Concentrate producer and compounder Optima Colour Inc. is expanding its current facility and adding a second at an undisclosed location.
The Cambridge, Ontario, firm recently received the first of five new twin-screw extruders and will get the others during the next four months, said Tyler Kilgannon, Optima general manager. They will be split between the current and new plants, he said in a telephone interview.
Optima's growth in injection molding and blow molding spurred the expansion. Optima makes concentrates and compounds such as glass-filled polypropylene and glass-filled nylon.
Kilgannon and two partners founded Optima three years ago. Its plant in Cambridge has five extruders and annual capacity of 44 million pounds of color and additive masterbatches and compounds.
Kilgannon said Optima has been doing a lot of work with bioresins and other green technologies. It makes oxo-biodegradable products based on Addilflex additives distributed in North America by Green Club Inc. of Toronto. Optima also makes masterbatches using sustainable resins. It also recycles difficult materials like bioresins.
Optima's main market is Canada, but it also sells into the United States, South America and China.
``We specialize in small color lots and commodity additives,'' Kilgannon said. The new extruders will handle a range of resins, including polyolefins, styrenics, acrylics, nylon and polycarbonate.