Washington, Pa. — Audia Elastomers has launched a range of thermoplastic elastomers tailored to "meet the sustainability needs of brand owners and consumers," the company said Jan. 13.
The AudiaFlex range is comprised of customizable grades, which are produced from post-consumer, post-industrial, bio-based and marine-based sources.
"We're directly responding to the market forces that are demanding new sustainable material options," said Frank Axelrod, vice president of sales and marketing for Audia Elastomers.
Those market forces include legislation on single-use plastics, growing consumer demand for sustainable products and the commitment from brand owners to achieve sustainability goals over the next five years, the company said.
The new range is manufactured at Audia facilities in Lafayette, Ga., and Shenzhen, China. Audia said the new elastomers match the properties of most virgin TPEs, including in terms of haptics, color, adhesion and hardness.
"They can compete in high-performance applications with conventional TPEs, TPVs, and TPU chemistries in personal care, consumer household, consumer electronics, automotive and toys," the company said.
Grades include elastomers with up to 45 percent marine-waste plastics and 70 percent total recycled material content in a wide hardness range from 20 Shore A to 95 Shore A.
Another, based on post-consumer recyclate, has 5-50 percent PCR content in hardness from 20 Shore A to 95 Shore A. These are said to offer defined supply sources — yogurt cups — with consistent color and provide FDA compliance.
Audia also is producing elastomers incorporating 5-70 percent post-industrial recyclate content and grades with 5-90 percent of bio-based content for oxo-degradable and compostable applications.