Teknor Apex Co. has expanded its color masterbatch concentrates line for recycled plastics from UBQ Materials Ltd.
In a news release, officials with Teknor Apex in Pawtucket, R.I., said that the new materials include highly chromatic colors that incorporate UBQ's sustainable materials, which are made entirely from unsorted organic and unrecyclable waste.
The new materials also allow UBQ products to be compounded with a brighter spectrum of colors beyond brown, black and gray. Adding specialty colorant masterbatch or specially formulated colorants to UBQ compounds "allows customers to meet sustainability goals while still providing a visually appealing end-product," officials said.
Applications for more brightly colored UBQ materials include point of purchase displays and pallets. Officials said the materials already are in use with major beverage and industrial brands. The masterbatch concentrate can be added to a wide variety of resins and can be processed by injection molding, extrusion and other processes.
Teknor Apex has been an early adopter of UBQ, making eco-conscious thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) with 35 percent sustainable content. With UBQ, customers "are able to achieve a carbon neutral or carbon negative impact while still maintaining quality and visually engaging end products for their consumers," Teknor Apex color technical manager Jordan Wolfe said.
Teknor Apex is one of North America's 30 largest compounders and concentrate makers. The firm operates 13 plants worldwide in the U.S., Belgium, Germany, China and Singapore and has annual sales of more than $1 billion.
Tel Aviv, Israel-based UBQ entered the U.S. market in 2019 when it supplied 2,000 waste containers made of its own recycled plastic to the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority. The firm operates a production site in Israel.
The production of UBQ material uses unsorted municipal solid waste as its primary feedstock, diverting it from landfills and reducing emissions. According to the firm's website, using 1 ton of UBQ material prevents the generation of up to 15 tons of carbon dioxide.
UBQ's current customers include Mercedes-Benz, PepsiCo and Arcos Dorados, the largest franchisee of McDonald's restaurants in Latin America.