Orlando, Fla. — Farmington, Conn.-based compounder, Polymer Resources Ltd. launched a new, unfilled, impact-modified polybutylene terephthalate grade for electrical applications at NPE2024.
The flame-retardant grade, with a UL rating of F1 for all colors, is a "much-needed alternative to a very limited selection of existing materials," the company said.
"To support customers who service the electrical market, we developed a robust PBT material that is ideal for demanding outdoor environments," said Bill Galla, vice president of sales at Polymer Resources. "This new grade checks all the boxes [and gives] customers greater choice and help them stay ahead of increasingly rigorous industry requirements."
TP-FR-IM3 features weatherability, high chemical and impact resistance and flame retardance for outdoor, and indoor components like telecom enclosures, electric vehicle charging infrastructure covers, residential and commercial plugs, switches and outdoor enclosures for sprinkler controls, and industrial electrical and cable boxes.
Polymer Resources recently added a 3,500-square-foot, sound-proof grinding and shredding room at its Rochester, N.Y., location, part of a major capacity expansion project that included installing a new production line with a twin-screw extruder for faster throughput and advanced capabilities, giving the site a 40 percent increase in compounding capacity.
It also launched its new general-purpose polycarbonate resin grades in January 2024. During the second half of 2024, it will add several flame-retardant products listed by Underwriters Laboratories. All of the grades in this portfolio contain at least 50 percent post-consumer and post- industrial recycled content, supplied by external recycling producers.
The company, and the industry "needs reliable post-industrial and post-consumer content feedstocks," Scott Anderson, president and chief operating officer at Polymer Resources, told Plastics News.
"We've always had some sort of sustainable product in our portfolio … we called them utility grades," Anderson said. "They were using post-industrial feedstocks but now we're making more engineering, highly specified resins … that meet strict requirements with FR properties."
Demand for the 50-percent PCR and PIR products are driven by the electrical and non-automotive transportation market, Galla said.
"Especially in Europe, but that's now translating to the U.S. We wanted to get ahead of it."
The electric vehicle market hasn't pushed as much for the materials, due to "perceived quality," Galla said. "It's coming, especially [in] chargers and connectors … on EV parts for the battery or battery enclosures and carriers in the vehicle, not so much … [Once] there's a history of proven quality and performance then we'll start seeing [that market] push more."
The company is also investing in spectrophotometer technology equipment and in-house color experts to measure color and make accurate color matches, Anderson said.
It's beginning to use artificial intelligence to formulate color matches, "but it's still an art," he said. A computer can match a color up to "probably 98 percent. … You need to have artists in the color lab that can do that final 2 percent. That really makes the difference."
Polymer Resources is actively looking to hire color technologists, most of which will be taught the process on site, Anderson said, adding that most of its color technologists started at the company as extrusion operators or blenders.
"It's not something being taught in a college," he said. "Instead of looking for engineers, we're looking for art majors and people who have [different] skills and vision … we're opening our horizon to what could make a good color technologist."
With just over 100 employees, expects to grow by hiring another 15 employees in the next year, Anderson said.
Privately owned Polymer Resources supplies specialty engineering resin compounds, color-matching services and related materials technology solutions for the electrical, medical, consumer goods, business equipment and automotive industries.