Additive concentrates maker Polyfil Corp. has launched Ecocell, a technology that company officials said can reduce resin use by as much as 50 percent.
Ecocell also can lessen a material's carbon footprint by as much as 45 percent, according to officials with Rockaway, N.J.-based Polyfil. The Ecocell process infuses small particles of gas-generating additives into the polymer melt during processing.
After a chemical reaction, the particles release a small volume of gas that produces a cellular structure at a size that can't be achieved with current chemical foaming agent technology, officials said. This process will expand a polymer by as much as twice its volume, with little or no penalty to energy consumption.
The Ecocell process can be used in a number of resins including polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene; and with applications like thermoforming, sheet and structural foam molding. To date, top uses for Ecocell have been in PS and thermoforming, a company spokesperson said.
Polyfil operates out of a 60,000-square-foot plant in Rockaway.
Tel. 866-765-9345, fax 973-627-7344, [email protected].
