PolyPacific increases compounding capacity

INDUSTRY

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PolyPacific increases compounding capacity Australian compounder and masterbatcher PolyPacific is installing additional high output twin screw compounding capacity at its two locations. The company manufactures polypropylene compounds and polypropylene film masterbatch at its plants in Dandenong, Australia and Pt Klang, Malaysia. Additional twin screw compounding capacity will be commissioned at the Dandenong plant in August 2001, with the Malaysian plant following by

mid-2002. The company says that the investment will increase capacity to 65,000 tonnes per annum. Increases in demand, particularly for the automotive and appliance sectors, combined with shorter lead times are cited as the reasons for the investment in the new equipment. PolyPacific adds that it is also investing in greater bulk handling capability for both raw materials and finished goods. Among other installations, a 250 MT Demag injection

Prism joins Thermo Haake Group UK twin screw extruder manufacturer Prism has been acquired by German company Thermo Electron Corporation. It will join instrument supplier Thermo Haake, within the Thermo Electron Corporation, Polymer Technology Group. Known as Thermo Prism, the company says that the move will allow it to extend its market coverage and product range. Prism was established ten years ago to supply small bench-top twin screw extruder systems for use in a number of applications, including thermoplastics. The latest machines are equipped with PLC controls that incorporate touch screen interfaces and data logging. They are particularly useful for quality control in the manufacture of carbon black and titanium dioxide pigments. Haake has been manufacturing Rheocord torque rheometers for over 50 years. These instru-

ments are used in the polymer industry for laboratory applications, through to production and quality control. The latest Thermo Haake Polylab ® system includes twin screw processing test equipment. Indeed, the company says that for several years its range of Laboratory Scale Compounding Systems has used the Prism clamshell opening 16 mm twin screw compounders. The company says that by bringing the two concerns together will allow Thermo Haake to extend its offering to include 24 mm and 36 mm twin screw equipment, while Thermo Prism will be able to offer a Micro compounder for customers wishing to process small quantities of expensive development materials. Contact: Thermo Prism TeL. +44 1785 813648 Fax: +44 1785 814633

moulding machine has been added at the Australian site, which is available for tool trials, colour plaque masters, spiral flow measurement and other development programmes. The company adds that it has further developed its product range recently through the use of higher performance resins and modifiers, along with processing improvements. Compounds are available with a flexural modulus ranging from a low of 230 MPa to 8600 MPa for fully coupled

45% glass fibre reinforced polypropylene. PolyPacific says that it has also introduced flame retardant grades that provide good long-term weathering performance. New developments include the extended use of polypropylene compounds in wire and.cable applications, soft-feel mouldings and single polymer solutions for automotive soft finish door liners and intrument panels. Contact: PolyPacificPty Ltd Tel: +61 3 9793 6000

PET recycling grows A total of 270,000 tonnes of PET was collected in Europe for recycling in 2000, according to figures issued by PET Container Recycling Europe (Petcore). This represents an increase of 23% over the 1999 figure of 219,000 tonnes. Growth the previous year was 25%. Petcore says that there was a significant contribution to the growth in France, where the collection volume went up from 39,500 to over 60,000 tonnes. According to Petcore chairman Floyd Flexon, collection growth looks set to continue. "In the coming five years," he says, "we expect that European collection will increase by an average of 20% per annum. In addition, it is likely that we will see extra growth coming from the UK and Spain because their collection programmes are currently in their infanc~ Although the collection figures are very encouraging indeed, the PET recycling industry has not had an easy year. Coming out of a difficult two years, the industry

has gone through a massive shake-up." Petcore insists that recycling of PET makes good business sense. After use and post-consumer recover~ most recycled PET bottles are washed, flaked and either used directly or blended with virgin polymer, before being processed in a similar way to virgin polymer. The quality of recycled PET (RPET) that can be achieved is high, making it suitable for a number of applications, such as fibres for carpets and clothing, automotive applications or going back into new bottles. A feature of R-PET is that during recycling, it is possible to increase the performance of the R-PET to levels higher than those of the original virgin material. During a solid stating process, the molecular weight of R-PET can be increased to a higher value than the original one that can be used for specific applications like strapping. Contact: Petcore Tel." +31 23 542 5369

PlasticsAdditives & Compounding May 2001