Milliken at K 2022: Circularity through plastics additives

At this year's K 2022 trade fair in Dusseldorf on October 19-26, Milliken & Company will showcase new measures to advance the circular economy through chemistry—part of the company's 2025 Sustainability Goals. Additionally, Milliken is partnering with more than 30 companies in purposeful collaborations that will be on display throughout the K Show , including its ongoing partnership with PureCycle Technologies, whose patented technology turns recycled polypropylene into virgin-like material.

“At Milliken, we work closely with our trusted partners to develop additives that build a better world,” said Cindy Boiter, President of Milliken’s Chemical Business.

“Together, we solve the challenges our customers face. We are partnering and working with many throughout the value chain to make plastics more reusable, more recyclable and more efficient,” added Wim Van De Velde, Global VP of Plastic Additives.

Here’s a glimpse at what will be on display at Booth A27 in Hall 6 at the K Show:

• Millad® NX® 8000 ECO, clarifying agent for polypropylene (PP), boosts clarity, enables faster production rates and reduces energy use. This product is certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to provide average energy savings of 10% for the production of injection molded clarified PP parts.

• DeltaMax®, performance modifiers for recycled PP. This product is unique in its ability to balance melt flow, impact strength, and stiffness to increase overall performance for recycled materials.

• DeltaMax performance modifiers for virgin polypropylene impact copolymers (ICPs) enables resin producers to balance the properties of ICP resins more effectively, while affording them the opportunity to optimize processing efficiencies. DeltaMax also helps converters reduce energy by running machines with faster cycle times or lower temperatures.

• DeltaFlow™ Viscosity Modifiers, solid concentrates designed to specifically help PP recyclers by increasing the melt flow rate of recycled polypropylene (rPP) for extrusion and injection molding processes.

• Hyperform® HPN® performance additives for PP which deliver an improved balance in properties between stiffness and impact resistance while reducing energy use. Certified by UL to enable 5% to 8% energy savings when this product is used as nucleator for production of thin-wall injection molded PP container lids and similar PP applications.

• UltraGuard™ Solutions which enable downgauging to reduce material usage and part weight while also improving barrier properties in polyethylene (PE), allowing designers to create more mono-materials products, improving recyclability.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Replace

Many of Milliken’s products are designed specifically to yield sustainability benefits. These qualities include: reduced energy consumption and lightweighting, better reuse potential, increased net use of recycled content, improved recycling and recyclability, and the replacement of less-sustainable resins.

Milliken is future-focused and proud to be part of the solutions that will enable the entire industry to  advance circularity and boost the percentage of plastics being recycled. To this end, the company is actively engaging in several industry-spanning initiatives, including the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, The Recycling Partnership, the Association of Plastic Recyclers, the HolyGrail project to improve the sorting of waste plastics via digital watermarks, and the RecyClass recycled-content certification program for packaging, to name a few.

For more information, visit Milliken at Booth A27 in Hall 6 at the K Show or k2022.milliken.com.

- For more news and updates on K 2022, click here.