can go up more quickly and withstand water better than the hand-filled sand bags they're aiming to replace.

Design engineers have an expanding suite of natural fibers available for compounding into base resins. These not only “green up” products due to their renewable nature, but also can lower weight and boost physical 
properties, often at a lower cost than inorganic alternatives.

Unmanned vehicle manufacturers are increasingly employing unmanned fabrication techniques to create critical components. Plastics and metal laser-sintering equipment supplier EOS GmbH (Münich) has seized on the opportunity for its "e-manufacturing" technology, watching business within aerospace, which includes unmanned vehicles, grow steadily since the company entered the market in earnest around four years ago. This August, the company again participated in the Assn.

In 1992, Dr. David Feldman almost accidentally discovered that bisphenol A had migrated from his polycarbonate test tubes into a test specimen and appeared to be mimicking estrogen. In the years since, and especially recently with a new series of bans, BPA, and the PC it’s contained in, has sparked a debate on the chemical’s safety.

Plastics supplier LyondellBasell, just a few months out of Chapter 11 protection, is moving ahead with strategic growth, adding another 320,000 tonnes of HDPE capacity in Europe. Output from the plant is even better than current bi-modal materials, claims the company.

The deal has Cereplast starting next month to begin the first shipments for what it says is a "multi-million dollar contract" which will offer European plastics processors access to the supplier's Compostable 3000 film grade through it new European partner, RI.ME. Masterbatch.