Plastic Additives

Plastics make an appearance in every aspect of our lives—from transportation to medical equipment to telecommunications. Plastics are made from essential polymers commonly mixed or blended with specialty additive materials. Plastic additives provide consumers and other application markets with a diversity of plastic products. A few common categories of additives are antimicrobials, antistatics, antioxidants, fibers, UV stabilizers, and lubricants.

While the industry suffered with the economic downturn of the 2000s, companies such as Rohm and Haas’ plastics are optimistically remarking on the strong sales of polymers for PVC applications. Other companies, such as Great Lakes Chemical and AkzoNobel, have not been as fortunate and have announced or already begun company layoffs. In an effort to keep costs of manufacturing down, the additives industry has brought a lot of its production to Asia. The move to countries like China also introduces new additives. China uses nearly four billion pounds of additives, with the vast majority represented by plasticizers or additives that improve the plasticity and fluidity of plastic polymers and other compound materials.

A major focus in the additives field is making sustainable, renewable and “green” products. For instance, Dow Global Technologies has a central mission to develop technologies in tune with environmentalist thought. For instance, its recent development of a high molecular weight brominated Polymeric Flame Retardant, which replaces HBCD, a highly toxic flame retardant. Other companies making strides are Milliken, which is the only carbon negative textile and chemical manufacturer, and EcoPack Europe, which makes biodegradable plastic additives.