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New Name For Famous Type 1 PVC Sheet

New Name For Famous Type 1 PVC Sheet

Boltaron® 1050E now Simona® Type 1 PVC Sheet

There are several manufactures of Gray PVC Sheet in North America. One of the best knows name for over 60 years has been Boltaron®. They have produced a high quality PVC sheet that is well know and respected. In 2004, Boltaron® acquired the assets of Empire Plastics, an Ohio based PVC Sheet producer, adding to Boltaron® overall production capacity. This acquisition was designed to also add to their already robust product line.Name Change For Boltaron 1050E PVC Sheet to Simona PVC sheet
In early 2014, Simona® America Group (also known at Simona AG) acquired all of Boltaron® Performance Products, and Simona® also acquired Laminations, Inc. of Hazleton, PA.

Simona® America is a leading producer of a wide variety of Performance Plastics including: PVC Sheet, HDPE Sheet, Polypropylene Sheet and Kynar® PVDF Sheets. The purchase of Boltaron® Plastics boosted the width and breadth of the product lines already supplied by Simona® America. With the addition of Laminations Inc., Simona® America added an industry leader in high tech plastics that meet the FM-4910 fire ratings, including: PVC, Polypropylene and Kynar® PVDF sheet materials.

For the last 3 years, Simona® America has been actively combining the product lines that Simona produced along with Boltaron® and Laminations® production, and trimming duplicate productions. A concerted effort was made to harmonize the materials, so all materials would be from the same resins and will look and perform in a similar fashion, and as a result will optimize manufacturing efficiencies.

Just A New Name For PVC Sheets

Simona® America has now announced that the Boltaron® 1050E Type 1 PVC Sheet will now be called Simona® PVC Type 1 Sheet effective January 1, 2018.

This is just a name change and the PVC sheet will continue to be the same great product as before. There is no difference between the two materials, the name change only reflects the transition from the 2 manufacturing companies to the combined manufacturing capacity of Boltaron® and Simona®Large PVC part machined from PVC Rod Type 1 Gray PVC Sheet and Sheeting. Type 1 PVC Sheet continues to offer one of the lowest priced materials that meets the difficult UL 94 V-0 fire rating.

There will be no change to quality or lead times, and the PVC Type 1 sheet will still be available from .060” – 4.0” thickness. One key to the Simona acquisition is that Boltaron® Performance Products has been the only North American company to produce products using extrusion, calendaring and press lamination all under one roof. Boltaron® can produce the widest thickness range of standard and specialty PVC plastic sheeting in the industry, from .003” to 4.0” thickness. They also possess the capacity to produce sheets of multi-layer composites, which can provide a broad range of physical properties.

Due to the wide range of products that Boltaron® has the capacity to produce; Simona® can now add to their offerings these additional products. The Boltaron® plant has extreme proficiency in producing PVC Sheet as well as PVC Alloys and Composites. These materials generally carry very high flame resistant ratings, and some of Boltaron® materials carry the highest ratings available from UL. Some of the most common PVC materials are the Type 1 Gray PVC Sheet, Type 2 PVC Sheet, Clear PVC Sheets, and CPVC Sheet materials. Much like a standard sheet of plywood, PVC sheet materials are normally produced in 48” X 96” sheets.

Blue Metal Detectable Plastic Helps Reduce Food Recalls

Blue Metal Detectable Plastic Helps Reduce Food Recalls

Food Recalls On The Rise?

During the last year, the number and size of food recalls has been staggering. With several major food processors, specifically in the poultry market, recalling massive amounts of product due to contamination, perhaps a change in material is in order, simply changing to a Metal or X-ray detectable plastic material may end recalls for contamination. The cost to change to a metal detectable plastic or x-ray detectable plastic is extremely small in comparison to the cost of these recalls.

What is a detectable Plastic

There are numerous quality high performance plastic materials that are available in Blue, X-ray and Metal detectable versions. These materials are designed with food safety in mind. These materials can assist the food industry and the food processing supply chain in keeping our foods safe. Identifying contaminates in the processing of foods can be made significantly easier with these detectable materials. Food safety should be the priority within the food processing industry. By changing to metal detectable plastic and X-ray detectable plastics, this can become a reality.

