Pn july 2013 issue for web by AIPMA Office

SAY YES TO PLASTICS Volume No. 68

MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12- 14

Issue No. 7

Pages 74

July 2013

Rs. 75.00

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CONTENT

IN THIS ISSUE... 13...... AIPMA At Work The Official Organ of The All India Plastics Manufacturers Association Estd. 1945

MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12- 14 Volume 68

July 2013 No. 7

Chairman - Editorial Board

Dr. Asutosh Gor

Hon. Editor

Mr. Ajay Desai

Members

Mr. A. E. Ladhaboy Dr. Y. B. Vasudeo Ms. Poorvi Desai

Editorial Co-ordination: Padmesh Prabhune, Dhruv Communications, Mumbai, Tel No: 00-22-2868 5198 / 5049

...AIPMA Inaugurates its New South Zone Ofﬁce in Chennai

Fax No : 00-22-28685495 • email: dhruvpr@vsnl.net Published by Ms. Uma Gupta on behalf of the owners, The All India Plastics Manufacturers’ Association Plot No. A-52, Road No. 1, M.I.D.C., Andheri (E), Mumbai-400 093. Tel: 67778899 • Fax : 00-22-2821 6390 E-mail : ofﬁce@aipma.net Website : http://www.aipma.net and printed by her at Dhote Offset Technokrafts Pvt. Ltd., Goregaon (E), Mumbai-400 063.

...AIPMA at Iplex-2013 ...Conference on ‘Potential of Plastic in Northern India’

19...... Plastivision India - 2013 Show Preview 27...... Company News 31...... Features

Annual Subscription Rs. 1,000/Single issue Rs. 75/-

...Masterbatches - Additives, Colour, Fillers

Views/Reports/Extracts etc. published in Plastics News are those of the

...Introduction to Plastics Additives

authors and not necessarily of the Editor. Furthermore except for copies of formal AIPMA communications no other matter in this journal should

...Plastics Additives’ Steady Evolution

be interpreted as views of The All India Plastics Mfgrs. Association.

...Barrier Enhancement Using Additives

OFFICE BEARERS Dr. Asutosh Gor President

Mr. Manish Dedhia Vice President (West Zone)

Mr. R. K. Aggarwal Vice President (North Zone)

Mr. Hiten Bheda Hon. Secretary

Mr. Anil Bansal Vice President (South Zone)

Mr. Haren Sanghavi Hon. Jt. Secretary

Mr. Ashok Agarwal Vice President (East Zone)

Mr. Sanju D. Desai Hon. Treasurer

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52...... International News 55...... Business News 60...... Product News 64...... Technology 67...... In the News 71...... Events

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THE PRESIDENT SAYS

Moving down south... Agri based Plastics

would like to inform all of our readers that in our endeavor to serve the plastics processors across the country, AIPMA inaugurated its new South Zone Ofﬁce in Chennai on 27th June, 2013. Though we had our presence earlier as well but this is AIPMA own ofﬁce.

A sugarcane - derived plastic is a signiﬁcant development in sustainable packaging. The new material is made through an innovative process that transforms sugarcane into high - density PE plastic, a type commonly used for product packaging.

The opening function was well attended by the heads of the various Associations like TAPMA, APPMA, etc. The Puja was performed by learned Pandit with full rituals. AIPMA V.P (South) Mr. Anil Bansal and his wife completed all formalities along with team AIPMA on June 27, 2013.

It is made from renewable resources unlike conventional plastics that are made from non renewable resources such as petroleum. Polyethylene (PE) derived from sugarcane has been assessed and has been found to emit up to 75 percent less greenhouse gases during its life span in caparison to conventionally produced packaging.

AIPMA’s office is designed considering all the aspects of ‘Vastu shastra’. It’s an spacious office having an area of 870 sq. ft. on the 4th floor in Gaiety Palace, Chennai. The Office is centrally located with metro, railway station, shopping areas and essential requirements in close proximity, adequate parking facilities within the compound and is suitable in all respects.

PE employs ethylene as a monomer, the polymerization of which produces various grades based on density and branching. The fabrication of this polymer requires ethylene, which is, in turn, derived from ethanol. Ethanol can be manufacturers by conventional sources such as fossils fuel, corn or cellulose.

A function was organised to celebrate the opening of our New Ofﬁce and Plastivision India Networking and Business Meet at Hotel Savera in the evening. It was presided over by eminent personalities of the Industry such as Shri S. Mitra, Executive Director - Petrochemicals, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Shri Kailas P., Managing Director, Toshiba Machine Chennai as Guests of Honors and Chief Guest, Dr. S. K. Nayak, Director General, CIPET. The function was a grand success and there were more than 300 invitees who were present.

Also Synthetic ethanol comes from fossils raw material, and bio-ethanol comes from contemporary materials such as biomass. Braskem, a Brazilian plastics manufacturing company, was the first to come out with ‘green’ - certiﬁed PE. Coca Cola has been marketing the bio-based PlantBottle PET bottles since 2009. For information the ethanol syrup is converted into gycol in a reﬁnery process by India Glycols, Kashipur in India and then distributed to PET manufacturers in countries where PlantBottle programmes are underway. I think this initiative will help the Plastic industry in discharging its environmental responsibilities.

Apart from this, AIPMA had also participated at the IPLEX 2013 held during June 27 - 30,2013 at Chennai. The organizers of Iplex-2013 offered 18 sqm complimentary Booth (No. 53) to AIPMA in Hall B2, at Chennai Trade Centre. The exhibition was very well organised and had a lot of visitors. AIPMA received lot of enquiries for participation in Plastivision India 2013.

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Dr. Asutosh Gor president@aipma.net 9

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FROM THE EDITOR'S PEN

The "fluorescent tag" he National Safety Council (NSC) encourages

that can help identify ﬁngerprints

Americans each June to participate in National

by creating images that are

accurate to the nanoscale.

Safety Month, which is devoted to reducing preventable injuries and deaths.

Scientists University of

The NSC reports that fatal accidents have profound

Leicester, have developed a

economic implications: an accidental death in a workplace,

new method for imaging latent

home or motor vehicle results in millions of dollars in

ﬁngerprints that uses a ﬁlm made

medical expenses, wage and productivity losses, property

of electroactive polymers — long, complex molecules

damage, and other related costs. So we wind up using

that change shape in response to surrounding electric

limited ﬁnancial resources to compensate for losses rather

currents.

than investing in productive activities that could promote

Due to the polymers' electroactive properties, this ﬁlm

the long-term sustainability of our society, our economy

can be applied via an electric current, which drastically

and our environment.

reduces the risk of damaging the ﬁngerprint before an

So … what does this have to do with plastics?

accurate image can be drawn, the researchers say. When

Innovations in plastics play indispensable roles in helping

the electric current is directed at a latent ﬁngerprint, the

reduce preventable injuries and deaths. Numerous health,

ﬁlm adheres to the gaps between the swirls of deposits

medical and safety tools made possible by plastics

that comprise latent ﬁngerprints, and not to the deposits

contribute signiﬁcantly to our safety, which enables us to

themselves. The polymers that comprise the ﬁlm are also

be more productive and live longer, healthier, more fulﬁlling

electrochromic; that is, when exposed to an electrical

lives. These innovations also contribute to sustainability

charge, they change color.

by reducing the negative impacts of injuries and death on

The result is an inverted image, or negative, of the

our families, society, the economy and the environment.

ﬁngerprint that is highly detailed and visible, making it easy to photograph and analyze. This technique is

Plastics contributes in all the facets be it Transportation,

accurate to the nanoscopic scale; even a few molecules

Medical, Safety in the Home, Food Safety and et al..

of sweat and oil are enough to prevent the polymer ﬁlm

This issue we have focused on Additives and

from being transmitted. Further, the scientists have

Masterbatches. As we know New advanced polymers have

improved on this technique by adding ﬂuorophores,

enabled, everything under the sun including handheld

molecules that glow when exposed to a certain type of

device, designers greater freedom so they can continue

light, to the ﬁlm.

to refresh the look, feel and upgrade performance, while

Hope this helps the Crime investigating agencies

delivering a better environmental footprint. Now, one has special-effects masterbatch designed to boost shelf

world over!!

appeal in packaging and consumer goods.

Hon. Editor

Over the years there have been various innovations

Ajay Desai editor@aipma.net

that help us maintain the one up level. The latest in high-tech technology investigation is a "ﬂuorescent tag" P L A S T I C S N E W S

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AIPMA AT WORK

AIPMA inaugurates its new South Zone Office in Chennai IPMA Inaugurated its new ofﬁce at Gaiety Palace, on the auspicious day of 27th June., 2013 at 3 pm. The Puja was performed by learned Pandit with full rituals. AIPMA V. P. (South) Mr. Anil Bansal and his wife completed all formalities along with Dr. Asutosh Gor, President AIPMA.

All Office Bearers, Mr. Arvind Mehta, Team Plastivision India-2013- Mr Raju Desai, Mr. Kailash Murarka, Mr. Harish Dharamsi, Mr. Y. B. Raman, Director, Pondyoxide participated in the Puja and inauguration ceremony of President’s cabin. All Association Heads and Ofﬁce Bearers of Southern Gaiety Palace, a centrally located in Chennai

AIPMA President Dr Asutosh Gor thanked everyone with special thanks to Mrs. Anil Bansal for gracing the occasion and doing the Puja. He also expressed gratitude to Mr. Raman, who was instrumental in purchase of AIPMA New office and organizing Inauguration etc, Negotiating and Booking of Hotel for stay and for function etc. Dr Asutosh Gor was also thankful to the Presidents and Ofﬁce Bearers of Plastics Associations of South India who graced the ceremony.

Mr. and Mrs. Anil Bansal performing Puja

Regional made their presence to share the joy and congratulated Team AIPMA for the New Office. About 50-60 Industry members graced the Puja and Inauguration ceremony. AIPMA’s office is designed considering al the aspects of ‘Vastu shastra’ It’s an spacious office having an area of 870 sq. ft. on the 4th floor in Gaiety Palace, Chennai. The Office is Centrally located with metro, railway station, shopping areas and essential requirements in close proximity, adequate parking facilities within the compound and is suitable in all respects. Wishes and congratulations poured in form of flower bouquets. P L A S T I C S N E W S

AIPMA Reception Lobby

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Inauguration of AIPMA South Office

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AIPMA AT WORK

Team AIPMA at the New Office

Plastivision India Networking and Business Meet

Mehta, Chairman Advisory Board gave details of spectrum of his NAB members and also informed of the ﬁrst Indo-US Summit in pipe line during PVI-2013. He underlined growing relations between Indian Plastic industry with that of various countries which is a sign of India being preferred business place in the world.

To celebrate the Inauguration of our new ofﬁce, Plastivision India Networking and Business Meet and was organized at Hotel Savera in the evening. The Function was Presided over by eminent personalities of the Industry such as Shri. S. Mitra, Executive Director - Petrochemicals, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Shri. Kailas P., Managing Director, Toshiba Machine, Chennai as Guests of Honors and Chief Guest, Dr. S. K. Nayak, Director General, CIPET.

Our Guests were honoured with bouquets of flowers and mementos. Both, Shri. S. Mitra, Executive Director Petrochemicals, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, and Shri. Kailas P., Managing Director, Toshiba Machine, Chennai thanked AIPMA for inviting them to preside over the function and assured of their fullest support and co-operation to AIPMA at all times. The Chief Guest Dr S. K. Nayak also thanked AIPMA and spoke about all academic facilities CIPET is offering to the Indian Plastic Industry. Vote of Thanks was given by Shri Anil Bansal, Vice President (South), AIPMA. Mr Harish Dharamsi Co-Chairman PVI-2013 was master of Ceremony. The function was followed by Cocktail & Dinner.

President Dr. Asutosh K. Gor, welcomed the Honourable Guests as well as the audience and spoke on prevailing Industry scenario and its projected growth in next ﬁve years. He also gave details of all Activities of AIPMA and appealed everyone to join hands with AIPMA in its rising graph of services. Mr. Raju Desai Chairman, Plastivision India 2013 discussed about new initiatives taken in our 9th Plastivision, International pavilions, media promotions, etc. so that all exhibitors are at ease to do voluminous business.

Over 350 people all belonging to Plastics Associations of South Region, exhibitors of PVI-2013 Industry stalwarts, and VIP guests of the Industry participated and the venue was truly a happening place for the evening. Team PVI offered Memento of PVI wall clocks to all guests.

He projected the promotional ﬁlm of PVI and requested all those who have still not booked their space, to do the same immediately as we are full, by means of space. Mr Arvind

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AIPMA AT WORK

Plastivision India - 2013 Networking & Industry Meet at Chennai

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AIPMA AT WORK

AIPMA at Iplex-2013 Plastics Manufacturers association and Karnataka state Plastics Association, supported by AIPMA, PIF, CIPET with an objective to promote Plastics Industry of South India. The Organizers claims to have 150 exhibitors covering two Halls with 10,000 sqm. Space visited by over 50000 visitors over 4 days. AIPMA Staff Ms. Umaa Gupta, Mr. Aditya Tripathi, Mr. Rohit Gupta, and Mr. A. Ramarathinam (AIPMA SOUTH) attended this Exhibition. The team was dedicated to heavy marketing and promotion of PLASTIVISION INDIA 2013 over 4 days of the exhibition. Appx. 661 sqm including 169 sqm of CIPET, was confirmed for PVi2013. 3 new members were generated. AIPMA stall was visited by all Industry stalwarts and Associations Heads. Presence of AIPMA President, Office Bearers, Team PVI-2013 made the Booth most vibrant and busy with flow of important visitors. There were enquiries for PVA but due to PVI and K exhibitions ahead of this event, confirmation by way of Cheque did not happen. M/s Cox & Kings marketed K-delegation from our stall.

IPMa had participated in the Iplex 2013 held during June 27-30 at Chennai. The organizers of Iplex-2013 offered 18 sqm complimentary Booth (No. 53) to AIPMA in Hall B2, at Chennai Trade Centre. Iplex is organized by 4 state level plastics manufacturers’ associations Tamilnadu Plastics Manufacturers Association, Andhra Pradesh Plastics Manufacturers Association, Kerala

Conference on ‘Potential of Plastic in Northern India’ Conference on ‘Potential of Plastic industry in Northern India with special focus to plasticulture (plastic for agriculture) was held during June 25-27, 2013 at Chandigarh.. The conference was inaugurated by Ms. Neelkamal Darbari, IAS, Joint Secretary (Petrochemical) Dept. of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt. of India.

The two-day conference was organised by FICCI jointly with the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Govt. of India and National Committee on Plasticulture Application in Horticulture of Ministry of Agriculture (NCPAH), Government of India and with the support of various industry Association (AIPMA, Plastindia Foundation, IPF, IPI, AIFTMA).

Shri Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary (Industries), Government of Punjab, Shri Rajan Kohli, Advisor FICCI and a large number of captains of the Petrochemicals industry (incl. those from Indian Oil Corporation, Reliance Industries, HMEL & GAIL as also the plastics processing industry were present. She also released a Knowledge and Strategy Paper prepared by FICCI with the help of Tata Strategic Management on the sector. P L A S T I C S N E W S

Shri R. K. Aggarwal – Vice President (North Zone), AIPMA, was invited for the Session III (Opportunities in Downstream Plastic Processing Industry) as Co-Chairman. Seminar was conducted with vote of thank by Mr. Prabh Sharan Singh, Head-Chemicals and Petrochemicals, FICCI.

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SHOW PREVIEW th

9 PLASTIVISION INDIA 2013 International Plastics Exhibition & Conference Where the future of plastic is..

FUKUTA ELEC. & MACH. CO., LTD. FUKUTA® was set up by Mr. Gorden Chang in 1988. Our business philosophy are “innovation”, “sincerity”, “credibility”. It leads the turnover to increase every year. There are two divisions for Fukuta ®. One is the motor manufacturing division and another is for green energy division. The motor manufacturing division is set up in 1988 and the products includes “standard motor”, “inverter motor”, “servo motor” and “spindle motor”. All the models are exported to all over the world for the variable customers to use. The green energy division is set up in 2005. The products range includes wind turbine, electric vehicle, electric boat and electric airplane. FUKUTA® would like to satisfy the customer’s requirement so we integrate the suppliers and invest “Fukuta Shanghai”, “YTF Industry”, “Roller”. To get the win-win, FUKUTA® gets an alliance to promote green energy. FUKUTA® is the most ﬂexible, multiple, professional and international team. We are not only have the powerful development capacity but also have the strong Integration. We believe FUKUTA® is the best choice for you. Our web-site www.fukuta-motor.com.tw Doris Fukuta Elec. & Mach. Co., Ltd. 3No. 5, Lane 505, Sec., Ho Nan Rd., Taichung City, Taiwan, R.O.C. Taiwan Tel. No.: +886-4-2528-8833 #161 Fax: +886-4-2528-3979 Email: doris@fukuta-motor.com.tw Website: www.fukuta-motor.com.tw

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9 PLASTIVISION INDIA 2013 International Plastics Exhibition & Conference Where the future of plastic is..

