"Plastteknik is an important meeting place for the Nordic plastics industry, commented Thomas Nilsson, ELASTO Sweden managing director. "It brings together all aspects of the supply chain; from designers, to polymer developers, machinery, convertors and end users. Our aim at the exhibition is to showcase the versatility of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) and how they can be found in a multitude of objects we use every day".
ELASTO is part of HEXPOL TPE, the international TPE compounding group with production operations in UK, Sweden, Germany and China. At Plastteknik, ELASTO Sweden will show a number of TPE developments for the consumer, medical, automotive and packaging markets at their stand E06.
Of particular interest at the Malmo show will be the Dryflex Green range of TPE compounds based on raw materials from renewable resources. Speaking of the development, Klas Dannäs, Global R&D coordinator commented "HEXPOL TPE launched the Dryflex Green range to the market at the end of 2015 and it has received a lot of interest, we can see there is a growing demand for these types of materials in the polymer industry. In line with a strong culture of sustainability thinking we also see several Nordic companies making efforts to take the lead entering this market. We are looking forward to presenting the possibilities of these kinds of materials at the Plastteknik show".
The Dryflex Green range includes several series with amounts of renewable content to over 70% (ASTM D 6866) with hardnesses from 50 to 80 Shore A. They display mechanical and physical properties comparable to TPE from fossil based raw materials and offer flexibility and tensile properties with a soft-touch feel. They can be processed using traditional polymer technologies such as injection moulding and extrusion. Dryflex green TPE compounds give adhesion to biobased polymers, such as PE, for 2K and multi-component applications. Dryflex Green TPE compounds are also fully recyclable and can be easily coloured.