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Borealis announced today the signing of an agreement to acquire Rialti, one of Europe’s leading producers of mechanically recycled polypropylene (PP) compounds for injection molding and extrusion. The investment will add 50,000 tonnes of recycled compounding capacity, strengthening Borealis’ circular portfolio and furthering its commitment to the EverMinds platform, a corporate initiative to bring together stakeholders and influencers to unlock progress and accelerate change.  Based near Varese in northern Italy,…

Following what was perhaps the busiest week of the year at the PlasticsExchange, resin trading slowed as processors pushed for another round of spot discounts. Producers, however, were less flexible on pricing, reports the PlasticsExchange in its Market Update, stopping dealmaking in its tracks. Some good groups of polypropylene (PP) railcars were available, including copolymer PP high-flow, which had been scarce in the spot market. Though several producers said they…

Additive manufacturing is growing fast, and it’s likely to continue in an upward trajectory. That’s a key takeaway from the latest “3D Printing Trend Report” from online manufacturing platform Hubs. The company has been publishing these reports for several years, with this year’s edition based on a survey of 1,035 participants as well as media and market analyst firms. The manufacturing sector is increasing its use of additive manufacturing, with…

We know that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger — as Liam Neeson has taught us in almost every movie he’s ever made — but can weaker bonds in polymers actually make the material itself stronger? Yes, they can, claims a team of chemists from MIT and Duke University. They found that they could increase the tear resistance of a polyacrylate elastomer as much as 10-fold by using a weaker cross-linker to…