25 Oct 2001
PolyOne’s Italian joint venture partner SO.F.TER. develops TPE grades as synthetic leather alternatives to soft PVC
DUSSELDORF, October 25, 2001 - One recent result of ongoing materials development programs conducted by PolyOne’s Italian joint venture partner SO.F.TER. has been the introduction of a range of non-PVC compounds for synthetic leather applications.
The new compounds developed by SO.F.TER. based in Forlì, Italy, are both thermoplastic elastomers (TPE): FORPRENE 6LH TPE-V (Thermoplastic Elastomer-Vulcanised) and BERGAFLEX 83LH (Thermoplastic Elastomer SEBS-based). These compounds display excellent performance properties in respect of UV-resistance, low-fogging, heat resistance, thermoformability, grain retention and good abrasion resistance. SO.F.TER.’s breadth of formulation expertise and capacity to select from a wide range of raw materials allows for the full optimization of these properties.
Automotive manufacturers and the suppliers of automotive interior systems have in the past used PVC as the material of choice because of it’s combination of acceptable cost and outstanding properties, such as toughness, abrasion resistance, foam adhesion and paintability. Yet, there are alternatives that are fully compatible with the polyolefins widely used for rigid components.
PolyOne, which has a wealth of experience in supplying PVC compounds in the USA for slush molding, extrusion, injection moulding and calendering processes, as well as calendered sheeting, in these types of applications, is actively participating in this development of PVC alternatives. The recent USA launch of a Honda model featuring an instrument panel skin molded in TPE-O (Thermoplastic Elastomer Olefin) from PolyOne, is an example of its contribution.
The new FORPRENE 6LH and BERGAFLEX 83LH compounds deliver a number of key advantages: they can be processed using the most common technologies used in the production of calendered and T-die extrusion sheet, they are environmentally-friendly and can be recycled, and they are polyolefin compatible. Furthermore, the low density (typically 0.9g/cm3) of these compounds achieves sheets up to 30 % lighter than traditional materials.
As is common to all PolyOne’s operations, SO.F.TER.’s expertise in tailoring formulations, together with its depth of experience in TPE-S and TPE-V materials, enables customers to benefit from products customized to match the specific needs of their individual applications. This exemplifies PolyOne’s stated mission: “We help people work wonders with polymers!”.
SO.F.TER., PolyOne’s Italian joint venture partner, highlights its portfolio of products for the plastics industry and end-use applications for a broad array of market segments in the new hall 6 stand 6C40 here at the ‘K’ show, the industry’s largest international triennial exhibition staged from October 25 to November 1.
® BERGAFLEX and FORPRENE are registered trademarks of PolyOne Corporation, or of its affiliates.
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About PolyOne:
PolyOne Corporation, with revenues of approximately $3 billion, is an international polymer services company with operations in thermoplastic compounds, specialty resins, specialty polymer formulations, engineered films, color and additive systems, elastomer compounding and thermoplastic resin distribution.
Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, PolyOne has more than 9,000 employees at 80 manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and joint ventures in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Information on the Company’s products and services can be found at www.polyone.com.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This release contains statements concerning trends and other forward-looking information affecting or relating to PolyOne Corporation and its industries that are intended to qualify for the protections afforded “forward-looking statements” under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from such statements for a variety of factors including, but not limited to: (1) the risk that the former Geon and M.A. Hanna businesses will not be integrated successfully; (2) an inability to achieve or delays in achieving savings related to the consolidation and restructuring programs; (3) unanticipated delays in achieving or inability to achieve cost reduction and employee productivity goals; (4) costs related to the consolidation of Geon and M.A. Hanna; (5) the effect on foreign operations of currency fluctuations, tariffs, nationalization, exchange controls, limitations on foreign investment in local businesses, and other political, economic and regulatory risks; (6) unanticipated changes in world, regional or U.S. PVC or other plastics consumption growth rates affecting the Corporation’s markets; (7) unanticipated changes in global industry capacity or in the rate at which anticipated changes in industry capacity come online in the PVC, VCM, chlor-alkali or other industries in which the Company participates; (8) fluctuations in raw material prices and supply, and in particular fluctuations outside the normal range of industry cycles; (9) unanticipated production outages or material costs associated with scheduled or unscheduled maintenance programs; (10) unanticipated delay in realizing, or inability to realize, expected cost savings from acquisitions; (11) unanticipated costs or difficulties and delays related to the operation of the joint venture entities; (12) lack of day-to-day operating control, including procurement of raw material feedstocks, of the OxyVinyls partnership; (13) lack of direct control over the reliability of delivery and quality of the primary raw materials utilized in the Company’s products; (14) partial control over investment decisions and dividend distribution policy of the OxyVinyls partnership.
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