XIANG IN ENTERPRISE CO. LTD. Heat transfer film, In mold label, Heat transfer machine Xiang In Enterprise Co., Ltd, was established in 1997. We are a professional manufacturer and exporter of Heat Transfer Film, Heat Transfer Machine and In-Mold Label in Taiwan. Welcome to visit our website: www.xiang-in.com.tw. We have 9 colors printing machine and professed technology to content customers’ multicolor & high quality requirement. Also, we can help customer to design transfer machine and offer customer technological guidance. Below is our brief introduce on products: •

Heat Transfer Film Our ﬁlm has good adhesion on PP, PS, ABS, AS, Acrylic, Wood, Metal, Glass and EVA products as long as the surface is ﬂat.

•

We have the ability to print big size film, such as film for 20 Liter paint pail and we create a special function for film which is "scratch resistance".

•

In this way, no need to worry about scratch happens while piling containers.

•

Heat transfer Machine Our machine can be designed base on clients' requirements.

•

In-Mold Label So far, the biggest size we produced is for 20 liter paint pail which is able to resist static.

Besides, our label can be exposed under sunshine for 2 menthes without color-fading problem. We are confident that you will be satisfied with our quality if you are looking for a reliable supplier in this field. Thank you! Best regards, Ms. Jhen Li Tel: 886-4-23595579 Fax: 886-4-23593118 Email: xiangin.tc@msa.hinet.net Website: www.xiang-in.com.tw.

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9 PLASTIVISION INDIA 2013 International Plastics Exhibition & Conference Where the future of plastic is..

NGHE AN MINERAL JOINT STOCK COMPANY Calcium Carbonate Powder / White Limestone Lumps Nghe An Mineral JSC (NAMCO), established in 1993, is an enterprise specialized in the areas of exploiting and exporting of White Limestone products. With the ownership of the best mines and quarries as well as the outstanding capacity of exploiting, manufacturing and supplying, Namco has successfully proved its leading role in Vietnam. We are proud of possessing a quarry site with the reserves of more than 40 million metric tons of white marble. We would like to offer you a wide product range of the ﬁnest calcium carbonate powder, as well as all kinds of limestone raw material and other marble products. Our license of exploitation is valid until 2035 for this quarry site and is extendable. Our production lines, machineries and equipments are certiﬁed to be standard by the prestigious inspectors. Our well trained and disciplined workers and staff members are committed in satisfying all the customers by their best products and services. We can provide both coated and uncoated powder with D97 from 70micron to 6micron, D50 from 6micron to 2micron that is used in an increasingly wide range of application. Our range of Calcium Carbonate Powder is high on demand in the market and is in compliance with the highest international standards. The Calcium Carbonate Powder offered by us has been appreciated by the clients, due to their accurate formulation and high purity.

NGHE an Mineral Joint Stock Company http://namco.vn Chemical Compositions

Particles Size & Codes Mesh

Uncoated

Coated

CaCo3

> 98.5%

2500

Namco-BA6 D50: 1.0 + 0.2 μm; D97 6 + 1 μm

Namco-BA6C D50: 1.0 + 0.2 μm; D97 6 + 1 μm

Fe2O3

< 0.02%

1880

Namco-BA8 D50: 2 + 0.3 μm; D97 8 + 2 μm

Namco-BA8C D50: 2 + 0.3 μm; D97 8 + 2 μm

MgO

< 0.16%

1250

Namco-BA10 D50: 2.5 + 0.3 μm; D97 10 + 2 μm

Namco-BA10C D50: 2.5 + 0.3 μm; D97 10 + 2 μm

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Chemical Compositions

Particles Size & Codes Mesh

Uncoated

Coated

SiO2

< 0.01%

1100

Namco-BA12 D50: 3.0 + 0.3 μm; D97: 12 + 2 μm

Namco-BA12C D50: 3.0 + 0.3 μm; D97: 12 + 2 μm

Al2O3

< 0.04%

1000

Namco-BA15 D50: 4.0 + 0.5 μm; D97: 15 + 2 μm

Namco-BA15C D50: 4.0 + 0.5 μm; D97: 15 + 2 μm

Na2O

< 0.16%

625

Namco-BA20 D50: 4.5 + 0.5 μm; D97: 20 + 2 μm

Namco-BA20C D50: 4.5 + 0.5 μm; D97: 20 + 2 μm

600

Namco-BA25 D50: 5.5 + 0.5 μm; D97: 25 + 2 μm

325

Namco-BA45 D50: 14.5 + 0.5 μm; D97: 45 + 3 μm

188

Namco-BA70 D50: 23.0 + 0.5 μm; D97: 70 + 3 μm

Physical Properties Hardness

2.7 - 3 Moh

Whitness

> 96.5%

Loss at 900o C

42% - 44%

Brightness

> 94%

Loss at 100o C

0.2% - 0.4%

Moisture

> 0.2%

Acid Insoluble

> 0.15%

Oil Absorption

> 24.0g/100g CaCO3

PH Value

8.0 ÷ 9.0

Speciﬁc Gravity

2.65 ÷ 2.7g/cm3

HEAD OFFICE

HO CHI MINH CITY OFFICE

Address : No. 2 Le Hong Phong Street, Vinh city

Address : R.0812, Block 1, My Phuoc Building

Nghe An Province, Vietnam

Ward 2, Binhthanh Dist., Hochiminh city

Tel.:

(84-38) 8602 659

Tel:

(84-08) 6297 574

Fax:

(84-38) 3560 775

Fax:

(84-08) 6258 4021

Email:

thuhuong@namco.vn

Email:

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pthao@namco.vn

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COMPANY NEWS

Indiana extruder Omega Plastics is now ‘Reschcor Inc.’ lkhart, Indiana-based custom extruder Omega Plastics Corp. is adopting a new name, Reschcor Inc, that it says more clearly deﬁnes the company. "Omega Plastics is a very popular name in general. A few other plastic processors go by that name and some are in the exact same ﬁeld. Even some other companies have similar names," said President Tom Reschly The company has even had its mail and calls crossed a few times with a nearby company called Omega Industries.

The company wanted an identity that conveys a pro-active, innovative approach within a family-oriented atmosphere. The new name is play off the name of ownership Reschly

and the word core, which stands for core capabilities and core values. Reschly said neither management nor ownership is changing, but they hope that a new name will provide better brand awareness. He said the changeover comes after working with Strategic Marketing LLC of Milwaukee for about year.The Reschcor log will carry a tagline of "Expect Innovation -Expect Excellence." The company also has designed a new website,www. reschcor.com. The rebranding has been introduced to the company's employees and is currently being rolled out to its customers as well.The company was started in 1982 and was purchased in 2002 by Tom and Jim Reschly, who

GN Thermoforming opens Czech service center hile GN Thermoforming Equipment's has opened a new 10,764-square-foot service center in Jihlava, Czech Republic, this month. The company has had a modest but increasingly mighty presence in the Czech Republic since the mid-2000s with an ofﬁce for sales representatives.

The Jihlava facility will offer new space for the sales and service team, soon expected to grow to seven employees, as well as a showroom, demonstration area and training facility to cover the company's product line of thermoformers and auxiliary equipment catering to the

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food packaging industry."It's a great place to do business," explained Jerome Romkey, GN's marketing manager. "From a cost point of view, it's certainly less expensive than Western Europe."Jihlava is just two hours from Vienna, Austria, home town of Georg Nemeskeri, GN's founder and president, and is strategically located close to Western Europe with easy access to growing markets in Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Middle East. GN Thermoforming Equipment was established in 1981 and has some 1,500 machines in service in 68 countries

serves as vice president of operations. Over time, it has evolved to be more of a full-service extrusion outﬁt. It has 75 employees and runs 16 lines at its 75,000 square foot facility. Over the last ﬁve years, Omega has added four new lines and in 2011, completed a full tool room. "The name change will allow us to focus on our core capabilities and what we are good at extrusion," said Tom Reschly. The company serves a variety of industries, including agriculture, building products, fencing, railing, packaging, medical, textile, furniture, refrigeration, aircraft, marine, lawn and garden, and electronic.

Shell delays plans for Beaver County petrochemical plant hell has delayed once again, its decision to buy land for a petro¬chemical plant in Beaver County. According to report he company planned to take years to evaluate the site and sought the option to extend its deadline for buying riverside property in Center and Potter, spokeswoman Kimberly Windon said. “We're still on track. We're still continuing to evaluate the site, and the company is studying transportation to the site, working on government permits and communicating with people in the county.

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COMPANY NEWS

ExxonMobil, Total among US Polypropylene producers seeking raised margins xxonMobil Chemical and Total Petrochemicals are joining other polypropylene producers seeking 2-cent/lb ($44/mt) increases effective August 1. ExxonMobil plans to increase the price of its impact co-polymer and PP900 random-copolymer resin grades in North America.

The increase is separate from any price change resulting from movements in feedstock polymergrade propylene contract pricing. Total announced a similar increase for all grades of polypropylene. In addition, Total said July prices would increase by the amount of change in the PGP

contract price from June to July and cautioned that specialty grades could increase by a greater amount. Ly o n d e l l B a s e l l l a s t w e e k announced plans to increase PP prices by 2 cents/lb effective August 1, in addition to any change caused by PGP contracts. Ineos is seeking an additional 2-cent increase effective for July, while Formosa Plastics Corporation announced a standalone hike of 3-cent/lb for July. The announcements come as polypropylene contracts for June settled last week at a 3-cent/lb ($66/ mt) increase, following a similar hike

on feedstock PGP. The 4% increase pushed homopolymer injection grade polypropylene to 74-75 cents/lb ($1,631-$1,653/mt) on a deliveredrailcar basis. Recent force majeure declarations by Formosa Plastics and Pinnacle Polymers on the production side have further squeezed an already tight supply in a busy market, lending some support to the increase announcements. Plans to reduce delivery of PP grades, by Phillips 66 amid feedstock supply issues has exerted further upward pressure on prices.

Eco Baltia opens PET recycling plant in Latvia co Baltia, the leading integrated waste management ﬁrm in the Baltic States has launched an 8,500 tpa recycled PET production plant in Jelgava, south of the Latvian capital Riga.

The Riga-based group, which collects, sorts and recycles plastics waste material, has invested 5.3 million euros to establish the new PET facility through its recycling subsidiary Eko Baltija.Eko Baltija's new facility has the capacity to turn out enough PET chips to make 270 million bottles, well over Latvia's current annual consumption of around 160 million PET bottles. The group plans to sell part of its output to the neighboring Baltic State of Estonia,

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it said."This is the only facility of its kind in the Baltic States," said Eco Baltia group's chairman and chief executive Artūrs Skroderis. Apart from Eko Baltija, his group operates other recycling facilities comprising the PET ﬂake recycling plant of Eko PET and Nordic Plast, Latvia's biggest polyethylene waste recycling operation. The group has expansion plans for recycling. PET Baltija aims to develop crystallized PET pellets that can be used for food industry packaging and Nordic Plast wants to add a new line to make polypropylene pellets from woven bags. Eco Baltia, which is seeking acquisitions in its region, also 28

aims to recycle construction waste, it said.In March 2013, Eco Baltia group consolidated its waste collection businesses with the merger of three subsidiaries: Jūrmalas ATU, Eko Rīga and Kurzemes ainava to form Eco Baltia Vide. It serves 30,000 customers across 22 regions of Latvia. The merger was aimed at improving group services, boosting its competitiveness and ensuring "growth and development sustainability", Eco Baltia stated.In 2011, the group recorded a net proﬁt of 4.8 million euros on consolidated annual sales of around 37.8 million euros. Today, more than half of its revenue is generated from the growing waste recycling segment.

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COMPANY NEWS

Rolta India to implement engineering system at Sadara petrochemical complex olta India has won a contract from Sadara Chemical Company to implement a comprehensive engineering system at its Sadara Petrochemical Complex in Jubail Industrial City II, Saudi Arabia.

Under the contract, the India-based innovative IT solutions provider, Rolta, will put into use its engineering work processes, application systems, IT and systems integration expertise to provide a range of engineering solutions. Rolta's engineering solutions will support the process engineering, technical support, process automation and control, asset integrity, analytical

lab and standards, and document management at the plant. Sadara Project Manufacturing & Engineering Systems project manager Taher Nemer said the successful implementation of the Engineering System is important to support and efficient operation of the Sadara Complex. "We have partnered with Rolta on this challenging project because they have the breadth of sophisticated engineering IT expertise and have proven global delivery capabilities that are required for such an important project," Nemer added.

CNOOC selects LyondellBasell’s Spherizone technologyfor 400,000 tpa PP plant NOOC Oil and Petrochemicals Co. (CNOOC) have selected the LyondellBasell's Spherizone technology for a 400 KT per year polypropylene (PP) plant planned to be built in Huizhou, China.

" Ly o n d e l l B a s e l l S p h e r i z o n e technology can deliver a wide range of high-quality PP products with low resource and energy consumption and we are pleased that CNOOC has again selected our technology for their new facility," said Bob Patel, P L A S T I C S N E W S

Senior Vice President of Olefins and Polyolefins for Europe, Asia, International, and Technology at LyondellBasell. "This is the fourth polyolefins process technology we have licensed to CNOOC and its joint venture, building on a relationship that spans more than 10 years." The Company reported that since the launch of this technology in 2004, 3.5 million tons of Spherizone process capacities have been licensed.

Sonoco to close Irish thermoforming plant onoco Plastics is set to close its thermoformed packaging plant in Carrickmacross, Ireland, as a result of a decline in orders and falling proﬁts.

The facility is scheduled to cease operations in November this year. Jeff DiPasquale, Sonoco's vice-president and general manager of thermoforming, blamed "shifting market conditions and a financially challenging competitive environment". As a result, the company had made "the difﬁcult decision to consider the shut-down of operations at our Carrickmacross packaging plant. "This decision in no way reﬂects on the performance of our Carrickmacross employees who have always provided high levels of commitment, safety, quality and productivity," said Jeff DiPasquale, vice president and general manager, Thermoforming, Sonoco Plastics. The Hartsville, S.C.based company said that the Carrickmacross business had been experiencing a loss of volume and profitability for "several years" and this pattern is continuing through 2013, leaving no viable option other than to consider closure of the facility. Some 50 jobs will be lost if the closure goes ahead.

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COMPANY NEWS

Technology agreement aimed at European automotive recycling urope's Polymotive Group has signed a technology cooperation agreement with Eco-Care Recycling Solutions GmbH that will allow it to establish more automotive plastics recycling efforts. Eco-Care of Krefeld, Germany, has developed ways to retrieve plastics from mixedmaterial production such as instrument panels, separate that material and return it to the same production facility for use, the companies said in a July 11 announcement.

Polymotive of Roermond, the Netherlands, is a consulting group

that helps its auto customers with design, development and global implementation of key projects. The Eco-Care technology will be added to its portfolio of virgin plastic products, while Eco-Care will be able to use Polymotive's business scope to take its recycling technology to a wider audience. In addition to the structure, foam and skin materials within a car interior, Eco-Care has also developed ways to reclaim high temperature plastics used under the hood where those materials typically use glass ﬁllers and

Prospective bidders visit virtual data room for Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd ll the six companies which had responded to the expression of interest (EoI) ﬂoated by the transactional advisor have visited the virtual data room for Haldia Petrochemicals.

The six prospective bidders, GAIL, Indian Oil and ONGC, Reliance Industries, Cairn India and Jindal Petroleum, who had evinced interest in

buying out West Bengal government's stake in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), have visited the virtual data room of the company, according to reports. The virtual data room consists of all the information regarding the company which would help the prospective bidders in doing due diligence of the company.

Caroba Plastics investing in more capacity hermoplastic injection molder Caroba Plastics Inc. is in the process of adding four presses to its plant in Englewood, Colo.The company will add a used Nissei press with 720 tons of clamping force this month. The addition will bring the

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company’s total investment in presses for 2013 to $500,000. The collection of presses so far this year is aimed at the medical and semi-conductor industry. In April, the company added machines with 30, 100, and 215 tons of clamping force. 30

are combined with silicone and metal fastening systems. Eco-Care has set up recycling lines at its customers' facilities as well as conducting separation and grinding efforts at its own facilities in Krefeld and Berlin, Polymotive ofﬁcials said.

Jabil completes Nypro acquisition abil Circuit Inc. has completed its acquisition of Nypro Inc.The companies announced the agreement in February. Jabil bought Nypro from about 2,000 employees who were members of the plastics processor’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan.A total of about 10,000 Nypro employees around the world will become Jabil employees.

Jabil paid $665 million to buy Nypro. Jabil ofﬁcials expect the transaction to be accretive to earnings per shape in the company’s ﬁscal year 2014, which begins Sept. 1, 2013. The Nypro acquisition is e x p e c t e d t o b o l s t e r J a b i l ’s position in key markets, such as healthcare, and expand the market in packaging for customers in the food and beverage, household and personal care industries. The consumer electronics portion of Nypro will be integrated into Jabil’s Materials Technology Services.

