PIGMENTS | COLOUR
New pigments give compound and masterbatch suppliers colourful options, and sustainability is being addressed. Laser-marking additives are extended to dark coloured surfaces. Jennifer Markarian reports
The development of pigments with purpose
Colour plays a crucial role in plastic products, from safety indicators to brand recognition. Today, the suppliers and users of pigments and colour master- batches are increasingly focused on sustainability. One aspect of plastics sustainability is designing for recyclability. Concerns have been raised about the limitations of carbon black in recycling systems that use near infrared (NIR) reflectance for sorting. However, black pigments with infrared reflectance that allow NIR sorting are available. Several new products have been introduced in the past few years, as has been discussed in Compounding World November 2023 issue. Mark Ryan, Market and Product Manager at
Shepherd Color Company, said that he sees growing interest in the company’s Arctic IR reflective pigments in food packaging because they increase sortability. There is also growth in the more tradition- al application of darker colours for building prod-
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ucts, where the pigments offer weathering stability. The company recently installed a new production line and has debottlenecked other processes. Another aspect of sustainability is product carbon footprint (PCF). Pigment industry organisa- tion Eurocolour published ranges of PCF data for broad categories (eg, inorganic, organic, and metal and effect pigments) in 2022. Individual companies are also working on lifecycle analysis (LCA) data and the development of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), as reported in Compounding World September 2023 issue. In Europe, regulations of pigments and fillers in plastics have become increasingly complex and the additives are facing more scrutiny, said Anne Thüsing, Head of Communications at Eurocolour, which is an umbrella association for manufacturers of pigments, dyes, fillers, frits, ceramic and glass colours, and ceramic glazes in Europe.
� September 2024 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 17
Main image: Tosaf has widened the application scope for its laser marking additives from the traditional white to dark surfaces
IMAGE: TOSAF
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