NEWS $5m investment at Star Plastics


US technical and toll compounder Star Plastics has commissioned a new 78mm diameter Leistritz twin screw compounding line at its plant at Ravenswood in West Virginia, its largest machine to date. The new high torque compounding line is part of a planned $5m invest- ment programme that will see the installation of a new 58mm diameter extruder in April this year, as well as infrastructure improvements and the addition of a customer service centre. According to Star, the high-torque Leistritz machine provides improved


SI ups AO capacity in China


SI Group has increased production capacity for its Ethanox 4716 and Nau- gard PS48 hindered phenolic ester antioxidants at its Jinshan, China facility. The company said the move will help address growing demand for antioxidants in the in Asia-Pacific region. While the Ethanox product is predominantly used in lubricants, Naugard PS48 is a liquid phenolic antioxidant that provides good protection across a broad range of polymer applications. The expansion follows


SI Group’s announcement in May last year that it was to invest more than $50m to develop globally competitive main antioxi- dant capacity at three of its production sites in North America. �www.siigroup.com


www.compoundingworld.com


material incorporation and dispersive mixing during production, while its optimised screw design allows higher quality and output. It will support the company’s plans to broaden its product line and become a full-service supplier of engineering-grade compounds. “Our customers asked us to expand


our current portfolio and capabilities— they want our quality, service, and delivery on even more material options, and we are going provide them with just that,” said Star Plastics CEO Donald Wiseman. In particular, the company intends to


offer a wider range of glass-filled and crystalline materials. To that end, the equipment investments support Star’s partnership agreement with Italian spe- cialty resin compounder Lati, which was established in December 2020 and will see it manufacture Lati grades at its plants in North America. Star Plastics currently operates eight


lines across its two US sites at Raven- swood and Millwood in West Virginia. The company also has additional production capacity at its licensed Star Plastics Shandong facility in China. �www.starplastics.com


Avient makes LFTs from fishing nets


Avient has launched the Complēt R range of long fibre-reinforced thermoplas- tic (LFT) compounds, which contain post-consumer recycled PA6 reclaimed from end-of-life fishing nets. “Historically, it has been a challenge to source streams of recycled resins that are compatible with the pultrusion process used to manufacture long fibre composites. But we’re committed to leading the industry by offering sustain- able options even in our performance-critical materials like long fibre composites,” said Eric Wollan, General Manager


for Long Fibre Technologies. According to the com-


pany, Complēt R PA6 LFTs provide stiffness, strength, and toughness performance on par with standard formulations using virgin resin. Formulations are available globally in a


standard black colour with glass, carbon fibre, or hybrid reinforcement combina- tions. Levels of post-con- sumer resin content vary according to specific performance and sustain- ability requirements. �www.avient.com


BASF widens RegXcellence scope


BASF has extended its existing RegXcellence regulatory support service to its plastic additives customers. Part of the company’s Valeras portfolio,


RegXcellence provides “targeted access to a range of global regulatory support”, the company said. The service includes digital solutions and a variety of simplified regula-


tory issue management tools. “With the extension of the successful


RegXcellence service to include plastic addi- tives, we now enable our customers to benefit from our extensive regulatory service and expertise,” said Dr Thomas Kloster, President of BASF Performance Chemicals. �www.performancechemicals.basf.com


March 2022 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 5


IMAGE: AVIENT/GETTY IMAGES


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