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FEATURES

Masterbatches – Additives, Colour, Fillers Arvind M. Mehta, CMD Welset Plast Extrusions P. Ltd, Past President AIPMA & Plastindia Foundation, Chairman Advisory Board Plastivision, Executive Director Asia- CIPAD Master Batch manufacturing industry is well dispersed all over India to meet demand of all regions.Indian manufacturing capability is backed by highly skilled & qualified manpower. Indian Master Batches are well accepted in different global markets It is growing at a healthy rate of 12% per annum, though it is highly competitive.

2.1 WHITE MASTERBATCHES White masterbatches impart excellent whiteness and highest opacity. These masterbatches are successfully used in multilayer ﬁlms which require stringent processabilities. They are suited for thick and thin walled applications in injection and blow moulding and have excellent dispersion, food contact acceptability and weather resistance. They perform on high line speed machines and are well – suited for high temperature applications.

1. ADDITIVE MASTERBATCHES Additive masterbatches are specially designed for use in small quantities to produce the desired performance effects in the polymers. Globally accepted product, it comes in a wide range such as : -

UV Masterbatches : having 10-20% active UV content loaded ( used in fibres, yarns, woven sacks, FIBC, greenhouse film, mulch film, rotational and injection moulding applications). These are manufactured using FDA approved ingredients.

Antioxidant masterbatches – To sustain weathering effect

Antistatic masterbatches – Static charges elimination.

Antiblock masterbatches – Improve block resistance in ﬁlms.

Slip masterbatches : Slow & Fast.

Processing aid masterbatches – Facilitate processing.

Fire retardant masterbatches – Fire retarding properties.

2.2 BLACK MASTERBATCHES Black masterbatches impart a variety of desirable characteristics including colour, protection from UV radiation and conductivity. These masterbatches stand out for their colorability, cost effectiveness and performance. Black masterbatches are categorized by carbon black loading and hiding power.

3. FILLER MASTERBATCHES Filler masterbatches are used to impart various performance characteristics to polymers like superior mechanical, anti fibrillating properties. In addition, they provide economy of scale. Transparent and opaque filler masterbatches with filler loading up to 80% find use in diverse applications such as woven sack tarpaulins, laminated films etc.

2. COLOUR MASTERBATCHES -

Masterbatches are available for below end applications:

These masterbatches having excellent properties ﬁnd wide use in polyoleﬁns, GPPS, HIPS, ABS, TPO and TPE applications. They are used to provide readymade colouring solutions to polymer processing. Different pigments are uniformly dispersed producing a colour concentrate with fully dispersed pigment particles. The colour masterbatches come with properties such as high migration resistance, high light fastness, good dispersion and tinting strength and easy mixing. Special effect masterbatches like ceramic colours, translucent colours, fluorescent colours, luster & shine, pearl escent and metallic shades are the key performers.

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1. Extrusion - Film- mono / multi, Tarpaulins - woven sack / lamination, Pipe & ﬁtting /duct, Packaging ﬁlm 2. Injection moulding 3. Blow moulding 4. Roto moulding 5. Thermo forming The present consumption of plastics in India is around 8 MT per annum. Estimated demand of MB s is around 1.5 Lac tons per annum. There is ample installed capacity in India to manufacture full range of Master Batches at par with global standards in economy & scale. 31

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FEATURES

Introduction to Plastics Additives very activity in modern life is inﬂuenced by plastics and many depend entirely on plastics products. Imagine cars without synthetic bumper, dashboards, steering wheels and switches; medicine without plastic hypodermic syringes and artiﬁcial hip joints. And what about telecommunications, dependent on plastic telephones, circuit boards and cable insulation. Our entertainment and leisure relies on the unique combination of characteristics offered by plastics in sports equipment and clothing, CDs, video and audio tape, television and cinema - indeed you wouldn't be able to read this over the internet without plastics!

it is clear that there are many different ways of forming plastics. Most of these processes involve melting polymer powder or granules inside a heated tube. This 'melt' is forced through a shaped die, injected into a mould, or rolled or blown into ﬂat ﬁlm. The ease with which this is done depends on the physical and chemical properties of each plastic material, and can be improved through the use of certain additives known as PROCESS AIDS.

Process aids become liquid during the moulding process and form a liquid around colour particles so that they mix better. Other additives make the individual polymer particles adhere more to each other inside the tube so that they melt quicker. This means that the moulding temperature can be lower which saves energy and prevents or minimises heat damage to the plastics.

All these plastics products are made from the essential polymer mixed with a complex blend of materials known collectively as additives. Without additives, plastics would not work, but with them they can be made safer, cleaner, tougher and more colourful. Additives cost money, of course, but by reducing production costs and making products last longer, they help us to save money and conserve the world's precious raw material reserves. In fact, our world to day would be a lot less safe, a lot more expensive and a great deal duller without the additives that turn basic polymers in to useful plastic

Certain plastics can be difﬁcult to process because they become viscous and sticky when they melt. LUBRICANTS help reduce viscosity by creating a ﬁlm between the mould and the polymer melt, and by lubricating the polymer particles against each other. More intricate shapes can be moulded and the moulding temperature can be lowered. Most plastics have to be processed at over 180oC, a temperature which unfortunately can sometimes spoil the colour and weaken or embrittle the plastic. However, these effects can be prevented or minimised by additives known as ANTIOXIDANTS, which are special compounds such as Vitamin E, which help protect the plastic under hostile conditions. Other additives called HEAT STABILISERS help stop plastics from decomposing during processing.

What do Additives Add to Plastics? Additives Make Plastics Easier To Process

Additives Make Plastics Look good

Making things out of plastics is like playing a game with molecules. The aim is to re-organise them into new shapes without their changing colour, sticking to the mould, or doing anything that could spoil the ﬁnished article. Additives help with all these problems. In fact, processing plastics without additives is virtually impossible.

What is it about plastics objects that catches our attention? Its shape? Its usefulness? Its colour? Plastics are coloured using two main methods. The surface can be painted or printed after moulding, or additives called PIGMENTS can be incorporated before or during moulding. With this method, colour pigments can create all sorts of decorative effects that go all the way through the object and of course, will never wear off. This property, coupled with the range of moulding techniques available, gives designers

Consider the range of plastics available and the wide variety of plastic objects in every day use. From ﬁzzy drinks bottles and carrier bags to window frames and computers, P L A S T I C S N E W S

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FEATURES today a tremendous freedom when working with plastics.

value? Without an IMPACT MODIFIER, the vacuum cleaner will crack if it is bumped around the furniture and skirting boards in the usual way. But since it would contain no pigments, it would already look drab and dirty. More worrying would be the lack of FLAME RETARDANTS, for if an electrical spark causes the plastics housing to catch fire, it will burn dangerously without being able to extinguish itself. And this vacuum cleaner is the one on special offer? The other model may cost more, but in the end will prove to be more cost effective. The additives that assist the moulding of plastics, such as lubricants, process aids and heat stabilisers, can cost many times more than the polymeric raw material, and although only small amounts are used, they are nevertheless essential and greatly enhance the final performance of the finished article.

Pigments are tiny particles which have to be evenly mixed into the polymer in its molten state. Colourists specialise in scientiﬁcally devising shades suitable for all types of situations. Through a skilful manipulation of additives, plastics components can be colour matched with parts made from other materials such as wood, metal and fabrics, cars radios and kitchen appliances all use this technique. Different pigment formulations coordinate plastics with other materials, as in the Land Rover Discovery (BASF).

Other additives such as MINERAL FILLERS like chalk, talc and clay, are naturally occurring substances and are cheaper then the raw polymer. However, they are not necessarily used to reduce cost but for the beneﬁts they give to the basic material: talc and chalk increase rigidity, clay improves electrical properties. Mineral ﬁllers also increase the thermal conductivity of plastics so that they heat up and cool down quickly, meaning shorter mould cycle times and more articles produced at lower cost. When a small saving of 0.5p per moulding may not sound much, but if it involves producing several injection mouldings every few seconds this 'small' saving can amount to many tens of thousands of pounds over a year. There is a wide variety of additives available to help reduce costs.

Fashion is a word that not only covers clothes and accessories, but also includes, tableware, kitchenware and office equipment. In all these areas, pigments enable plastics to offer an endlessly variable palette of colours, as vivid as any other media. Colour in plastics also has many non-decorative functions. It can be used to cut down light to protect the contents of a package, for example in medicine bottles. It can be used as an important danger signal. Often it is used simply to protect and conceal, as in dashboards, machine housings and pipes. To make an opaque moulding, pigments are chosen that absorb or scatter light very well. The most common, cost-effective way of creating solid colour is to use carbon black or titanium dioxide. Carbon black absorbs light, whereas titanium dioxide, with its high refractive index, scatters light, producing a very high level of whiteness and brightness. It is part of a range of inorganic pigments and is mixed with other colours to create pastel shades. Organic pigments are also good for making bright colours.

Additives Make Plastics Safe And Sound Good design in plastics includes the art of combining the inherent safety properties of plastics, such as unbreakable materials, with appropriately designed product features. Rounded edges, child resistant closures and tamper evident seals are examples. Even greater safety factors can be built in through the use of additives. Most people are probably not aware that all our major plastics are similar in composition to natural polymers such as wood, wool, silk or cotton. They are all based on organic molecules which can catch ﬁre and burn. In some cases this is not a problem, but in other situations it could mean life or death. the building materials that are used to construct our homes, schools and public buildings must be protected against ﬁre by law, which

Additives Save Money There are two vacuum cleaners in a shop. They both look attractive and offer the same attachments, but one is on special offer. Unknown to the customer, the cheaper appliance has been made from plastics components that contain no additives. Does this make any difference? What are additives for anyway? Is the cheaper machine better

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FEATURES means they must nor ignite or spread ﬂame. Depending on the type of plastics material and the likely hazard, there are many FLAME RETARDANT additives available to help satisfy this requirement.

PVC tubing, blood transfusion sets and disposable packs of equipment have helped create an easier and healthier lifestyle. Additives have allowed the development of a sealed system of PVC tubing and bags which separates blood into its constituents without the need to open the equipment. This has led to a whole new ﬁeld of blood component therapy. Plasticsed PVC medical bags help save lives.

To u g h c r a s h helmets and colour coded occurred regularly when pulleys overheated, causing serious warning lights are produced with additives (Shell). An excellent example of lives saved by flame retardants in plastics is the conveyor belt in coal mines. For many years fires occurred regularly when pulleys overheated, causing serious accidents and deaths. But when belting made from PVC containing high levels of flame retardants was introduced in the mid-1950s, these accidents stopped.

To prevent plastics materials from becoming hard and brittle at low temperatures, or soft and sticky at high temperatures, additives are used to 'design' the plastics for its specific end use. Today plastics containers can be transferred from freezer to microwave and remain virtually unbreakable and safe in all conditions. Polythene, and later polypropylene, inspired a post-war revolution in kitchenware. Now we have something even more versatile and good-looking - Clingfilm - which can prevent micro-organisms spoiling fresh or cooked foods. To do this the polymer is formulated with suitable additives such as plasticisers and non-toxic stabiliser systems. The plasticiser makes the film very clingy so that bacteria cannot get into the food, yet the film can also be permeable so that oxygen and water vapour can pass through for safer storage.Most plastics are by nature insulators, and this property has encouraged

An increasing amount of plastics is found in cars today. These man made materials are often selected for their safety value. Dashboards and bumper not only have to look stylish and work well, but must also prevent injury by absorbing and dissipating the force of any impact. The additive type used in this case would be an impact modifier. Pigments are additives usually chosen to make plastics look more attractive, but they can also increase the safety factor, such as the special colour-coding for electrical wiring. Designer often use colours to accentuate the controls on machines and day-glow pigments prevent many road accidents: runner and cyclists wear reflective fabrics and strips, while road, rail and building site workers can easily be seen in their fluorescent helmets and jackets.

the development of a myriad of electrical products which are safe and a pleasure to use: telephones, shavers, hairdryers, radios, TV sets and food processors. Their plugs, sockets and wires are of course all insulated with plastics as well. However, being non-conductive, static can build up in plastics which attracts annoying dirt and dust. The additive that helps to counteract that problem is known as an ANTI-STATIC AGENT.

Additives Make Plastics Work Longer

Additives Make Plastics Clean And Healthy

Many natural materials decay with age - even granite erodes over the years. In the world of plastics measures are being taken to protect products from the effects of time. In extending the life and service of plastics, the unseen protection given by additives can result in materials

Hand in hand with advances in medical science, plastics have become an important medium for raising standards of hygiene to the high level we now enjoy. Throughout our lives, plastics help prevent disease and prolong active healthiness. PVC, for example, with its low toxicity, ﬂexibility, clarity and sealing properties, all achieved through additives, has become one of the most important plastics in medicine

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FEATURES which lead to new products for even more demanding situations. Imagine the conditions that plastics are subjected to - heat light, electric current, water weathering, cold, and knocks and kicks of continual use in the home, ofﬁce factory or ﬁeld. Effectiveness is critical

have replaced heavier metal parts and inspired designers to create wind-cheating aero-dynamic shapes that cut down on fuel consumption. Without additives to give plastics strength and durability, this would not be possible. When certain plastics are moulded at around 220oC, particular additives called BLOWING AGENTS break down to form gases such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water. These gases, trapped in the plastics, turn the material into foam, thus increasing the insulation and energy absorption properties and reducing weight. These foams can be seen in everyday use such as protective food packaging, cushioning in sports shoes and in automobile parts where lower weight saves fuel.

Cars are good examples. The next time you are out in a car, take a look at the exterior and interior and under the bonnet. Not only will you ﬁnd more components than ever before made of plastics, but many of them - from bumpers and wheel trim to steering wheels and door panels - have to endure long exposure to the elements, as well as ﬂying stones, scrapes, knocks and wear. Look at the engine with its plastics mouldings, cables and tubes. Conditions are tough, temperatures are high, yet plastics components still have to - and do - work effectively. In all these cases the longer life additives are silently at work.

Three stages in the life cycle of time controlled degradable mulching film: begin the growing season, partlydegraded ﬁlm after harvesting and the ﬁlm after ploughing. (Prof. G Scott, University of Aston)

Non-fading pigments will help these Spectrum stadium seats to hold their colour for many years (Hille).

Throughout the world crop yields are boosted by plastics ﬁlm laid over the soil to trap heat and moisture. Tomato production, for example, can be increased by 300%. But what happens to the plastic sheet at the end of the growing season? Additives have been developed that allow the sheet to capture the sun's warmth during the growing season but to break up as soon as the harvest arrives. The sheets disintegrates due to the action of sunlight and the fragments can be ploughed into the soil where the soil bacteria quickly breaks them down into carbon dioxide and water. In areas of predictable climate, this process can be timed to an accuracy of within seven days. Where plastics cannot be reused or recycled, biodegradation could offer a clean, safe method of disposal.

Children's toys and garden furniture, packaging and ﬂooring are just some of the products that form the backdrop to our lives, and it is hard to overestimate the rough treatment they have to endure. In sports stadiums, more and more spectator seating is moulded in brightly coloured plastics, and playing surfaces are often made of synthetic fibres. All of these are exposed to the weather, day and night, summer and winter, but a combination of LIGHT STABILISERS, UV ABSORBERS and ANTIOXIDANTS ensure constant high performance. Natural materials usually have to be ﬁnished off after manufacture with paints and lacquers. plastics enjoy the advantage of incorporating before or during the moulding process the additives that prolong their useful lives for many years.

For recycling Plastics really need to be sorted into individual polymer types such as polythene, polystyrene or polyvinyl chloride, otherwise they have no strength if remoulded and may literally fall apart. This is an area in which additives called COMPATIBILISERS can help. They act like chemical adhesives, sticking the different waste plastics material together so that a reasonable amount of cross-blending can be accepted. Mixed plastics waste can be remoulded into fencing, pallets and road markers, thus saving valuable timber. All this comes from a waste product that would other wise have been buried in a landﬁll site. Additives are vital for reprocessing waste plastics into useful second generation product.

Additives Respect the Environment We all tend to think that plastics consume energy. In fact plastics actually help to save energy in many different ways. For example plastics in cars save European motorists some six billion litres of fuel per year. This is because plastics

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FEATURES

Plastics Additives’ Steady Evolution Environmental requirements and products innovation drive change Alexander H. Tullo C&EN Northeast News Bureau dditives are often-ignored components of plastics. In discussions of the market success of polyvinyl chloride or polypropylene, for instance, only the polymers are usually mentioned, and little credit is given to the chemistries that enable these products to be as useful as they are.

phthalate (DEHP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP), because of potentially adverse effects on the human reproductive system. Because of the attention, some manufacturers have moved away from using vinyl-based products in toys that babies suck on, and others have introduced alternatives to vinyl-based medical devices.

