The Formulated Polymers Blog

Anti-slip tray mats, such as those in the image below, are used in their millions every day by airlines throughout the world. They require an adhesive that is food safe, non-allergenic and anti-slip/skid proof to prevent food trays moving when an aircraft encounters turbulence. They need a high performance, cost effective anti-slip coating that will not slip at angles up to 45°.

There are many types of commercially available adhesive. Two of the most common are those that are solvent based and those that are water based. All things being equal, how do you make a decision between the two, when both are often reported to share the same performance characteristics? Here is a brief summary of the advantages and disadvantages of both types of adhesive, followed by our recommendations.

It took 5 billion years to create the earth with it’s natural beauty , but it has taken less than 100 years of plastic film manufacture to help in reducing parts of the planet to a rubbish tip. It’s time to act now.

Copolymers of polyvinylidene chloride (pvdc) are not new and are well known for their use in demanding barrier packaging applications to minimise the permeation of moisture,oxygen and odours. The advantage of pvdc coating is it offers the flexible packaging converter a one stop cost effective process to provide a combination of all three barrier properties, for goods that are susceptible to a short shelf life if they are not provided with the correct level of protection.

A new report by Persistence Market Research states that the lamination adhesives market will grow by $2.2 billion (US) globally by 2024, with an increase of 6.4% during the years from 2016 to 2024. The report analyses the global market and present trends that boost this growth.

In 2017, the Government of India published new draft of food packaging rules. Some WTO member countries have already commented on them.

In order to reduce the devastating impact of fire on people and the environment, most household items are treated with flame retardants. They are added to most potentially flammable items, such as electronics, textiles, and plastics. However, flame retardancy describes a function, not a chemical. Different chemicals with different structures and properties act as flame retardants and are often combined for effectiveness. Some are considered safer than others, for example, Decabromodiphenyl Ether is safer than Decabromodiphenyl Oxide.

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new website, expected to come online this week. The new site has been extensively expanded and restructured to provide added content, free resources and an improved user interface. You will be able to access all our major products and services from an intuitive navigation menu on the homepage, making it even easier to find the information you need.

Here is a summary of what you can expect from the new website…

80% of deaths caused by fires in the UK occur in the home. The number of fires is declining but this is no cause for complacency. A significant number of them are preventable and are typically caused by simple accidents.

Many specialists in material sciences and fire safety engineering agree on the importance of flame retardants and their properties to stop or slow the spread of fire. The use of flame retardants is vital because many synthetic materials and products that people have in their homes and construction plants pose a huge fire risk. Therefore, it's vital to choose the right flame retardant manufacturer to ensure optimum fire safety.

Formulated polymers non-slip coatings are applied to heavy duty paper to produce pallet liners which allow the safe shipment of goods. The non-slip pallet liners reduce damage and maximise the efficiency of moving items from one place to another in many types of industry.