MATERIALS | ADDITIVES
Better long-term heat ageing for polypropylene compounds Source: SI Group
critical role Nexam Chemical plays in transforming the future of plastics.” The company noted that no opposition was
raised by EPO against the company’s patent for rPE, which the company said validates the strength of its technology for plastics recycling. In February, a study of Nexamite R305 in recycled HDPE from researchers at the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy was published. The additive enhances the polymer’s microstructure by introducing long-chain branching, which improves melt strength. The study found that rHDPE containing the additive demonstrated improved ductility and achieved an elongation at break of 350%. “This study reinforces the value our additive technology brings to customers looking to en- hance the performance of recycled HDPE in demanding applications,” said Svanberg. “By increasing melt strength by up to 100% in degrad- ed material, we make it possible for recycled HDPE to be processed efficiently in film blowing and extrusion blow moulding, enabling the production of high-quality fibres, containers, and components.” The additives are being used to allow increased
recyclate content in polyolefin agricultural films, construction films and pallet hoods with high recycled content, as well as in biaxially oriented PET films and in sheets for thermoforming.
New stabilisers A new, advanced Non-Dust Blend (NDB) product under development at SI Group will add to its Evercycle family of additive products for stabilisa- tion of recycled PE, PP and PET. The stabilisers protect polymer quality through multiple recycling
14 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | March/April 2025
loops. Evercycle NDB EXP-24-PS-ND-0055 is a 100% blend of various stabilisers that demonstrate synergistic performance when combined together, allowing effective stabilisation at a low dosing level. This efficacy provides a single additive solution for a range of PP compound recipes, without negative impact on final performance due to variation in feedstock quality or recycled content, said Jeroen Frederix, Market Development Manager, Circular Economy, at SI Group. There is increasing demand for rPP in automo- tive plastics, driven by the EU’s End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) directive. Automotive compounders are looking to start using rPP or increase the content of rPP to a higher level in talc or glass-fibre reinforced PP compounds, said Frederix. He suggested that to satisfy this increasing demand, PP compounders may qualify additional supply source of rPP, which can introduce more fluctuation in the quality of the feedstocks. Another challenge when increasing rPP is continuing to meet the OEM specification for long-term heat aging at elevated temperatures (eg 1,000 hrs at 150° C). “Increasing the dosing level of the traditional stabilisation packages as used in rPP compounds is insufficient, as this reaches a plateau where adding more is not bringing any additional performance benefit,” said Frederix. A higher efficiency stabiliser, however, can help meet these challenges.
At the Plastics Recycling World Expo in Cleveland,
US, in November,Cargill presented data from a study performed at an external, accredited labora- tory that simulated mechanical recycling of post- industrial recycled (PIR) material as well as incorpo- rating a wash cycle in the test to simulate PCR
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
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