Sometimes there is good reason for this. Because certain types of additives haven't changed for decades, their growth often tracks the polymers that they are used with, and their presence is often forgotten. But in other cases, as when environmental and health concerns arise over their use, plastics additives take center stage until the industry ﬁnds a way either to replace the troublesome additives with newer varieties--often without government mandate-or, if possible, to prove its products are essentially harmless.

Gastrock says losing the toy applications has had little impact on the phthalate plasticizer and PVC markets because less than 1% of phthalate plasticizers are used in toys. A ban on phthalate plasticizers in medical products would be more serious, he says, because that represents about 10% of the phthalate plasticizer market.

D'Lane Wisner, director of environmental solutions at plastics compounder PolyOne, says phthalates in vinyl medical products like IV bags and medical tubing have raised little concern until recently. "The use of phthalates in vinyl medical products has been around for 30 years," he points out. "The fact that the Food & Drug Administrationhas chosen not to take a position against them in all these years is a tremendous validation in and of itself."

Plastics additives are big business for the specialty chemicals industry. According to Fred Gastrock, a consultant with BRG Townsend, a Mount Olive, N.J.-based chemical consultancy, the global market for plastics additives was $15.5 billion in 1999, representing nearly 18 billion lb of material. Included in these figures are data for plasticizers, impact modifiers, heat stabilizers, lubricants, biocides, antioxidants, antiblocking agents, slip agents, light stabilizers, clarifying agents, flame retardants, organic peroxides, blowing agents, antistatic agents, and coupling agents. Excluded are colors and fillers.

Another strength of phthalate plasticizers, Gastrock says, is that they are hard to replace. "There are aliphatics, trimellitates, phosphorous materials, citrates, epoxies, and polymeric types, and they all have their little niches, but none of them has been able to take over or ﬁnd broad use in most phthalate markets," he explains.

Gastrock says the entire sector is growing by about 4 to 5% annually, with North American and European markets climbing 3% per year, and Asia and the rest of the world growing at 6 to 8%.

Flame retardants Halogenated flame retardants are also coming under fire. Plastics containing certain brominated flame retardants are believed to release polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polybrominated dibenzofurans when incinerated. The fear is that workers in recycling and processing plants can be exposed to dangerous levels of the chemicals.

Plasticizers are by far the largest class of plastics additives. Global volumes of plasticizers, according to Gastrock, were about 10 billion lb in 1999 and were valued at about $5 billion. Growth in this mature market is a modest 2 to 3% per year.

While there have been no bans, the World Health Organization has recommended against the use of brominated ﬂame retardants when substitutes can be found. In addition, manufacturers of end-use products that do not use brominated ﬂame retardants and other halogenated

However, recent years have brought controversy to the plasticizer marketplace. Chemical and plastics industry organizations have lined up against environmental groups over plasticizers used in ﬂexible PVC, such as diethylhexyl

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FEATURES compounds are rewarded through qualiﬁcation for various voluntary environmental labeling programs in Europe.

it," he says. Brominated flame retardants are also losing ground because of the growing use of polycarbonate/ acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene blends--which can use either halogenated or phosphate ester flame retardants--over ABS, in which brominated flame retardants are used.

According to Gastrock, the global market for all varieties of ﬂame retardants is $2.2 billion, with volumes at around 2.2 billion lb. But Gastrock points out that, despite the hullabaloo, brominated ﬂame retardants are still growing by 5% per year.

But it might be hard to ﬁnd alternatives to brominated ﬂame retardants in other applications, Gastrock says. "A lot of people are trying to make phosphorus work," he says. "There are also melamine and ATH [alumina trihydrate] materials. None of these is the answer; they all have problems one way or another. In ATH, for example, you have to put 50% loading in the plastic for it to work in some applications. This would have negative effects on the plastic's performance properties," he points out.

Nonetheless, European governments have been closely scrutinizing brominated flame retardants; in particular, those based on diphenyl oxide, says John Nicols, Albemarle's global business director of flame retardants. "Over the last year and a half, there has been a fair amount of toxicological work," he says, noting that this could be good for the industry, if, as he believes, some classes of brominated flame retardants are given a clean bill of health and a consensus on their use is reached.

Some brominated flame-retardant makers are diversifying their portfolios to play it safe. Last year, Great Lakes purchased for $162 million FMC's process additives business, which, among other products, makes phosphate ester flame retardants and flame-retardant fluids. "We are not hedging our bets," Neagle says. "Great Lakes has realized that there's some shift in the market." In another move to strengthen its flame-retardant business, the company is consolidating all of its global manufacturing of antimony trioxide to Reynosa, Mexico.

Although Europeans are keeping an eye on brominated flame retardants, they are becoming increasingly concerned with fire safety, says William Neagle, flame retardants business director of Great Lakes Chemical , a major producer of brominated flame retardants. "Debate over the use of flame retardants is surging back in favor of brominated flame retardants," he says. Moreover, flame retardants are used because regulations put them in plastics in the first place, Gastrock notes. "No one is going to ban the things because you have a danger from something called fire," he says.

Albemarle has also been developing nonbrominated flame retardants. The company formed an alliance with Borax Polymer Additives Group to develop zinc borate flame retardants and synergists. Albemarle will market the boron zinc flame retardants in Asia and will also sell any new flame retardants the collaboration develops. In addition, Albemarle has introduced its own line of phosphorus-based flame retardants, initially aimed at polycarbonate/ABS blends and other engineering polymer systems.

Neagle says European regulators are considering requiring more flame retardants in televisions and other products and that some furniture makers are voluntarily adding flame retardants to polyurethane cushioning for household use. The growing popularity of products containing flame retardants has boosted demand for flame retardants of all kinds, Albemarle's Nicols says. "The boom in electronic equipment has helped flame retardants broadly," he adds.

But Albemarle is also continuing to invest heavily in its bromine chemistry. It has established Jordan Bromine Co. with two partners in the Middle East. The partnership will establish a bromine and bromine derivatives plant, including a 50,000-metric-ton tetrabromobisphenol A plant in Saﬁ, Jordan, in mid-2002.

In addition, flame retardants have benefited from requirements in the U.K. and in California, among other states, mandating them in polyurethane cushioning for institutional furniture. Though this has increased demand for brominated ﬂame retardants, it has also led to growing use of melamine crystal ﬂame retardants.

Heat stabilizers As with flame retardants and plasticizers, there are environmental issues for heat stabilizers, and, because of these issues, different additives are favored around the world.

Neagle admits, however, that despite high growth, brominated flame retardants are losing market share. "If you can have a nonhalogenated ﬂame retardant that gives you the same performance, then customers will use

P L A S T I C S N E W S

The global heat stabilizer market is valued at about $1.8 billion, representing volumes of between 1.1 billion and 37

J U L Y 2013

FEATURES 1.2 billion lb, according to Gastrock. The growth of heat stabilizers, at 4% per year, tracks the PVC market. Almost all heat stabilizers are used in either rigid or ﬂexible PVC. The main kinds of heat stabilizers are organotins; lead; mixed metals such as barium/cadmium, barium/zinc, and calcium/zinc; and organic materials that companies are beginning to introduce.

about 60 million to 65 million lb of material, Gastrock says. With annual market demand climbing 6 to 7%, they are among the fastest growing plastics additives. This is mostly because they ride the coattails of polypropylene, perhaps the fastest growing commodity polymer. Henri Steinmetz, vice president and general manager of Great Lakes' polymer stabilizers business says, "Ultraviolet stabilizers are somewhat in fashion. In automotive uses, there is a big push to have UV-stabilized polypropylene. And then there's garden furniture, where people are looking for longer life and UV protection," noting that polypropylene ﬁber is also a big outlet for UV stabilizers.

In North America, lead is only found in wire and cable applications. Instead of lead, organotins are dominant in North America in rigid PVC applications, such as pipe. On the other hand, lead is used in all sorts of rigid applications in Europe, and some plastics converters and governments are phasing it out. Asian markets are somewhere in between North America and Europe in the predominance of lead.

"There has been growth for polypropylene in exterior applications because of the versatility of the polymer itself," Ciba's Meyer says. "From a cost perspective, polypropylene is ideal. If you enhance it by giving it stability and some other properties, this is an even more attractive polymer." Ciba is a major global producer of hindered amine light stabilizers and is expanding global capacity by about 30% in various projects, including a new unit for high-molecular-weight hindered amines in Puebla, Mexico, in 2002.

In mixed metals, Ca/Zn has a better image than Ba/Zn or Ba/Cd, but it doesn't perform as well in many applications. "Ca/Zn will probably do better in the market than the others down the road," Gastrock says, adding that global growth in Ca/Zn and organotins will be more than 4% in the long run, while growth in lead and other mixed-metal classes will remain ﬂat or decline. In North America, on the basis of volume, tin and mixed metals each accounts for about 40% of the heat stabilizer market and lead accounts for less than 20%, according to Gastrock's ﬁgures. In Europe, lead accounts for nearly 70% of the market, while mixed metals represent about 20%, and organotins, a mere 10%.

Deals and partnerships Consolidation has also played a part in the plastics additives industry. The biggest deal in recent years, perhaps, has been the merger of Witco and Crompton & Knowles to form Crompton Corp. This transaction combined Witco's business in PVC additives with polyoleﬁn additives such as antioxidants that came from Crompton's Uniroyal Chemical business.

Antioxidants Antioxidants are used in every kind of plastic, but polyoleﬁns account for about 60% of global demand. In all, antioxidants have a $1.3 billion market globally, and volumes of about 500 million lb, Gastrock says. Growth in the market is about 4%, tracking the entire polymers sector.

Strategic alliances have also been popular in plastics additives. For example, the partners at PolymerAdditives. com think of their joint venture as more of a strategic partnership than just another e-commerce initiative. The site was founded by Cytec, Albemarle, and GE Specialty Chemicals to provide antioxidants, antistatic agents, curatives, ﬂame retardants, impact modiﬁers, UV light stabilizers, and process aids to customers online.

The major types of antioxidants are the primary antioxidants--butylated hydroxytoluenes (BHT) and other hindered phenols-and the secondary antioxidants-phosphites and thioesters. Primary and secondary antioxidants are used in combination, Gastrock says. Felix Meyer, head of Ciba's global polymer additives business, says prices are stabilizing, and the company has found ways, such as value-added blends with other antioxidants and plastics additives, to hold on to market share.

However experts are of the view "In this industry, discrete chemistry does not sell." Almost all plastics additives makers agree. Moreover, they believe that with stiffening environmental and product requirements, clones being made for goods that have come off patent, and other changes in the industry, their best defense is being able to provide value-added chemistry to their clients.

Light stabilizers Light stabilizers are among the most expensive plastics additives. The global market of $530 million represents only

P L A S T I C S N E W S

(Source: Plastics News)

J U L Y 2013

FEATURES

Barrier Enhancement Using Additives Peter Maul President Nanocor, Incorporated

Introduction

Another approach consists of coating the outside surface of a package, usually a bottle, with high barrier epoxies, using spray or dip technology. Coated articles have an established niche, but they are limited by the level of adherence between the coating and plastic substrate. The rigors of ﬁlling and transporting can compromise the coating and hence shelf life. Exterior coatings can scratch off. Interior ones can crack or delaminate due to package creep after ﬁlling.

Three decades of explosive growth have made plastic a dominant form of packaging worldwide. Among plastic’s attributes are ﬂexibility, clarity, low cost, shelf appeal, and ease of transport, storage and use. But the most important feature for food and beverage packaging is delivering to the consumer products that are fresh and safe. This often involves maintaining performance over long intervals between actual production and eventual consumption.

Blend high barrier plastics into medium barrier ones. Modern compounding technology affords the engineer opportunities to blend high and medium barrier plastics. This cost-driven approach requires intimate incorporation so that small micelles of high barrier polymer are created and evenly distributed. Generally high barrier plastics have miscibilities and refractive indices quite different from their medium barrier hosts. Unfortunately, blend levels are only in the high single digits before clarity suffers, limiting this approach to shorter shelf life applications.

This time interval, commonly known as “shelf life”, is increasing as food and beverage producers seek to distribute their products on a global basis and as plastics encroach upon areas previously the bastions of metal and glass packaging. For many foods and beverages the limiting shelf life factor is the package’s resistance to gas intrusion, exempliﬁed by oxygen and water vapor. For other situations it is retention of gases, CO2 for example, and aromas. In either case the solution is providing barrier to the movement of molecules through the plastic matrix comprising the package.

Multilayer structures containing barrier layers. This approach has grown rapidly in the last decade. It consists of embedding a thin (3-10%) layer of high barrier plastic within at least two layers of structural plastics. By properly choosing the candidates, one can fully utilize intrinsic barrier and protect the barrier layer from high relative humidity. Because the barrier is embedded, it is also protected from abrasion. Miscibility problems are avoided, and clarity is good. Layer adherence can be a problem and tie adhesives may be needed. Resins must be chosen with thermal stability and process window in mind. A final issue is recyclability, because barrier layers may need to be delaminated and removed before reuse. These limitations aside, a finished article can be filled and transported with ease. Long shelf life can be attained at reasonable cost.

This paper overviews general approaches to enhancing plastic package barrier and provides details about the use of additives to accomplish the goal. Particular emphasis is given to the role of nanotechnology in barrier packaging.

General Barrier Approaches Even novice package engineers know all plastics are permeable, and significant work has been done to devise ways to improve it. The most common approaches are outlined below. Make a plastic article and coat it. Both flexible film and rigid containers are coated with ultra thin layers of materials that provide high intrinsic barrier. A variety of vapor deposition technologies are used to adhere coatings of aluminum and silicon oxides. A newer variant uses microwave plasma deposition to deliver amorphous carbon coatings onto the interior surfaces of beverage containers. P L A S T I C S N E W S

Upgrade plastics with barrier-enhancing additives. Although this concept is not new, it has only recently become feasible with the advent of advanced material technology. Two commercial approaches are in use: oxygen scavengers and nanoclays. As the additive term implies, the approach 39

J U L Y 2013

FEATURES consists of incorporating functional materials directly into a plastic matrix, then using the upgraded plastic as a component of an article. In the case of oxygen scavengers, the upgraded plastic may be the only component. In the case of nanoclays, it is usually, but not always, used as a barrier layer of a multilayer structure. Commercial oxygen scavengers are incorporated into PET or polyamides while commercial nanoclays are incorporated primarily into polyamides. Because these additives become part of the polymer matrix, concerns about adherence, scratching and delamination are virtually nil. The additives are used at levels of 2-8% and they are miscible, so clarity is good.

scavengers have a speciﬁc life after which they cease to provide meaningful barrier. However, scavengers are highly effective at removing oxygen, especially during the ﬁrst half of their life cycle. Scavengers not only remove oxygen as it ingresses into the package, but also as it egresses from the package headspace into the wall. And because dissolved oxygen in beverages tends to migrate into the package due to gradient affect, it is likewise removed. In a properly designed package and under the right conditions, scavengers can easily hold product oxygen at 1ppm for a six month shelf life. Barrier performance for active systems is highly dependant on package surface area/volume ratio. Large surface/volume limits cost effective performance. For this reason oxygen scavengers have primarily been used for bottled products.

Oxygen Scavengers The moniker, “scavenger” is not scientiﬁcally correct because these products work by consuming oxygen in a classic oxidation reaction. An oxidizable plastic is used for the reaction, which is catalyzed by a transition metal, usually cobalt1. Typically the oxidizable plastic is PET or polyamide. The reaction is triggered by humidity moving through the plastic matrix.

There are ﬁve signiﬁcant producers, offering scavenging systems in different formats. One offers the scavenger in a PET masterbatch, which can be dosed into any bottle grade PET during manufacture. Another supplies the entire PET resin containing scavenger. A third offers scavenger incorporated into a polyamide blend for use as the barrier layer in multilayer bottles. Finally, two bottle producers sell multilayer bottles containing proprietary scavengers in the polyamide inner-layer.

Oxygen scavengers are called active systems because the reaction begins immediately upon exposure to humidity and of course oxygen. They become “active” and stay active until there is insufﬁcient catalyst to sustain the oxidation reaction. At this point they are spent. Therefore oxygen

Scavenger Products & Producers: PRODUCT

REGION

PRODUCER

RESIN BASE (FORMAT)

WEBSITE

All

ColorMatrix

PET (Masterbatch)

www.colormatrix.com

Polyshield™

Europe

Invista

PET (Resin)

www.invista.com

Aegis™ OX

All

Honeywell

Polyamide Blend (Resin)

www. honeywell.com

Oxbar™

All

Constar

Polyamide MXD6 (Bottle)

www.constar.net

Bindox™

Europe

Amcor

Polyamide MXD6 (Bottle)

www.amcor.com

Amosorb™ DFC

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J U L Y 2013

FEATURES Nanoclays

by van der Waals forces. To optimize barrier and promote good clarity, the platelets must be separated in the plastic matrix through a process termed exfoliation.

