PolyOne Corp. has linked with Riverdale Color Co. and Clearfield Color LLC to supply a new liquid color system for plastics processors that officials said can reduce operating costs and improve workplace safety.
The two-part system is OnColor Complete Liquid Color Solutions. It combines technology from Riverdale and Clearfield with liquid colorants and refillable containers from Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne.
In a May 17 news release, officials described the system as “a unique, returnable polymer-delivery system” that can minimize inventory and capital investments. Paul Maguire — president of both Perth Amboy, N.J.-based Riverdale and Aston, Pa.-based Clearfield — described the system as “the first truly robust closed-loop system that is both practical and environmentally sound.”
PolyOne global color and additives President John Van Hulle said that the agreement with Riverdale and Clearfield “underscores PolyOne's commitment to specialized solutions that provide real economic benefit to our customers' bottom line.”
The system is sustainable and eco-friendly because the containers it uses are fully returnable and can be used again, Van Hulle said in a May 18 phone interview. Each container also ships with its own pump, which is then connected to a hose and used with a processing unit.
“There's virtually no contact with the liquid color, so you're reducing spills,” Van Hulle explained. “And when it's done, the container isn't put into the trash, so there's no dripping there either.”
The units have been tested with several customers and are now commercially available. Growth in the liquid color market was around 6-8 percent last year, Van Hulle said. That rate roughly was twice that of other plastic color products.
In North America, PolyOne makes its liquid color products in Massillon, Ohio. Its European liquid color production is in Assesse, Belgium, while Asian customers are supplied from Shanghai and Shenzhen, China.
PolyOne ranks as North America's largest compounder and one of the region's largest resin distributors. Riverdale Color and Clearfield Color are based in Perth Amboy. Maguire Products, a leading supplier of liquid color pumps and other auxiliary equipment, is a stockholder of both Riverdale and Clearfield.
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