Webinar summary: upgrading recycling
Polyvel shared expertise and experience of upgrading recycled plastics, with Madeline Daecher and Dean Dodaro. pinfa North America webinar. Polyvel, is a US-based extrusion compounder specialised in additive masterbatches and custom formulations, delivering pellets for production of textiles, films and injection moulding. Demand for recycled plastics is increasing with regulatory or customer-specified recycling content targets. Re-compounding of post-consumer plastics poses demanding challenges, including lack of consistency and material unpredictability (even well sorted streams can contain 10 -20% of unintended polymer alongside the main polymer), contaminants (organic materials, heavy metals, brominated FRs), polymer deterioration and cost compared to virgin plastics. A range of targeted specialist additives can mitigate these challenges, including stabilisers (prevent polymer chain deterioration in re-processing), chain extenders (mitigate polymer deterioration), melt flow facilitators (reduce chain length or cross-linking), a range of odour managers using different pathways, compatibilisers (for mixed polymers), optical brighteners, lubricants, processing aids, desiccants … Flame retardants can ensure fire safety of recycled compounds, but with specific challenges such as unpredictable higher flammability compared to virgin polymer packages resulting from unintended additives or fibres in the input stream. Re-compounding performance can be improved by modular extrusion equipment equipped to provide feedback on additive behaviour during processing and real-time adjustment. Additive packages are optimised by collaboration with both customers, as regards requirements and tolerances, and with recyclers, to adjust collection and sorting where possible.
“Enhancing Recycled Plastics with Additive Solutions”, free pinfa-NA webinar: Wednesday 17th June 2026. Watch online: https://www.pinfa-na.org/