Nanoclays refer to a category of clay minerals with a specialized structure, characterized by a platey morphology. The platelets have submicron dimensions, excepting their thickness, which is only about one nanometer. This dimensional disparity results in large aspect ratio, a property conducive to barrier enhancement based on the principle of tortuous path migration.2 Tortuous Path

By combining surface compatibilizing agents and process shear, commercial nanoclays can achieve 95%+

Exfoliated Platelets

Polymer Film

Nanoclays create a “passive” barrier by impeding the diffusion of gases and aromas as they attempt to permeate through a plastic matrix. In this manner they differ from oxygen scavengers. Rather than being speciﬁc to just one gas, ie oxygen, passive barriers impede all gases to one degree or another. A second distinction is that they do so over time without losing activity. Nanoclays deliver the same rate of barrier enhancement regardless of time.

PA6 Nanocomposite by TEM exfoliation and even distribution within polyamide plastics. The result is known as a plastic nanocomposite. Proper control of exfoliation is best done by polyamide producers and compounders. There are currently eight nanocomposite barrier products available. Seven are based on polyamide 6 and one is a specialized polyamide known as MXD6.

In their natural state nanoclays exists as agglomerated bundles, consisting of thousands of platelets held together Polyamide Nanocomposite Products & Producers: PRODUCT

REGION

PRODUCER

RESIN BASE

WEBSITE

Europe

Lanxess

PA6

www.lanxess.com

NycoNano™

Nycoa

PA6

www.nycoa.net

Aegis™ NC

Honeywell

PA6

www.honeywell.com

Nanoblend™

Europe

PolyOne

PA6

www.polyone.com

Nanomide™

Asia

NanoPolymer

PA6

www.nanopolymer.com

Ecobesta®

Asia

Ube Industries

PA6 copolymer

www.UBE.com

Systemer

Asia

Showa Denko

PA6

www.showadenko.com

Imperm®

All

Nanocor

MXD6

www.nanocor.com

Durethan® LDPU

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J U L Y 2013

FEATURES PA6 Nanocomposites. The nanoclay content of commercial nanocomposites varies from 2-8%. Above this range exfoliation becomes increasingly difﬁcult and its effect on polymer rheology creates processing problems during package conversion. Commercial products fall into two general categories: regular and high load. Regular products have nanoclay loading in the 2-4% range and high load 5-8%. Regular load products bring 2 times barrier improvement for oxygen and water vapor transmission. High load products are 4-5X better than neat polymer and about 2X better for CO2.

PA6 Versus Nano-PA6 Material

Young’s Modulus OTR (Mpa) (cc mil/100 in2day)

PA6

140

2.91

Nano-PA6 (5% nanoclay)

705

0.58

In this example, the desire was to cost-reduce a standup pouch containing barbeque sauce. The incumbent barrier was EVOH. By substituting a nano PA6/MXD6 combination and by taking advantage of the beefed-up Young’s Modulus, the total structure was down-gauged 20% and the number of layers was cut from seven to six without compromising barrier or shelf life. Overall cost savings were nearly 7%.

Standup Pouch Application. Standup pouches have grown ten-fold in the past decade with nearly half of their consumption in Europe. Pouches are competing successfully against metal cans because they consume only half of the energy during production and require only half of the shelf space. In general, pouch construction must be robust to provide the “stand-up” feature.

Down Gauged Structure

Many pouches consist of seven layers with a total thickness of 4 mils (100 microns). Many also contain an oxygen barrier, usually EVOH.

Current Pouch Construction

3.2 mils total 6 layer structure OTR: 0.600 cc/100in2 day

4 mils total 7 layer structure OTR: 0.583 cc/100in2 day

MXD6 Nanocomposites (Imperm®). Imperm is based on a unique polyamide called metaxylylene adipamide (tradename MXD6), which is itself a high barrier plastic. With the addition of nanoclay, it exhibits exceptional barrier. Oxygen barrier improves by a factor of 5 times and exceeds ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), particularly at high relative humidities and especially at high ambient temperatures. Water vapor transmission is cut in half. Aroma permeation is very low. CO2 barrier exceeds any and all commercially available resins.

High load nanocomposite PA6 is an obvious candidate for structure down-gauging, because it provides increased longitudinal stiffness in addition to increased barrier. Stiffness is expressed as Young’s Modulus, which increases ﬁve-fold over neat PA6, the same magnitude as its barrier increase.

P L A S T I C S N E W S

J U L Y 2013

FEATURES Imperm Application. Plastic beer bottles of volume 500 ml or less require signiﬁcant barrier protection against oxygen ingress. In addition they require considerable barrier to CO2 loss. In this respect beer packaging is perhaps the most demanding for barrier enhancement. A European producer wished to package lager beer in a 330 ml bottle and achieve ﬁve month’s shelf life. During this period total oxygen ingress was limited to 2 ppm and CO2 loss could be just 10%. Finally the producer wanted to position himself with a recyclable bottle.

OTR (cc mm/m2 day atm)

Oxygen barrier versus relative humidity Non-oriented ﬁlms @230C

The solution is a 30 gram weight bottle with a simple PET/Imperm/PET construction. Imperm is used at 5% of the total structure. No tie adhesive is required. The bottle exhibits about 3% haze. Recycling studies show 93% of the barrier layer can be removed using a standard recycling protocol. The bottle cost is about 10% premium over a can.

Imperm’s impact on CO2 retention makes it attractive for the rapidly advancing plastic beer bottle sector, as well as smaller portion carbonated soft drink (CSD) bottles. Both applications utilize PET multilayer construction, ideal for marriage to polyamide barriers. PET is a relative newcomer to beer packaging, but it has been used for decades in CSD. What is different now is that small CSD bottles must have higher barrier built into them to satisfy their high surface/ volume ratio. Small portion monolayer CSD bottles have short (8 weeks) shelf life. But the addition of 3% Imperm nearly triples it, providing ample shelf life for problem-free distribution.

Active/Passive Combination Systems European beer producers are pushing the limits of package barrier technology by requiring shelf life of six months or greater for premium beers. These beers are especially sensitive to oxygen. Add to this the requirement of no more than 10% CO2 loss and one confronts a sizable technical challenge. Add to this the economic goal of creating a bottle with a cost premium over cans of no greater than 15% and the challenge might seem insurmountable. Not so.

Bottle Shelf Life

A combination barrier system has been devised to meet these criteria by using Amosorb™ DFC oxygen scavenger to augment the O2 barrier of Imperm. Barrier synergism is

P L A S T I C S N E W S

J U L Y 2013

FEATURES depicted in the schematic above. 1% Amosorb is added to the PET layers and 5% Imperm constitutes the core layer. Most of the ingressing oxygen is scavenged by the Amosorb in the outer PET layer, while Imperm with its passive barrier â&#x20AC;&#x153;protectsâ&#x20AC;? scavenger located in the inner PET layer. This innerlayer scavenger is consequently available to take care of headspace and dissolved oxygen. Meanwhile Imperm also does its usual job in retaining CO2.

oxygen synergy is crucial to reducing the use level of Amosorb. Without this synergy bottle cost will exceed the 15% premium criteria.

Summary Material technology advances have paved the way for use of additives to enhance barrier in plastic packaging. Both oxygen scavengers and nanoclays are well into commercial use with established applications. Scavengers excel for O2 barrier, but care must be exercised to correctly estimate their effective life. Nanoclays excel for CO2 barrier, while also delivering good O2 barrier, making them ideal for carbonated beverage packaging. Combining scavengers and nanoclays creates synergistic systems that take package barrier to the next level.

References 1 US Patent # 5,021,515, issued June 4, 1991 2 L.E. Neilson, Journal of Macromolecular Science (Chem), A1 (5), 920-942, 1967. 3 US Patent # 6,232,388, issued May 1, 2001.

Courtesy of ColorMatrix Corporation As the left graph shows, the combination system holds oxygen ingress to less than 1 ppm over six months, something that could not be accomplished with Imperm alone. Likewise Imperm achieves the CO2 loss goal (right graph), something Amosorb is incapable of doing. But together the goals are met. From an economic standpoint

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UK plastics recycling levels need to grow nited Kingdom plastics recycling levels will

recycling rates is still range below 5 percent, Roger

need to grow if mandated targets are to be

Baynham of the British Plastics Federation (BPF)

met, according to speakers at the 16th International

reported. Household collections will therefore need to

Conference on Recycling of Plastics, which took place

expand dramatically, he added.

last month in Bad Neuenahr, Germany.

Baynham criticized the current PRN system, which

Approximately 2.5 million tons of plastic packaging

he said leads to waste being exported rather than

enters the UK market every year. In 2012 around 644,000

reprocessed in the UK. In 2010 736,000 tons of waste

tons (25 percent) were recycled; by 2017, 42 percent will

plastics were exported from the UK to China, he noted.

be recycled, predicted waste consultancy Wrap. In order

Barry Turner of Packaging and Films Association

to achieve this target, current efforts will need to double,

(PAFA) also slated the PRN system. Collections will

added the organization.

have to be harmonized with recycling targets, exports

Today, more than 40 percent of plastic bottles are

regulated in a better way and demand for secondary raw

recycled due to the development of collecting systems

materials stimulated, he told his audience.

in the last 10 years. For household rigids and ďŹ lms the

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J U L Y 2013

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

US natural polymer market expected to reach US$7.12 bln by 2018 S natural polymer demand in 2012 was worth US$4.95 bln and is expected to reach US$7.12 bln by 2018, at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2012 to 2018. Increasing applications in non durable goods and shipments, food and beverages, and pharmaceutical shipments are expected to drive natural polymers demand in the U.S. over the next ﬁve years.

The major application segments in this study include medical, food and beverages, oilﬁeld and others including packaging, cosmetics, toiletries etc. Medical applications dominated the U.S. natural polymers market with 25.6% share of total revenue generated in 2012.Cellulose ether was the most widely consumed natural polymer in the U.S., and accounted for around 36.5% of the total volume

consumed in 2012. Increasing demand for pharmaceutical applications is expected to trigger the demand for starch and fermentation products. Cellulose ethers are widely used in markets including medical, oilﬁelds, food and beverages, etc. Cellulose is derived from the photosynthesis process of cotton, wood pulp, and other plants. Key cellulose ethers include Methyl Cellulose (MC), Hydroxyethyl Cellulose (HEC), Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC), and Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC). The demand for starch and fermentation products is expected to reach 479.3 kilotons in 2018, growing at a CAGR of 12% from 2012 to 2018. Adhesives and sealants, packaging, toiletries, leather tanning, paint and inks, construction, and textiles are

some of the important end user industries among others. Packaging is one of the important application markets of natural polymers. Various natural polymers such as starch-blend and PLA (poly lactic acid) are used to form ﬁlm, loose-ﬁll, thermoform and other packaging products. They are also widely used to produce skin and hair care products, adhesives, textures, cement based plasters, etc.Ashland Inc., Dow Chemical, Economy Polymers & Chemicals, JM Huber, Novamont, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Plantic Technologies, Cargill Inc., FMC Corporation, Danisco, CP Kelco, Cereplast, Allergan, BASF SE, Croda International plc, AkzoNobel NV, etc. were some of the key participants in the U.S. natural polymers market.

Companies from Turkey, South Korea to ink new contracts with Iranian petrochemical companies urkish and South Korean companies are slated to sign new contracts with Iranian petrochemical companies despite the US-led western sanctions imposed against Iran.

According to agency reports, after the UN Security Council ratified a sanctions resolution against Iran on June 9, 2010, the United States and the European Union imposed further unilateral sanctions against the Islamic P L A S T I C S N E W S

Republic over its nuclear program, mostly targeting the country's energy and banking sectors.

companies in Iran’s petrochemical industry late last month. However, most of the companies are private.

Experts say that Tehran has always dismissed West's pressures and stressed that sanctions and embargos merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path of progress and will harm the economies of the supporters of sanctions. While the fact remains that the US had blacklisted eight

The petrochemical companies owned or controlled by the Iranian government that are on the Treasury Department list include Bandar Imam Petrochemical Co, Bou Ali Sina Petrochemical Co and Mobin Petrochemical Co.

J U L Y 2013

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Brazilians worried over short lived tax break ax incentives for local chemical and petrochemical industries should improve plastics producers' ability to invest this year and next, but further cost-cutting methods should be sought for machine makers, and Brazil's import tariffs on foreign raw materials should be reconsidered, industry sources said during the Feiplastic trade show.

in 2014, up 21 percent from a prior projection. Brazil needs to consider more incentives to improve its global competitiveness, and further tax cuts for industrial raw materials could be a start, Luciano Coutinho, president of Brazil's National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), said during Feiplastic, held May 20-24 in São Paulo.

The Brazilian federal government expanded tax credits in late April for purchases of petrochemical raw materials such as naphtha, ethane, propane, butane and ﬁrstgeneration products like ethylene, propylene, butene, butadiene, ortho xylene, benzene, toluene, paraxylene and isoprene. The tax savings should prompt local chemical and petrochemical companies to increase their use of spare operating capacity this year.

Low-interest lines of credit and tax cuts on raw materials like steel and plastics for Brazil's machinery sector have been proposed by the Brazilian Association of Machinery and Equipment (Abimaq). Lowering manufacturers' costs for steel alone, which represents about 30 percent of a Brazilian machine's ﬁnal cost, could help make domestic producers more competitive.Following the plastics trade show, Coutinho and BNDES announced June 3 the bank will

Braskem SA officials said the incentives will improve the industry's competitiveness by boosting utilization rates, and should strengthen its own capacity to invest, though the company didn't detail any possible new projects or contributions. Braskem should beneﬁt the most of any Brazilian resins producer this year from the tax incentives. Analysts with JP Morgan wrote in late April that the incentives would help Braskem achieve a higher operating margin this year, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization estimated at 4.45 billion Brazilian reais ($2.1 billion) for this year, up 13 percent from their previous forecast for the company, and at 4.97 billion reais P L A S T I C S N E W S

prioritize loans for new machinery and equipment purchases through the rest of this year for a variety of industries. While tax cuts on chemicals will help local producers and processors compete, industry must press the government to reconsider its import tariffs on foreign raw materials, which will continue to stress the entire domestic production chain, according to Sergio Correa, president of Belsul, a Brazilian raw materials importexport consultancy specializing in plastics. "This tax relief doesn't help enough to compensate for the tariffs on raw materials we have to import here," Correa said. "Our global competitiveness across the industry is poor at this time. Brazil's petrochemical industry is capable of competing worldwide, but this closed market vision is not good for us now, or in the future.

UK firefighters battle large blaze at plastics recycler ire caught up at an UK recycling company Jayplas earlier this monthEmergency services workers near Birmingham, England, describe a massive ﬁre at one of the United Kingdom's largest plastics recycling companies as "the West Midlands' largest ﬁre."

The J&A Young (Leicester) Ltd. depot, near Birmingham International Airport, is centered on 50,000 metric tons of plastic

recyclate. The recycling company does business as Jayplas. More than 200 firefighters were involved in extinguishing and dampening down the fire at the recycling plant. West Midlands Ambulance Service treated nine patients at the scene - three were then transferred to hospital as a precaution. Jayplas has not commented on the incident, and no cause has been officially identified.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Hong Kong recycler sees pyrolysis as hedge against China's 'green fence' hile China's "green fence" crackdown on recycled material imports has caused some painful adjustments for recyclers, one Hong Kong company is suggesting some relief could come from building a pyrolysis factory to convert plastic waste to fuel oil.

Hong Kong Telford Envirotech Group Ltd., which has three plastics recycling plants in Hong Kong and two in neighboring Guangdong province in China, is proposing to build the pyrolysis plant, which would have an initial capacity of processing 7,200 metric tons of waste plastic annually. It would start operations in 2015 in Hong Kong's Tuen Mun section, according to an application Telford filed with local government officials. The company sees it partly as a hedge against recent restrictions on waste material imports into China - including the socalled "green fence" crackdown that began in February, said Joanne Lee, project manager for Telford, in a July 11 interview with Plastics News. Those February restrictions, which are in many ways the toughest yet in China, have had an impact broadly on Hong Kong's plastics recyclers. Experts say that an estimated 10,000 metric tons of waste plastic that in the past would have been sent to China for recycling has instead been landfilled in Hong Kong. Officials with the Federation of Hong Kong Recycle told the South China Morning Post newspaper that Hong Kong plastic recycling companies are losing on average HK$200,000 (US$25,800) to P L A S T I C S N E W S

HK$300,000 (US$38,700) per month because of the new policy. Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory of 7 million people, lacks enough of its own capacity to process the materials, a trade group said. Lee said Telford believes its pyrolysis plant can make Hong Kong less dependent on mainland China and other markets for its waste plastics. Lee said even before the "green fence" restrictions, mainland Chinese government officials would once or twice a year implement new policies that would make it more difficult to bring in waste materials, even for companies like Telford that have proper licenses. She said the company would likely send lower-value materials like low density polyethylene bags or PVC to the waste-to-fuel plant, but continue to recycle higher-value materials like PET bottles. She said the material that's now being thrown away in Hong Kong is probably lower-quality plastic: "If the 10,000 tons is PET bottles, it would not be thrown into the landfill." Telford could eventually triple the capacity of the pyrolysis plant, Lee said. Initially, the operation would produce up to 4,300 metric tons of fuel oil a year. The company is proposing building the facility at an industrial park for environmentally oriented businesses in Tuen Mun, where the company already has an existing plastics recycling operation. The project is currently undergoing an environmental assessment, Lee said. 54

Beyond the new restrictions from mainland China, Hong Kong also faces home grown pressures on waste issues. The territory's environmental protection department says that its three landﬁlls will run out of space in the next six years. In Telford's initial proposal to the Hong Kong government in January, it said the plant could also help Hong Kong more broadly meet its waste reduction goals, including further developing its local recycling industry.

