Materials
What's Ahead for 'Green' Plastics: Look for More Supply, More Varieties, Better Properties
Major chemical companies are investing big bucks in new plants and technologies to produce plastics from annually renewable sources, not from petrochemicals.
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Prices Creeping Up
Commodity resin prices are moving upward, slowly and mainly in small steps, owing to market resistance to the much larger increases announced by resin suppliers.
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Your Business Pricing Update - January 2008
Last year saw significant increases in prices of commodity thermoplastics, driven by unprecedented energy and feedstock costs.
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Material and Process Developments Highlight SPE Automotive Awards
Custom backlighting with color-converting plastics and robotic extrusion of door seals won two categories of the 37th Innovation Awards presented in November by the SPE Automotive Div.
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Dishwasher Safe: New Clear Copolyester Is Tougher, More Heat-Resistant, and Processes Easier, Too
In consumer goods markets, there are countless applications for clear plastics such as copolyesters, acrylic, SAN, amorphous nylon, and polycarbonate.
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Foamed PLA Shows Promise In Biodegradable Meat Trays
Foamed food trays made of polylactic acid (PLA) resin, the corn-based biopolymer, have a commercial toehold in Europe and are undergoing market tests here.
Read MoreMore Moves into Biopolymers
More resin makers are joining the action in biopolymers made from renewable resources.
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New Starch-Based Bioplastics Arrive
Two new families of starch-based bioplastics are coming to the U.S. market.
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Monomers Drive Up Polyolefin Prices
Polyolefin prices were on the way up in October, as resin suppliers pointed to rising monomer costs to justify their previously announced resin hikes.
Read MorePlastiComp Expands LFT Pellet Capacity
Increasing customer demand for Complet long-fiber thermoplastic (LFT) pellets has prompted PlastiComp LLC, Winona, Minn., to plan installation of a new production line capable of 3 million to 5 million lb/yr.
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