Plastics Technology - Dedicated to improving Plastics Processing.
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As the "new" General Polymers Thermoplastic Materials, Clarkston, Mich., approaches its first birthday in mid-October, it has made significant strides in partnering with suppliers of thermoplastic resins and compounds as well as expanding its distribution, all aimed at personalized material/technical service for small to medium-sized North American custom injec- tion molders. Supplier partners include Asahi Kasei, Domo, SABIC, Mirathane, KEP, Radici Group, Pier One Polymers, Polymax, HDC Engineering Plastics, Color Master, and, most recently, Elix Polymers. The company was co-founded by Gregory Boston (right in the photo), a former executive of General Polymers-Ashland Distri- bution, EMS-Grivory, and Asahi Kasei; and Michael Kirtley (left in the photo), president of Spartan Polymers LLC, Romeo, Mich., and formerly of Channel Prime Alliance, Ostermann, and Delta Polymers. Boston says the partners recognized that a space for a new entry in national distribution had been created by the advent of "supersized distributors" through consolidation of smaller distribution firms. Said Boston, "The industry has matured and grown since the original General Polymers days, but understanding your product line and providing value to the processing industry has remained constant." Initially the company started with commercial coverage in the Midwest, but rapidly expanded into other areas of the U.S. and Canada, from Ontario west to Illinois and Kansas and south to Georgia. In mid-March, the part- ners announced their expansion into the mid-Atlantic/Northeast corridor with sales coverage and warehouse locations in Roches- ter, N.Y., and Bayonne, N.J. The range of resins and compounds being offered now includes ABS, acetal, acrylic, nylons 6 and 66, PC, PC/ABS, PE, PP, PP compounds, PPE/PPO, PPS, PS, PVC TPO, TPE/TPV, TPU, long-glass compounds, specialty compounds, and custom colors and blends. 248-762-7676 • gp-materials.com Reborn General Polymers Expands Geographical & Product Range First HDPE Detergent Bottle Made From 100% Odorless Recyclate Austria's Starlinger (U.S. office: American Starlinger-Sahm Inc., Fountain Inn, S.C.) has recently concluded trials with a recycler in Europe that resulted in what's believed to be the first HDPE detergent bottle made entirely from odorless recyclate. Feedstock for the test came from post- consumer detergent bottles that had retained a persistent odor of dishwashing or laundry detergent even after shredding and washing. The goal of the project was to produce odor-free regranulate with properties compara- ble to virgin material. Starlinger did test runs with more than 100 tons of HDPE PCR. Samples of the final product were sent to a German laboratory for analysis, consisting of an olfactory test with human participants, as well as gas chromatography. The knowledge obtained through this analysis enabled Starlinger to optimize the recycling process. The resulting material was fit to be reused in the production of laundry or dishwashing deter- gent bottles—a new take on bottle-to-bottle recycling. 864 297-1900 • starlingersahm.com P&G; Launches PP Recycling Venture Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble and PP recycler Pure- Cycle Technologies will open a plant that will restore PP to "virgin-like" quality with what the consumer-goods giant calls a "one-of-a-kind" recycling technology. P&G; developed and patented the technology and licensed it to PureCycle. "Our approach to inno- vation not only includes products and packaging, but technologies that allow us and others to have a positive impact on our environ- ment," says Kathy Fish, P&G;'s chief technology officer. "This technology, which can remove virtually all contaminants and colors from used plastic," can enable "P&G; and companies around the world to tap into sources of recycled plastics that deliver nearly identical performance and properties as virgin materials in a broad range of applications." Founded in 2015, PureCycle will open a facility at a 100,000 ft2 former Dow Chemical site in Haverhill, Ohio, in January 2018 to conduct evaluations of feedstock. This facil- ity will continue operations after the full-scale plant opens in 2020. The recycled PP products will be widely available for purchase. According to PureCycle's website (purecy- cletech.com), the proprietary process removes color, odor, and other contaminants from PP reclaim. "In the U.S. alone, the demand for virgin-quality recycled PP is immense. The Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR), Washington, D.C., has identified 1 billion lb of recycled PP demand in North American alone; 720 million lb of that is for high-quality recycled PP," says Steve Alexander, CEO of the APR (plasticsrecycling.org). 10 SEPTEMBER 2017 Plastics Technology PTonline.com T E C H N O L O G Y A N D I N D U S T R Y N E W S St ar t ing Up