Paccor invests in Netherlands expansion ermany-based plastic packaging company Paccor International GmbH is increasing capacity at two sites in the Netherlands by investing 11 million euros. Paccor is owned by U.S. investment ﬁrm Sun Capital Partners. Paccor is investing in two sites in the country in Standdaarbuiten and Nijkerk by extending buildings and buying new equipment, including new thermoforming machinery and data collection technology.

Chris Hart, managing director for Paccor's Food Service Europe division, said the work will increase Paccor's capacity in the Netherlands by 50 percent and is due to be completed in September.

J U L Y 2013

BUSINESS NEWS

Punjab to create Plastics Park ith a new industrial policy in place and an aggressive government plan to create a land bank for industry, Punjab will soon have a plastics park for polypropylene-based downstream industries, especially in the SME sector, near the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery, an HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL) project in Bathinda.

According to rtge report in Business Standard Punjab has the potential to attract an investment of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore in polypropylenebased downstream industries. The state-of-the-art refinery in Punjab - a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Mittal Energy, a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal - has the capacity to produce 400,000 tpa of polypropylene. Yashvir Mahajan, managing director of Punjab Small Industries

& Export Corporation Ltd. (PSIEC), said, "We are keen to promote polypropylene-based industries in the state. We have identified locations near the refinery and very soon a decision will be taken on the park. We already have 50 acres of land in our possession in the Industrial Focal Point at Bathinda. We have also identified 100 acres at a different site, which need to be acquired. Once the location is finalised, we will start work on setting up the plastics park to attract SMEs." Mahajan added that that the new industrial policy, which is lucrative for SMEs, will act as a catalyst in attracting industry. Under the policy, new manufacturing units with a fixed capital investment (FCI) of Rs 1-10 crore will be eligible for retaining 50% of their value added tax (VAT) liability and 75% of their Central sales tax (CST) liability for seven years; for

units having a FCI of Rs 10-25 crore these beneﬁts would last for eight years. Units with a FCI of Rs 25-100 crore will be eligible for retaining 60% of their VAT liability and 75% of CST liability, subject to a ceiling of 60% of FCI, for 10 years. This applies to new industry located in Zone I (less industrialised areas). Companies in (industrialised areas)

Zone

a) with FCI of Rs 10-25 crore will be eligible for retaining 25% of their VAT liability and 50% of their CST liability for eight years, subject to a ceiling of 25% of their FCI; b) units with FCI of Rs 25-100 crore will be eligible for retaining 30% of their VAT liability and 50% of their CST liability, subject to a ceiling of 30% of their FCI, for 10 years.

Haldia Petrochemcials to start bidder scrutiny he divestment of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd is set to enter the next phase with the company giving online data access to prospective bidders to carry out due diligence from tomorrow, as per a report in the Telegraph.

The bidders will have simultaneous access to data that have been uploaded on the internet. They will also be allowed to visit the plant in turn and make an assessment before

P L A S T I C S N E W S

placing a price bid. Government officials said they were confident of wrapping up the divestment by September. Reliance Industries Ltd, oil explorer Cairn India Ltd and public sector energy firms Indian Oil, ONGC and GAIL (India) Ltd are in the fray to pick up the state government’s 39.99% stake in HPL. The successful bidder will also get Rs 281 crore worth of preference shares

of HPL with Bengal government-run ﬁnancial institutions, apart from the equity, only if HPL’s private promoter. The Chatterjee Group (TCG) declines to match the highest quote. TCG is contesting the stake sale, and Calcutta High Court is expected to take up a number of cases on July 11. The outcome of these legal battles will decide the course of the divestment

J U L Y 2013

BUSINESS NEWS

Amcor buys Chinese flexible packaging operations lobal packaging manufacturer Amcor Ltd. will buy Jiangsu Shenda Group Co. Ltd.’s flexible packaging business for 350 million yuan (US$57 million). According to the release the agreement is subject to regulatory approval and other conditions, and is expected to be fi nalized in the coming months. Melbourne-based Amcor manufactures PET beverage containers; flexible packaging for the food and healthcare markets; tobacco packaging; and corrugated boxes. It also has recycling operations.

Packaging manufacturer Jiangsu Shenda Group has more than 20 core subsidiaries and production bases in Nanjing, Jiangying, Changzhou and Chengdu. Its main products include biaxially oriented polypropylene film, PET film and coextruded film.

The group’s flexible packaging business has annual sales of about 440 million yuan (US$71 million) and two plants in eastern China’s Jiangsu province. Two-thirds of its sales are to the pharmaceutical, snacks and culinary end markets. Amcor ’s statement said the purchase price represents eight times the business’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the year that ended December. 31. Amcor managing director and CEO Ken MacKenzie said Jiangsu Shenda Group’s flexible packaging business is a strong fit with Amcor’s existing plant in Jiangsu province and enables sharing of overhead; optimization of production across the sites; and operating improvements through sharing best practices. Those opportunities are

HPCL signs JV with Rajasthan to set up petrochemical complex at Barmer he Rajasthan Government and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) have signed a joint venture agreement to set up a reﬁnery-cum-petrochemical complex in Barmer district. While the State Government will hold 26% stake HPCL will hold the balance 74% stake in this joint venture company. A joint venture company, HPCL-Rajasthan Reﬁnery Limited, will execute the ambitious project.

P L A S T I C S N E W S

According to the agreement of an oil refinery would be established on a government land at Pachpadra in Barmer district at an estimated cost of Rs.37,229 crore in the next four years. The refinery will source crude from the oil fields in western Rajasthan, and also import crude and manufacture various petroleum and petrochemical products. The refinery would have the capacity of 9 mln mtpa.

expected to deliver cost synergy beneﬁts of more than 5 percent of sales.“Continued strong growth in consumer spending makes China one of the most attractive markets globally,” MacKenzie said. “This acquisition establishes Amcor as the market leader in eastern China, a region that represents [about] 40 percent of China’s gross domestic product.” Following the acquisition, Amcor now has nine plants in the Chinese flexible packaging market, and annual sales of more than A$400 million (US$366.8 million.

India expresses interest in building refineries, petrochemical plants in Iraq ndia has evinced interest in building reﬁneries and petrochemical plants in Iraq and is keen to source liqueﬁed natural gas (LNG). According to report Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily, who is leading a delegation, expressed interest in setting up gas-based projects including fertilizer plants inIraq.

J U L Y 2013

BUSINESS NEWS

Assam Petrochemicals Limited set for expansion, to invest 1028 crores ssam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) is poised for largescale expansion in the production of methanol and acetic acid, according to a report in the Times Of India. Plans are underway to produce 500 tons of methanol and 200 tons of acetic acid per day, with a capital outlay of Rs 1,028 crore. The Namrup-based PSU, with a net worth of Rs 70 crore, signed ﬁnancial agreements with 10 banks, the Oil India Limited and other equity holders for the new project. Of the total Rs 1,028 crore outlay, equity capital to the tune of Rs 393 crore will be invested by OIL, the Assam

government and the Assam Gas Company Limited. The remaining Rs 635 crore will be debt capital from banks. The State Bank of India will be the lead bank to ﬁnance the project. Growing demand for methanol and acetic acid in the domestic market prompted the company to increase its investment. "About 60% of the domestic demand is met from imports. While the demand for methanol is growing at the rate of 6% annually, the demand for acetic acid is growing at the rate of four per cent annually. Since there is a demand

Braskem and FKuR to expand distribution agreement for green PE ioplastics specialist FKuR is an ofﬁcial distribution partner for Braskem´s Green PE in USA and Canada., with immediate effect. This latest development follows the distribution contract which was signed between the two partners for the exclusive distribution of Green PE in Europe, previously announced in November 2011.

With its extensive experience in bioplastics, FKuR will now be able to provide both technical and sales support directly to customers interested in Green PE within USA and Canada. P L A S T I C S N E W S

As a further development, with the brand name Terralene®, FKuR increases the range of applications for Green PE by offering tailor made compounds based on Braskem’s biobased polyethylene. Terralene® and Green PE have the same properties and processability as conventional polyethylene and, thus, have the ability to be a drop in replacement as they can be processed on existing production lines. In addition, Terralene® and Green PE are 100 % recyclable in existing polyethylene recycling streams 57

already, there will be no problem in marketing," said APL managing director, Ratul Bordoloi.

SK Innovation launches two subsidiaries K Innovation Co has launched two subsidiary units, SK Incheon Petrochem ( S K I P C ) a n d S K Tr a d i n g International (SKTI), in a bid to combat the rapidly changing global business environment. SK Incheon Petrochem will spend 1.6 trillion won (US$1.4 billion) on the expansion of its plants for the production of higher value-added petrochemicals, including paraxylene, to tap the Chinese petrochemical market by attracting foreign capital.

SK Trading International plans to grow into a global petrochemical trading company on the basis of its trading business affiliated with SK Energy. The launch of the two subsidiaries has increased the number of the holding company's subsidiaries to ﬁve from three, which are SK Energy Co., SK Global Chemical Co. and SK Lubricants Co

J U L Y 2013

BUSINESS NEWS

Unicor buys Canadian machine builder Adescor nicor GmbH, German manufacturer of pipe corrugating equipment, is expanding its operations to North America through the acquisition of Adescor Inc.Exeter, Ontario-based Adescor makes and distributes downstream equipment for corrugated pipe extrusion lines, including saws, cutters and bell in-line trimmers.

be available as a consultant for the company.Unicor expects the deal will help it reach customers in North America, by giving the company a base with which it can offer local service and support . “As of now, we will add the Adescor-program to the Unicor range of products and offer them worldwide. Unicor’s managing director Klaus Kaufmann said.

According to Unicor, Adescor’s key market has been North America, and the two companies have a history of working together on some projects. Unicor ’s Tony Kime will become president of Adescor. The previous president, Bill Kime, will retire but

Unicor will present the Adescor product line at its exhibition stand at the K show in Dusseldorf, Germany. GAW Group Pildner-Steinburg Holding, a family-run industrial holding company based in Graz, Austria, bought Unicor in October

Michelman acquires German manufacturer of water-based polymers ichelman has acquired German Ecronova Polymer GmbH, a manufacturer of waterbased polymers used in the production of paints and lacquers. The purchase includes all assets, technology and manufacturing facilities.

The name Ecronova Polymer will continue to be used for business operations and all current Ecronova Polymer products will remain unchanged in name and formulation.

P L A S T I C S N E W S

SOCC to make catalysts for plastics in Saudi Arabia audi Organometallic Chemicals Co. (SOCC) has started up an aluminum alkyls facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The facility will manufacture 6,000 metric tons annually of tri-ethyl aluminum (TEA), used as a co-catalyst in the plastics industry. SOCC is a 50-50 joint venture between Saudi Specialty Chemicals Co., an affiliate of Riyadh-based Saudi Basic Industries Corp., and Albemarle Netherlands BV, a subsidiary of Albemarle Corp.

TEA is a Ziegler Natta cocatalyst. The company said the ﬁrst batch of TEA was completed in mid-April. Albemarle is based in Baton Rouge.

Ecronova Polymer’s lines of waterbased polymers include styrene acrylics, pure acrylic emulsions, vinyl acetate copolymers and polyurethane dispersions.

people, as well as their innovative manufacturing processes, gives us greater technical capabilities that will be strategically utilized beyond just our paint and coatings business.

According to Mr. Steven Shifman, Michelman President and CEO, “Ecronova Polymer manufactures exceptionally high quality products that are complementary to the solutions we currently offer our paint and coatings customers. However, the addition of their product lines, their

With this key acquisition, we have enhanced our ability to develop powerful new solutions, and more importantly, new opportunities, for all customers who are using or developing water-based additives and coatings

J U L Y 2013

BUSINESS NEWS

Sasol appoints engineering and technology providers for US ethane cracker asol has announced a series of engineering and technology provider appointments as it continues to advance front-end engineering and design (FEED) of its world class ethane cracker and derivatives project. Fluor Corporation is the main FEED contractor for the ethane cracker and derivatives project.

density polyethylene (LDPE) plant, and Samsung Engineering America Inc. for the ethylene oxide (EO) and mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) units. Worley Parsons Limited has been contracted to support Sasol's own project execution team as part of an Integrated Project Management Team.

Individual engineering services agreements for the development of basic engineering packages have been concluded with Toyo Engineering Corporation for the linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd for the low

Worley Parson's systems, tools and local expertise will be used to enhance the Sasol team that is overseeing the project. Sasol announced in December 2012 that it would begin FEED work for a world scale ethane cracker and derivatives facility to be located near the town

of Westlake, Louisiana. The current project costs for the ethane cracker are estimated at between US$5-7 billion. It is currently envisioned that the final investment decision for the ethane cracker will be taken in 2014 with beneﬁcial operation to be achieved in 2017. The ethane cracker is designed to produce 1.5 mln tpa of ethylene. "The ethylene produced in the chemical facility will be used to produce a range of high value derivatives in world scale plants," said Andre de Ruyter, Senior Group Executive for Global Chemicals and North American Operations.

PetroChina, INEOS sign JVs for the refining operations etroChina Company Limited (PetroChina) and INEOS Group (INEOS) have completed the deal to form trading and refining Joint Ventures between PetroChina International (London) Company Limited, and INEOS Investments (Jersey) Limited this month.

The joint ventures include trading and reﬁning activities at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland and the Lavéra reﬁnery in France. The business employs approximately 1,000 people and has a turnover of US$15 bln. PetroChina has paid US$ 1.015 billion cash for the shares in the joint ventures. The completion

P L A S T I C S N E W S

of the joint ventures are of great importance for PetroChina’s global allocation of resources and market portfolio, as it explores the high-end European market, and begins to establish PetroChina’s European oil and gas operation centre. “The Joint Ventures with INEOS are consistent with PetroChina’s strategy to build its broader business platform in Europe as a leading international energy company,” said Si Bingjun, General Manager of PetroChina International London. The Grangemouth refinery is located on the Firth of Forth with direct access to crude oil and gas from the

North Sea. The Grangemouth reﬁnery processes around 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day and provides fuel to Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland. The Lavéra reﬁnery processes 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day. It is located on the coast of the Mediterranean crude oil trading basin, next to the port of Marseille. The refinery supplies fuel by pipelines into France, Switzerland and Southern Germany. Both sites remain integrated into INEOS' downstream petrochemical production after the completion.

J U L Y 2013

PRODUCT NEWS

Total launches Lumicene® Random for food packaging onverters can safely and successfully tackle new challenges in food packaging with Polypropylene Lumicene® Random is from Reﬁning & Chemicals Division of Total. The material has a unique combination of cleanliness, ease of processing and outstanding optics. These advanced properties are designed to address the industry’s call for superior food compatibility, sustainability beneﬁts and the highest aesthetics.

The product range offers ultralow extractables and best-in-class organoleptic properties, to give universal grade status for food packaging from fridge to microwave usage. Philippe Thiriaux, Business Manager Rigid Packaging, Total says, “Our range of products has much more to offer in terms of new properties. It expands the range of applications

for conventional PP and adds a new dimension to more traditional applications.” Converters can achieve higher productivity as a result of 150 MPa more rigidity and reduce cycle times thanks to the higher fluidity. Downgauging of between 4-8% has been proven. Furthermore, with Polypropylene Lumicene Random, moulding precision is much higher and the reproducibility between shots is much improved. All these characteristics contribute in reducing the environmental impact of the packaging. A t t h e s a m e t i m e , To t a l ’ s Polypropylene Lumicene products are known for their improved gloss and transparency bringing outstanding optics for end product appearance. “Our customers enjoy the fact that we have enlarged our product range.

BASF's 'furniture plastic' ASF has developed the chair and will showcase new grades of its Ultramid polyamide in the seatback of the MOVYis3 ofﬁce swivel chair. Four grades go by the ofﬁcial name of Ultramid SI (meaning "surface improved"), but have been nicknamed "furniture Ultramid" because they are geared to the needs of the furniture sector.

