Maritime waste is increasingly emerging as a significant source of waste and pollution. On land, this waste is often landfilled or burnt; in the oceans, discarded ‘ghost’ fishing gear and ropes from the maritime industry form hazardous traps for marine life of all kinds, said Sustainableplastics.
Determined to address this issue, Danish cleantech recycling company Plastix has come up with technology that enables used and abandoned fishnets, trawls and ropes that would previously have ended up in the environment to be mechanically recycled into high-grade and virgin-like raw materials.
For international compounder Hexpol TPE, this presented an intriguing new resource. "We are continually investigating new recyclate sources to support the shift away from virgin materials. Reutilising what would be waste and giving it a new life to help keep valuable materials in circulation," according to Jill Bradford, global marketing manager at Hexpol TPE.
"What drew us to working with Plastix was the controls and quality of their products and that their work is evidence-based. They have conducted Life Cycle Assessment to provide data on the carbon footprint of their products." Hexpol TPE has now launched a new family of thermoplastic elastomer materials containing recycled content from post-use maritime ropes.
As the newest member of the Dryflex Circular TPE portfolio, the Dryflex Circular MWR TPEs are available in 40 Shore A to 50 Shore D hardnesses with 10 to 60 % recycled content and come in black, blue, green and mint colours.
The Dryflex Circular TPE portfolio also offers custom-formulated materials with PCR (Post Consumer) and PIR (Post Industrial) recyclate. Dryflex Circular TPEs are recyclable in closed-loop systems.
As per MRC, Hexpol acquired 100% of VICOM 2002 S.L., a Spanish Polymer Compounder active in the interesting and growing product segment “wire and cable”. VICOM’s turnover 2020 amounted to some EUR30 mln, is profitable and employs some 30 people in its production facility in Barcelona.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreas
mrchub.com