Orlando, Fla. — Sustainability is "a big element" of Techmer PM's business plan, CEO Michael McHenry said at NPE2024 in Orlando.
"It's about how we can enable our customers to be sustainable," he added. "It can be hard to get recycled material, so people are looking for more recycled content while still getting the highest quality material."
In 2023, Clinton, Tenn.-based Techmer, a materials firm that makes engineered compounds and color and additive concentrates for plastics and fibers, launched HiTerra as its flagship sustainability brand. HiTerra rPET Revive is designed to repair damaged PET at the molecular level. Officials said this solution tackles yellowness in degraded recycled PET, while enhancing impact and other physical properties.
HiTerra T5 is a non-PFAS process aid that officials said effectively eliminates safety and environmental concerns associated with PFAS, while adhering to EPA guidelines to remove melt fracture in blown film.
Techmer's latest initiative is a family of natural bio-material additives. Officials said this move is "a significant step" towards waste diversion since it gives materials a second life in new applications such as compostable packaging, reducing landfill waste as a result.
They added that products made using Techmer's NIR-sortable black colorant deliver effective sorting of rigid PET, high density polyethylene and polypropylene packaging in material recovery facilities (MRFs).
On the capacity front, Techmer added a high-volume twin-screw extrusion line in Clinton in late 2023. The firm also will add a new line at its small lot center of excellence in Batavia, Ill. By the end of the year. The new line will be the ninth at that site.
Techmer is completing its recent acquisition of color and additive compounder Advanced Color Technologies LLC of Dalton, Ga. By August, Techmer will close its own site in Dalton and move operations to the ACT site.
Officials previously said the acquisition will expand Techmer's position as a leader for colorants and additives in synthetic fibers. ACT designs, formulates, and supplies specialty colorant and additive systems.
Techmer operates U.S. plants in Clinton; Rancho Dominguez, Calif.; Wichita, Kan.; Dalton, Ga.; New Castle, Del.; and Batavia, Ill. It also operates a plant in Querétaro, Mexico, and employs more than 600 worldwide.
Since 2014, Techmer has been named to the Plastics News Best Places to Work list six times, most recently in 2021. The firm is one of North America's 30 largest compounders and concentrate makers, according to PN data.
In late 2022, private equity firm Gryphon Investors of San Francisco bought a majority stake in Techmer. Techmer management and investment firm SK Capital retained minority stakes in the firm.