BASF has developed the chair in collaboration with the furniture manufacturer Interstuhl. Close cooperation between designers and engineers of both companies led to the selection of Ultramid B3EG4 SI for P L A S T I C S N E W S

the chair's backrest, as it provided a high quality surface and helped create a sleek part with sufﬁcient strength. BASF previously scored a big success at K 2007 with another chair. The MYTO chair was created by designer Konstantin Grcic and the Italian furniture maker Plank and originally used BASF's Ultradur High Speed material. At K 2013, BASF will be appealing to designers by showing the Ultramid SI and other materials, plus its Designfabrik service platform, coloring capabilities and Ultrasim simulation software. 60

It means more choice and with that choice comes the opportunity for them to grow “added Philippe Thiriaux, “I think it gives them conﬁdence in knowing we’re staying ahead of the game

Synventive introduces twospeed sequential valve gating ynventive Molding Solutions, the hot runner maker in Peabody, Massachettus, has launched its SynFlow two speed sequential valve gating system. The technology gives molders more control over plastic ﬂow, and solves common defect problems on large parts, such as automotive bumpers and instrument panels, such as pressure alteration marks, opposite direct gating marks, sink marks after coating and reduced adhesion of ﬁnishes.

SynFlow is a two-speed pin control system for cascade or sequential valve-gated hot runner systems. The initial opening speed of the valve pin is reduced to prevent an explosive rush of pressurized plastic. The valve pin then opens for the remainder of its stroke, at maximum speed to ﬁll the part. That two-speed process gives a smoother ﬁll, reducing hesitations and sharp changes in velocity.

J U L Y 2013

PRODUCT NEWS

Colder Products debuts smallest plastic connector hiladelphia based Couplings and connections molder Colder Products Co. introduced a plastic connector that it billed as the smallest available at the recent MD&M East medical-device trade show in Philadelphia.

across markets for applications such as printing and ink handling, the NS1 was initially conceived with applications in in vitro diagnostics and biomedical applications in mind, said Jim Brown, Colder's medical market business unit manager.

The NS1 Series quick disconnect coupling includes non-spill shutoff valves to prevent last-minute drips, ultra-low air inclusion which also minimizes possible exposure to contaminants and eliminates the need to purge air bubbles from tubing systems and is designed speciﬁcally for precise connections in tubing sizes less than 1/8 inch. While available

"As devices become smaller - and in ﬂuid paths, the ﬂow accuracy and precision increases - the need for a connector this size becomes obvious," he said. "We tried some solutions with some of our standard tubes and fairings and they worked but they weren't non-spill. And the feedback we got was that even our smallest nonspill coupling was still too big."

Excel develops EXFLARTM and EXHALSTM flame retardants alogen free ﬂame retardants (HFFR) under the trademark EXFLARTM and light stabilizers under the trademark EXHALSTM have been developed by Excel Industries. With anR&D strength of more than 30 scientists, they have a dedicated program on polymer input materials to support the growing needs of the polymer industry. k. EXFLAR stands for Flame Retardants from Excel.

The current range of products EXFLAR -N are nitrogen based intumescent ﬂame retardant materials, speciﬁcally suited for polyamide. We commercially manufacture these materials in two variants, the EXFLAR -N is suitable for compounding applications while the EXFLAR -NF is P L A S T I C S N E W S

specifically suited for the masterbatch applications. Available as white powders in 25kg packing. EXHALS is our first UV stabilizer for applications like mulch films, outdoor applications and raffia. A low molecular product, this material is available in flake form or as powders. Available in packing of 25kg and 500 kg, the product can be supplied in commercial quantities. Excel Industries Ltd., a Mumbai (India) based organization established in 1941, has recently been authorized to use the Responsible Care (RC) logo after an exhaustive audit by the Indian Chemical Council, the India designate for RC implementation.

The NS1 is designed with a combination of PEEK and ﬁlled and unﬁlled PP for an optimal combination of material strength, connection precision and affordability, Brown said.

Teknor Apex develops Clear PVC eknor Apex Co. has developed a clear, rigid PVC compound with UV resistance aimed primarily at outdoor tubing. The Pawtucket, R.I., ﬁrm claims the new resin is well-suited to emerging technologies in algae farming and biofuel production. Apex RE 9118A provides good clarity and resistance to UV rays while allowing transparency to the wavelengths that algae farming requires, according to the company. Clarity also allows technicians to monitor the status of algae farming systems.

The material has tensile, ﬂexural and impact properties comparable to those of standard, generalpurpose rigid PVC. “By virtue of its lower cost, lighter weight and greater resistance to breakage, rigid vinyl provides a superior cost-performance alternative to the glass piping used in green energy applications, as well as to high-cost engineered thermoplastics such as polycarbonate,” said Michael Renzi, business development manager for Teknor Apex’s vinyl division. The high gloss of the new compounds is useful for outdoor proﬁles..

J U L Y 2013

PRODUCT NEWS

Amsler making progress in electric blow molding market B

low molding and filling equipment supplier W. Amsler Equipment Inc. has made its ﬁrst major sale of electric blow molding machinery since it expanded its stake in the market a year and a half ago. Amsler of Richmond Hill, Ontario, is now delivering four electric stretch-blow molders to Consolidated Container Co. LLC of Atlanta. Amsler stepped up its marketing of electric stretch-blow machines for PET when a competitor, the former Mag-Plastic Machinery Inc. business in West Chester, Ohio, stopped producing electric machines in August 2011.

Heidi Amsler, sales and marketing manager, said her ﬁrm expanded its electric re-heat capabilities to handle up to six cavities. About 18 months ago Amsler appointed GMK Advisors Inc. to manage its sales in the United

States and Caribbean as it expanded into the vacuum left by Mag-Plastic's departure from the market. GMK has offices in Chicago and Hilton Head, S.C. It is owned by Tom Schneider and Bill O'Day. From 2003 to 2011 they were exclusive sales representatives for Mag-Plastics in West Chester, Ohio, and therefore are a good fit with Amsler's push in blow molding, according to Heidi Amsler. W. Amsler is a private Canadian company founded by Werner Amsler in 1994. It claims its all-electric blow molders are more efficient than models with hydraulic clamps. Its linear machines can produce 10,000 bottles per hour and its rotary equipment can churn out up to 24,000 bottles per hour, the firm claims. It also offers auxiliary equipment such as bottle inspection units, air compressors, spin trimmers,

Ampacet launches special-effects masterbatches mpacet Corp. has launched special-effects masterbatch designed to boost shelf appeal in packaging and consumer goods. Matrix materials make parts look like they are disrupted below the surface due to underlying surfacetension. The masterbatches are available in highly pearlized colors such as silver, blue, copper and black. The ﬁrm says Matrix materials are suited to blow molding and specialty injection molding. The visual tension you see in the Matrix collection emulates the appearance of (data collection and privacy invasion).

Reifenhäuser to unveil new machine at K 2013 eifenhäuser GmbH & Co. KG Maschinenfabrik, the German extrusion machinery manufacturer, is to unveil a new machine at this year's K show which it claims will herald a new concept in extruding. Ulrich Reifenhäuser, the company's managing director, told a press conference at a pre-K show event in the German city this week that the new kit will offer customers better performance and energy savings.

Lower melt temperatures would mean increased output through the new machine, Reifenhäuser said, while a new gear concept would result in lower energy being used.Other Reifenhäuser developments announced at the pre-K

P L A S T I C S N E W S

gathering included new technology that allows flattening of blown film "in a more effective and energy-efficient manner than all other systems available on the market". Reifenhäuser Kiefel Extrusion's 'Evolution Ultra Flat' system sees the flattening unit positioned upstream, between the haul-off nip assembly and turner bar system.

30 percent." Speaking about these and other developments which the familyowned ﬁrm had been working on and planned to show at the K show later this year, Bernd Reifenhäuser, the ﬁrm's chief executive, said the company had "reassessed the art of technology and had the passion and the courage to re-think" what it did.

The company said that ﬂattening via stretching was "signiﬁcantly improved since the melt is still not fully crystallized at this point". Reifenhäuser said it was also planning to invest 20 million euros in its research and development facility in Troisdorf in time for the K show, a development which will increase its R&D capacity "by about

Part of this process had seen the re-branding of the company's corporate image, a process which had taken four months to bring to the market. On trading over the past 12 months Bernd Reifenhäuser said the year had been "mixed", with the group unlikely to match the 450 million euro ﬁgure which it made in 2011/12.

J U L Y 2013

PRODUCT NEWS

ince 1994 The Underwater Pelletizing Systems of BKG Bruckmann and Kreyenborg Granuliertechnik GmbH have proved their excellence all over the world. These systems are supplied with drying, water system and control ready for use and are suited for all thermoplastic materials, also for the production of micro pellets.

Relating to throughput the scope ranges from 2-80 kg/hr (Labline 100) to systems with 35,000 kg/hr. Because of the integrated know-how, the BKG system convinces by easy handling and compact design. A hand wheel allows ﬁne-adjustment of the contact pressure of the cutter head to give optimal product processing, whatever the requirement. BKG under water pelletizer can be installed in the minimum of space and easily relocated at any time. Advantages in particular for compound & master batch production: •

Flexibility with respect to the granulated material.

•

Flexibility with respect to new materials & colours.

•

Flexibility with respect to the production of various pellet sizes, thanks to fast exchangeable perforated plates.

•

easy & fast cleaning of the system components

•

Production of micro granulates.

For Further information: Reifenhauser (India) Marketing Ltd. (T) +91 22 26862711 (F) +91 22 26862722 (E) info@reifenhauserindia.com / amit.sunderkar@reifenhauserindia.com (W) www.reifenhauserindia.com P L A S T I C S N E W S

J U L Y 2013

TECHNOLOGY

Polymer used in fluorescent tag can help identify fingerprints he latest in high-tech crimescene investigation is a "fluorescent tag" that can help identify fingerprints by creating images that are accurate to the nanoscale. The ridges on human fingertips, also called epidermal ridges or friction ridges, make the lines, whorls and swirls in these latent fingerprints. These patterns are virtually unique to each individual person.

One of the most common current methods of imaging and analyzing these ﬁngerprints is called dusting. University of Leicester scientists say that only 10% of latent fingerprint images drawn from crime scenes are complete enough to be used in court, partly because latent ﬁngerprints are often incomplete or smudged. The scientists have developed a new

method for imaging latent fingerprints that uses a film made of electroactive polymers — long, complex molecules that change shape in response to surrounding electric currents. The researchers' findings were published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal Faraday Discussions.

The polymers that comprise the ﬁlm are also electrochromic; that is, when exposed to an electrical charge, they change color. The result is an inverted image, or negative, of the ﬁngerprint that is highly detailed and visible, making it easy to photograph and analyze, according to the team.

Due to the polymers' electroactive properties, this film can be applied via an electric current, which drastically reduces the risk of damaging the fingerprint before an accurate image can be drawn, the researchers say. When the electric current is directed at a latent fingerprint, the film adheres to the gaps between the swirls of deposits that comprise latent fingerprints, and not to the deposits themselves. That's because these deposits are insular, meaning they don't conduct electricity.

This technique is accurate to the nanoscopic scale; even a few molecules of sweat and oil are enough to prevent the polymer film from being transmitted. Further, the scientists have improved on this technique by adding fluorophores, molecules that glow when exposed to a certain type of light, to the film. This will allow crime scene investigators to tweak the coloration of the fingerprint image in order to achieve the best possible contrast with the background surface.

Teijin to produce new meta aramid fibre etherlands-based Teijin Limited is setting up a new facility in Ayutthaya Province, Thailand, where it will produce a new type of meta-aramid ﬁbre, said to offer the world’s highest level of heat resistance combined with excellent dyeablility. It is investing US$45 million in the facility, with construction to begin this December and production scheduled from July 2015. The newly developed ﬁbre will strengthen the Japanese Teijin group’s global presence in the protective apparel market, where demand for highperformance materials is increasing.

When completed, the plant will nearly double the annual capacity o f Te i j i n ’s g l o b a l m e t a - a r a m i d fibre production. New production technologies developed by Teijin enable the new meta-aramid fibre P L A S T I C S N E W S

to achieve unsurpassed heat resistance and excellent dyeablity, providing customers with more diversified solutions for the design and manufacture of protective apparel. “We have supported the global market for protective apparel over decades with our high-performance materials, such as Teijinconex meta-aramid, Twaron and Technora para-aramid, Pyromex flame-resistant fiber and since recently with Endumax high-performance polyethylene,” said Masaya Endo, Teijin group executive officer and general manager of Teijin’s highperformance fibers business unit. “ The new type of meta-aramid fiber strengthens Teijin’s competitiveness in the emerging economies and Asia, where the demand for heat-proof and flame-retardant high-performance 64

materials is growing due to increasing safety regulations, and in North America and Europe, where the demand is high for advanced solutions that combine comfort and maneuverability with high protection.” The Teijin group, a world leader in ultra-high performance materials, will continue to strengthen capabilities in growing markets for protective apparel. The efforts will among others be supported by collaboration among the group’s Research Center in Osaka, Japan, Development Lab in Wuppertal, Germany, Research Center in Arnhem, the Netherlands, Technical Center Asia in Shanghai, China as well as the Iwakuni and the Matsuyama plants in Japan, the Emmen plant in the Netherlands and in the foreseeable future the new plant in Thailand. J U L Y 2013

TECHNOLOGY

Flexible sensor that detects pressure, humidity and temperature U sing gold nanoparticles on top of a PVC substrate, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have built a new type of cheap, flexible sensor that simultaneously detects pressure, humidity and temperature with surprising accuracy.

The sensor could be used to monitor cracks in bridges, create a better artificial skin to benefit amputees, or even to give robots that special "human touch." Previous designs have been able to sense pressure almost as accurately as a human ﬁnger; others are attractive because they draw very little power; but, sophisticated as they may be, they are limited in that, unlike human skin, they can only sense pressure. The sensor developed here does

much more. According to Prof. Hossam Haick, who led the research, the device "is at least 10 times more sensitive in touch than the currently existing touchbased e-skin systems" and can also precisely measure temperature (with a resolution lower than 1°C) and humidity (with a 9 percent error margin). The ﬂexible sensor draws very little power, is cheap to manufacture, and showed consistent performance even after a very large number of bending cycles. At the core of the sensor are monolayer-capped gold nanoparticles ﬁve to eight nanometers in diameter and surrounded by protective connector molecules called ligands (black in the picture above). The substrate of the structure consists of PET – the inexpensive, very common plastic used for plastic bottles.

When the circuit is bent, the geometry of the material changes and some particles move close to others, which affects the speed at which electrons can pass through the device. The sensor measures these changes and can detect a large range of pressures, from milligrams to the order of tens of grams. The researchers have also found that by changing the thickness and material of the substrate, they can control how sensitive the sensor is. This could mean the sensor may find use in more heavy-duty applications, such as monitoring strain on bridges and detecting cracks developing within an engine. A paper describing the research was published in the June issue of the journal Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Electroactive polymers help listeners 'feel' sound A

rtificial Muscle Inc., a subsidiary of Bayer MaterialScience LLC, is bringing electroactive polymer technology to phones, tablets and, most recently, headphones. EAP technology can be used to create products that offer haptic, or tactile response, feedback; users of headphones or hand-held devices equipping EAP technology are able to feel vibrations that correspond to complicated sound waves. "You put in a wave form that looks like a heartbeat and what you'll feel on your phone or tablet is a heartbeat," said Xian Quan, vice president of materials development for AMI, at Antec 2013. AMI's ViviTouch 4D Sound technology involves printing electrodes on very thin pieces of polymer film. The electrodes respond to different voltage and cause the film to vibrate.

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When you change the voltage, the vibration changes as well. It can be programmed to respond to very complicated, precise sound waves, so a bouncing ball will vibrate differently than an explosion. When used in headphones, the ViviTouch actuator stimulates the bone and tissue in your ears, amplifying how you hear and perceive sound. The headphones create an "HD sensory experience," Quan said. It's like putting "subwoofers on ears." According to Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMI, ViviTouch offers a "cross-neuron experience." Listeners experience sound as an actual physical sensation – the ﬁlm stimulates the movement of a muscle, responding to sound in real time and "emoting a physical sensation that can be felt through the skin around the ears." Developing ViviTouch

technology required finding the perfect dielectric films, electrodes, frames and adhesives. All of the elements are dependent on each other, so if you change one, the whole thing changes, she said. The film in particular had to meet high humidity and temperature requirements. Silicones offer the best option so far, but better materials that are easier to process and offer greater diametric properties, are still needed, Quan said. After years of development and scale-up, EAP technology is finally entering the marketplace, she said. In 2011, AMI marketed a case for Apple Inc.'s fourth-generation iPod Touch that used ViviTouch technology.The technology also has the potential to be used in high-efficiency electricity generators and large-area sensors, Quan said.

