Palboard Ltd. of Tel Aviv hopes to find more foreign suppliers of plastic waste at Plasto-Ispack '97.
Although the company will not have a booth at the show, it will keep an eye open for potential suppliers of raw material for its Palboard line of recycled-content plastic products.
Palboard plastic lumber uses PVC to bond unsorted scrap plastics. The material is sintered using computer-controlled equipment, creating an end product that is a mosaic of color from the chips of plastic in it.
The company now has expanded on that idea with a mineral additive to make the board stronger. Michael Berman, general manager of Palboard, would not disclose details on the additive. He said the new version is much stronger, but the additive does not affect cost very much.
Regular Palboard can withstand twice the impact force that plywood can.
``Palboard can replace plywood from the strength point of view ... but it is better than plywood in a damp situation,'' Berman said.
According to Berman, Palboard does not absorb moisture and is a better material for pallets than other plastic lumber or plywood.
One customer in Holland uses a Formica melamine-laminated Palboard.
The firm also offers a three-layer construction with Palboard sandwiched between colored PVC.
The company has not started mass production, but is negotiating with a European company to be a manufacturing partner. The company is looking for a place to build a plant in Europe.
``The negotiation with one group seems to be bearing fruit,'' Berman said in regards to a Dutch company. ``It looks like we're going to sign a contract in early September.''
Details of the potential partnership were not disclosed.
