COLOURS AND MASTERBATCH | MATERIALS
All change in the world of colours
With the merger of two leading colour masterbatch businesses plus the disruption brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the colours sector is giving the plastics industry plenty to think about in
2020.Peter Mapleston reports on developments
News from the world of colour for plastics is dominated at this time by the merger of PolyOne and Clariant’s masterbatches business into Avient. The two operations were already following parallel paths in some important areas, as we illustrate below. This is no surprise, given that calls from across end-user markets for improved sustainability and higher performance will almost inevitably lead to similar solutions. In fact, PolyOne and Clariant have not been alone in developing, for example, blacks that can be seen by automated sorting equipment in recycling operations, as well as new ways to obtain metallic effects. Clariant and PolyOne are also among colour companies that around the turn of the year pulled out their crystal balls to see (or possibly push) what trends are in the wind for 2020 and 2021 (see page 42). There was already a hint of uncertainty in the air when some forecasts came out, which
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could well have influenced how colour gurus expected to see customer choices move – but few of them were likely to have imagined the massive scale of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on the global economy, and on consumer mood. It will be interesting to see if and how those fore- casts are blown off-track by the pandemic. PolyOne completed its purchase of Clariant Masterbatches – announced last December – at the beginning of July and at the same time changed its name to Avient. The word was apparently chosen to echo words in French meaning the future, life, and perform. Robert M. Patterson, Chairman, President and CEO of Avient, says the merger brings together two global leaders to create a specialty company focused on sustainable solutions. The Clariant Masterbatch business includes 46 manufacturing operations and technology centres in 29 countries and approximately 3,500 employ-
Main image: Clariant has developed colour master- batches for use in producing new FAKRA high-speed data connectors for next- generation automobiles
July/August 2020 | INJECTION WORLD 31
IMAGE: CLARIANT
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