J U L Y 2013

TECHNOLOGY

US University develops epoxy resin alternative to BPA S-based national research university UMass Lowell researchers have developed an epoxy resin that holds promise as a safe substitute for resins that contain bisphenol A (BPA), a compound commonly found in the lining of food and beverage cans that poses potential health risks.

to oestrogen or any other human hormone,” Schmidt said, and published tests show the substance does not mimic the behaviour of common classes of male or female hormones. Schmidt is an expert in the formation, characterization, structure and properties of polymer nanocomposites and networks.

Used since the 1960s in consumer products ranging from baby bottles to eyeglass lenses, BPA mimics the hormone oestrogen in the body, giving rise to concerns that it could harm human reproduction and development. Its potential risks are now being studied by the National Institutes of Health and the Federal Food and Drug Administration.

Last year, the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at UMass Lowell (TURI) – which works to reduce the use of toxic chemicals and protect public health and the environment – named him a “University Research Champion” for his work exploring safer alternatives to hazardous substances.

Led by Daniel Schmidt, an associate professor of plastics engineering, the UMass Lowell team has identified a compound that could become an alternative to BPA in epoxy resins that are used in many adhesives and a host of other products. The substance is known as bis(epoxide) of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl1,3-cyclobutanediol (CBDO). “All things being equal, we believe it is fair to say that replacing BPA with the monomer we’ve chosen will produce an economical, highperformance epoxy resin that generates less concern,” Schmidt said. “The results have been very promising so this has been pretty exciting.” In contrast to BPA, the structure of CBDO “bears no resemblance

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Contributing to Schmidt’s work researching the BPA-free epoxy

were Robert Romano of North Reading, who earned a master’s degree in plastics engineering from UMass Lowell and Smruti Patil, a Lowell resident who is a doctoral student in UMass Lowell’s Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology program. The research phase of the project was supported by TURI and the UMass President’s Ofﬁce Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property Technology Development Fund. With support from UMass Lowell’s Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property, Schmidt is working with an epoxy toll manufacturer to produce enough of the substance to provide it to various companies for further evaluations.

Moldex3D and PME fluidtec working on fluid injection technology oldex3D injection molding simulation software, has signed a joint development agreement with PME fluidtec GmbH, the German specialist in water-assisted and gas-assisted injection molding technology.

Computer-aided engineering simulation can help PME ﬂuidtec’s customers do faster, product and

mold design, reduce development costs and optimize the process and mold design, according to Friedrich Westphal, president of PME ﬂuidtec.Modex3D is made by CoreTech Systems Co. Ltd., of Hsinchu, Taiwan.The two companies are jointly establishing a detailed plan and speciﬁcations for product development and validations.

J U L Y 2013

IN THE NEWS

US scientists identify aquatic 'plastisphere' cientists have discovered the "plastisphere" — colonies of microbes living on flecks of plastic in the world's oceans.In a study published online in Environmental Science & Technology, the research team says the plastisphere raises questions about marine microbes and also the overall ocean ecosystem. The team of scientists — Erik Zettler from Sea Education Association (SEA), Tracy Mincer from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and Linda Amaral-Zettler from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), all in Woods Hole, Mass. — analyzed marine plastic debris that was skimmed with ﬁne-scale nets from the sea surface at several locations in the North Atlantic Ocean during SEA research cruises. Most were millimeter-sized fragments.

"We're not just interested in who's there. We're interested in their function, how they're functioning in this ecosystem, how they're altering this ecosystem and what's the ultimate fate of these particles in the ocean," said Amaral-Zettler. "Are they sinking to the bottom of the ocean? Are they being ingested? If they're being ingested, what impact does that have?" Using scanning electron microscopy and gene sequencing techniques, they found at least 1,000 different types of bacterial cells on the plastic samples, including many individual species yet to be identiﬁed. They included plants, algae, and bacteria that manufacture their own food (autotrophs), animals and bacteria that feed on them (heterotrophs),

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predators that feed on these, and other organisms that establish synergistic relationships (symbionts).

different conditions, including the capacity to last much longer without degrading.

"The organisms inhabiting the plastisphere were different from those in surrounding seawater, indicating that plastic debris acts as artificial 'microbial' reefs," said Mincer. "They supply a place that selects for and supports distinct microbes to settle and succeed."

On the other hand, the scientists also found evidence that microbes may play a role in degrading plastics. They saw microscopic cracks and pits in the plastic surfaces that they suspect were made by microbes embedded in them, as well as microbes possibly capable of degrading hydrocarbons.

These communities are likely different from those that settle on naturally occurring ﬂoating material such as feathers, wood, and microalgae, because plastics offer

"When we ﬁrst saw the 'pit formers' we were very excited, especially when they showed up on multiple pieces of plastic of different types of resins," said Zettler

No BPA in infant formula packaging he U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will publish a final rule amending the food additive regulations to no longer provide for the use of bisphenol-A (BPA)-based epoxy resins as coatings in infant formula packaging because this use has been abandoned.

FDA's action is based solely on a determination of abandonment and is not related to the safety of BPA. The agency's current safety review supports the safety of BPA for use in the manufacture of food contact articles as authorized in the food additive regulations. FDA's action was the result of a food additive petition submitted by

Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts, which asserted that industry has abandoned the use of BPA in the manufacture of infant formula packaging and requested that FDA amend the existing food additive regulations to no longer provide for this use of BPA to reflect the change in industry practice. The ﬁnal rule amends 21 CFR 175.300 to no longer provide for the use of BPA-based epoxy resins as coatings in infant formula packaging. This rule is effective July 12, 2013. Interested parties may submit objections and requests for a hearing within 30 days of the rule's effective date.

J U L Y 2013

IN THE NEWS

Sixteen-Year-Old Student Turns Banana Peels Into Bioplastic s fruit, bananas are perfectly packaged – all the protection they need is provided by their ﬂexible, resilient peels. As sixteen-year-old Turkish student Elif Bilgin discovered, the starches and cellulose contained in their outer layer can also be used to create materials that insulate wires and form medical protheses. Bilgin developed a chemical process that turns the peels into a non-decaying bioplastic that she hopes will help replace the need for petroleum and combat pollution.

B i l g i n ’s e n d e a v o r s w o n h e r the top prize and $50,000 at the Scientiﬁc American Science in Action competition, as well as the honor of becoming a ﬁnalist in the Google Science Fair With figures such as Marie Curie and Thomas Edison to inspire her work, Elif Bilgin spent

two years reﬁning her techniques to transform banana peels into plastic. Noticing that mango peels had been used elsewhere in the plastics industry, she surmised that banana peels could also be a potential source for feedstock. In Thailand, she noted, 200 tons of peels are discarded daily and could be put to a better use than ﬁlling garbage heaps.Bilgin hopes to one day attend medical school and dreams of creating a greenhouse made entirely of waste. “Winning this competition will bring me one large step closer to my dream of attending Med School, since the prizes will help me fund my education as well as allowing me to have an oncein-a-lifetime experience. But more importantly, winning will show me that I am in the right path to my future, and science is my calling.” she said. Bilgin

will soon fly to the Google Mountain View Campus to take part in the third annual Google Science Fair and compete with other 15 and 16-yearolds. She joins 14 other teens and their innovations including Ann Makosinski from Canada who has invented a flashlight that operates using only the heat from the human hand. “For me, this means that my project actually has a potential to be a solution to the increasing pollution problem caused by petroleum-based plastic. It also means that I have started the process of changing the world, which makes me feel like a winner already.” With the potential to make strides into cutting petroleum pollution as well as find an avenue to decrease the impact of a substantial source of waste, Bilgin is already leaving her mark on the field she loves.

100 Fibre-reinforced polymer bridges replace current ageing structures in Europe 00 Fibre reinforced polymer bridges will replace existing structures in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The ﬁrst series of these bridges has been inaugurated in the Ijsselmonde district of Rotterdam, on the south bank of the river Nieuwe Maas.

In that district alone, a further 16 bridges will be replaced. The replacements are seen as necessary because the existing timber bridges are in poor condition. In total, the city will be replacing 100 bridges with ﬁbreP L A S T I C S N E W S

reinforced-polymer (FRP) structures, before the end of 2014.The material used for the new bridges is InfraCore, which was developed by FiberCore Europe, which is based in Rotterdam. The company says that by using FRP to create the bridges, they will have a design life of at least 60 years, in comparison with only 25 years for timber bridges. The FRP will not rot and corrode and is not susceptible to the usual environmental impacts bridges sustain. As a result, the bridges require 68

virtually no maintenance. The bridges will be installed by the main contractor, Wallaard Noordeloos. The bridge designs contain subtle references to the original polder bridges, from the time when the districts were still farmland. They will replace the rather unsophisticated timber bridges built when the city was rapidly expanding in the 1970s and 80s. Now that the districts have matured, they require a more sophisticated design.

J U L Y 2013

IN THE NEWS

ERecyclingCorps Collects More than 1.1 Million Devices RecyclingCorps (ERC), a wireless device trade-in service provider based in Irving, Texas, has announced that it completed more than 1.1 million wireless device tradeins in May 2013, setting an industry record for device collections in a single month. The company says this level of volume arises from the company’s focus on working with carriers to codevelop tailored retail programs for device trade-ins.

Throughout the month of May, ERC collected more than 37,000 mobile devices each day via incentivized in-store trade-ins, which equates to roughly one device trade-in every second that carrier retail stores were open in May, the company says. The 1.1 million devices represent more than 450,000 pounds of e-scrap diverted from landﬁlls. Says David Edmondson, CEO of ERC. “The success of our platform demonstrates that consumers

are eager to unlock the value in their perceptually obsolete devices to obtain the latest technology at lower prices. Additionally, this milestone reflects that carriers understand the value of ERC’s model to offset rising device subsidy costs and enhance customer satisfaction and are scaling our programs to improve their bottom line. ERC reports that the 1.1 million devices collected represents an increase of more than 270 percent in total device trade-ins compared with May 2012. Year over year, it is an increase of more than 300 percent increase in total device trade-ins for smartphones. “The growth in trade-in activity for smartphones reflects the consumers’ fascination with powerful connected devices,” adds Edmondson.“Our data indicates the trend of customers upgrading to their second and third smartphone as they continue to seek new features

and higher speeds.” ERC reports that its collection platform is unlike others, because it is integrated into the retail environment and is designed as a transparent, convenient and secure trade-in transaction. These retail programs include device, seasonal or geographically targeted promotions, marketing programs and in-store staff training sessions. The devices collected via ERC’s carrier and retail in-store programs are resold in developed and emerging markets, the company says. Founded in 2009, ERC partners with wireless carriers and retailers to provide instore trade-in credit. The company says it resells wireless devices in accordance with the R2/RIOS™ (Responsible Recycling Practices/ Recycling Industry Operating System) certiﬁcation standards and is a founding member of the Device Renewal Forum (DRF).

Food and flexibles to drive ‘healthy’ growth in packaging sector PP consumption usiness intelligence provider GBI Research predicts polypropylene consumption in the global packaging industry will increase from 12.8 million tons in 2011 to around 20.1m tons in 2020.

The New York-based analyst says the increase will be fuelled by rising demand for food packaging and ﬂexible packaging. In its report ‘Polypropylene Global Market to 2020’, published in June 2013, GBI Research forecasts

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global polypropylene consumption overall will rise from 42.3m tons in 2011 to 62.4m tons by 2020. Growth will be driven by developing regions of Asia-Paciﬁc and Middle East and Africa, and achieve a “healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5%”, the company says.The packaging industry will account for almost a third of the total market for PP by 2020. “The polypropylene market will 69

see demand rise as a result of economic growth, improving lifestyles and developing industrialisation,” the company claims in the report summary. “During the forecast period, polypropylene demand in North America is expected to recover from the negative market growth observed in 2010-2011, while the Eurozone crisis is expected to restrict the future growth of the European market.

J U L Y 2013

IN THE NEWS

BASF develops the first expanded TPU ermany-headquartered BASF introduces the world's ﬁrst expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (E-TPU), Infinergy. The new closed-cell particle foam has found its way into footwear application.

The new "Energy Boost" running shoe from Adidas, which the sportswear manufacturer has developed in close partnership with BASF, has utilised Infinergy’s mechanical properties, said Gerd Manz, Senior Innovation Director, Global Brands Adidas AG.“The outstanding running characteristics of the new Energy Boost running shoes are due mainly to the combination of softness and high elasticity in the midsole, “said Manz. To g u a r a n t e e m a x i m u m performance in all seasons and all climate zones, the shoes were tested across a temperature range from -20 to +40°C.According to Martin Vallo, Sales Elastollan Footwear, BASF Polyurethanes GmbH, Infinergy has a low bulk weight, with a density of about 110 kg/cubic metre, and, after processing on standard moulding machines, a moulded part weight of between 200 and 320 kg/cubic metre. That puts the new foam somewhere between expanded polystyrene (EPS) or polypropylene (EPP), which are generally lighter, and the heavier elastomeric polyurethane foams. Infinergy also absorbs little water, less than 2% by volume in 24 hours, due to its closed-cell structure.

it is also characterised by very high breaking elongation (between 100 and 150% depending on the density), tensile strength (approximately 600 kPa) and abrasion resistance, combined with good chemical resistance. Moreover, a main feature of Inﬁnergy is its excellent recovery behaviour, which is due partly to the closed-cell structure of the foam. This makes it the most elastic particle foam currently available on the market. Tests of the resilience elasticity under ISO 8307 (the ball rebound test) and under DIN 53512 (using a pre-set pendulum hammer) show that the rebound height for E-TPU can be as much as about 55%. This is therefore significantly higher than other particle foams like EPS (less than 20%) or EPP (30%). Infinergy does not lose its excellent resilience even when under a continuous load: during a high-

frequency fatigue test using dynamic loads at ﬁve cycles per second and a constant pressure of 250 kPa, the material performed about 75% better than EPE.

India to set-up refineries, petrochem plants in Iraq ndia has evinced interest in building refineries and petrochemical plants in Iraq and is keen to source liqueﬁed natural gas (LNG). Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily, who is leading a delegation, expressed interest in setting up gas-based projects including fertilizer plantsin Iraq.

Saudi Polymers to restart Jubail plant post-three week shutdown audi Arabia's National Petrochemical (Petrochem) has announced that its affiliate Saudi Polymers has completed maintenance work at polymers plant in Jubail and will restart all units early next week. The units were shut June 30 because of a technical problem. Petrochem's polymers plant at Jubail capacity

comprises 1.16 mln tpa ethylene unit, 1.1 mln tpa polyethylene unit, 430,000 m tpa propylene unit, a 400,000 tpa of polypropylene unit,200,000 tpa polystyrene unit and a 100,000 m tpa 1-hexene unit. The plant had begun commercial operations at the end of September 2012.

Like the TPU on which it is based, P L A S T I C S N E W S

J U L Y 2013

EVENTS

Events and Exhibitions

The 3rd Combodia Int’l Plastics, rubber, packaging, printing, & food processing industry show

commerce of Cambodia, Yorkers Trade & Marketing Service Co., Ltd,CHAN CHAO INT’L CO., LTD.

08 – 11 Aug 2013

Qingdao International Convention & Exhibition Center, Qingdao, China

Venue : Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center, Cambodia The 3rd Cambodia Int'l Plastics, Rubber, Packaging, Printing & Food Processing Industry Show at Cambodia International Machinery Industrial Fair (camboexpo) is scheduled during 8-11 August 2013, at Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center (Tonle Bassac Commune, Chamkarmorn District, Diamond Island City, Phnom Penh, Cambodia). It is brought to you by Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center, Chan Chao Int’l Co., Ltd and We at Comnet Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd is promoting the show in India. Cambodia chamber of commerce, Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), Ministry of

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China Plastics & Rubber Industry Exhibition 15 - 17 August 2013

Quingdo- China

machinery, equipments and raw material to bring growth in the industry. There will be a showcase of injection moulding machine and technology, extruder & extrusion lines, plastics machine, rubber/tyre machine, blow moulding machine, auxiliary equipment & component, plastics packaging, plastic and rubber materials, additive etc.

Philplas- Philippines

As the most specialized trade fair for plastic & rubber industry in China, the 15th China International Plastics & Rubber Industry Exhibition (CPRE 2013) will take place at Qingdao International Convention Center (QICC) from August 15 to 17, 2013. The organizer, Qingdao Jinnuo Exhibition Co. Limited, will bring a remarkable event to create new business deals and get new contacts in plastic & rubber industry market which would be helpful for spreading out business. At CPRE 2013, exhibitors and visitors can meet with the plastic & rubber industry’s leading specialists to gather important information of newest innovations, plastic & rubber 71

28 Aug- 31 Aug World Trade Center Metro Manila Philplas is one of the biggest plastics machinery, equipment, tools accessories, raw material, products and services exhibitions in Philippines. This event offers a great place to meet all the professionals in plastic industry. Venue: World Trade Center Metro Manila Philplas will begin on 28 August 2013 until 31 August 2013. The event is being organized by Mai Market Access & Innovations Management Philippines.

J U L Y 2013

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