ADDITIVES | ANTIOXIDANTS
Recycling ideas Several companies report successes in develop- ment of new solutions to the important issue of film recycling. Clariant has developed an additive solution that allows packaging film producers to increase the recycled content of their raw materials beyond current levels. The company says that while it was engaged in a project to help a global producer of plastic films optimise the antistatic properties of a manufacturing process for flexible packaging, experts from its Additives business unit noticed the high amounts of scrap generated during production. They used a polymer stabiliser from Clariant’s AddWorks range to solve the issue. AddWorks PKG 906 Circle allows reintroduction
of reground scrap at a rate of 20% and higher into virgin resins without loss in quality or process efficiency, creating considerable benefits in polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) film production, Clariant claims. According to the company, the additive is
particularly well-suited for BOPP manufacturing but also applicable to cast and blown film processes. It can be used for enhancing the recyclability of a wide range of scrap materials, from trim or slit waste to leftovers from start-ups and shutdowns to off-spec from changeovers. Consisting of free-flowing, food contact-ap-
Below: Solvay is adding capacity for HMW HALS at Willow Island, West Virginia
proved white granules without carrier resin, the product is easy to feed into existing processes and can be fully adapted to varying parameters, such as base resin and recyclate quality, film type, and amount of recyclate added. AddWorks PKG 906 Circle ensures that there is no loss of transparency or additional yellowing during film manufacturing. “It significantly reduces the formation of gels and black spots and enables maximum line speeds without increased risk of film breakage,” says Diederik Goyvaerts, Global Segment Manager Processors at Clariant. In tests, the easy-to-dose additive reduced gel
Figure 3: MFR degradation after multiple passes comparing AddWorks PKG 906 Circle against a reference additive Image: Clariant
formation in films containing 30% recyclate by 10-25%, depending on the concentration added. “It also proved clearly superior to the reference system in stabilising the typical BOPP resin grade melt flow rate while passing through multiple extrusion stages,” Goyvaerts says. “AddWorks PKG 906 Circle allows substantial improvement in the economic and ecological profile of packaging film production.”
Adding capacity Solvay, meanwhile, is building capacity with recycling and the circular economy in mind. It says the first phase of an expansion program at its new high molecular weight (HMW) hindered amine light stabiliser (HALS) production facility in Willow Island, West Virginia, US, should be completed this autumn. When complete in 2021, the expansion will double current capacity. The company says the core HMW HALS prod-
ucts currently produced at the site are the founda- tion for its Cynergy and Cyxtra polymer additive product families. It adds that the Willow Island site “will play a key role in helping Solvay, in partner- ship with customers, realise its ambition to develop and deliver products and technologies that extend the lifetime and durability of recycled polyolefin plastics.”
Solvay also says that it is working with several
partners on projects focused on the circular economy, and is seeking additional collaborations. “We aim to facilitate the upcycling of recycled feed- stock to support the application of recycled resins in high-value end markets that require a high degree of durability - such as automotive and building and construction,” says Andrea Landuzzi,
88 COMPOUNDING WORLD | September 2019
www.compoundingworld.com
PHOTO: SOLVAY
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