Metal Detectable Plastic and X-Ray Detectable Plastics

Here is a recent Press Release detailing the recalls and a rather straight forward and easy solution using detectable plastic.

(Newswire.net — October 10, 2016) Anaheim, CA – Can ‘Blue’ fix food recalls?The year 2016 has seen some staggering food recalls by large food processors. Massive recalls of chicken specifically seem to have happened multiple times. The part that is the most amazing is that the root cause of many of these kinds of recalls is preventable. The specific recalls listed below are all for possible plastic contamination in the food product.

These large food processors should be aware of some simple steps that can totally eliminate these kinds of contaminates from getting into their food products.Metal Detectable Plastic and X-Ray Detectable Plastics. Blue Acetal, Blue UHMW, Blue Nylon and Blue Hydex 4101 UD Blue Plastic Rod

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

Keeping Food Processing Safe

While using FDA approved plastic materials for conveyor parts and moving components is a standard practice in most food processing plants, many processors use the cheapest available approved materials. This means that many producers are using a natural (white) HDPE, Acetal or other white approved plastic material. While it is safe to use these plastics, occasionally one of these parts gets jammed, breaks or wears to the point where parts can crack and pieces can get into the food processing line.

It Is Plain To See

The first easy step would be to use the same quality FDA approved material, but to buy the Blue metal detectable plastic version of the same approved material. This minor color change in the material makes any contaminates very easy to see with the naked eye. Since there are no food products in these bright blue colors, as long as there are employees looking at the food line, these broken pieces are easy to detect.

I Can See You

Speaking of detect, the big step up for detection of contaminates is to use a FDA approved plastic that is detectable by the X-ray or metal detection equipment already installed in these food processing lines. While these ‘metal detectable plastics’ cost more, they certainly cost less than one recent 4.5 million pound poultry recall.

The goal here is not to point the finger or call any company a ‘bad processor’, but rather to encourage these great food processors to use the ‘best practice’ types of materials to eliminate these monster food recalls.

In September 2016, Tyson Foods recalled 130,000 pounds of chicken nuggets for foreign materials in the product.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/health/tyson-chicken-nugget-plastic-recall/

“According to Tyson Foods, the plastic material ranged in size from 21mm in length and 6.5mm in diameter and may have come from a round, hard plastic rod used to connect a plastic transfer belt. The firm said the products pass through a metal detector, but the plastic is not detectable to this technology,” the USDA recall announcement said.

Have You Considered Detectable Blue?

Blue Metal Detectable Plastic Materials

Blue Metal Detectable Plastics From Ensinger

Perhaps they could consider using a metal detectable plastic that is detectable by a standard metal detector. Industrial Plastic Supply has supplied this FDA approved Metal Detectable UHMW rod since early 2010. Currently, there are several FDA approved materials that are available in Blue; UHMW, Acetal, Nylon, Polyester and now PEEK. Some of these materials are also available in a ‘triple detection’ version, where it is detectable because of the vivid Blue color, and it is also Metal detectable and X-Ray detectable. One of these new versions is the Ultra-Detectable Polyester rod made by Ensinger® Plastics called Hydex® 4101 UD Blue (FDA Grade Polyester).

In April and May of 2016, Pilgrim’s Pride had a recall totaling 5,550,904 pounds (yes 5.5 million pounds) of poultry do to possible foreign matter contamination.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-027-2016-release-exp3

What is the cost of these huge food recalls?

The cost is staggering. To recall this quantity of food takes a small army of people to identify the possibly contaminated batches of food. Then notification is spread to all the possible distribution and wholesalers. The USDA is normally notified as one more step to notify the public.

Simple method to protect the safety of our food chain using detectable plastic materials

What is the cost to change to a more metal detectable plastic?

This depends on the type of plastic, and the detection method.

Let’s assume that the currently used material is an FDA approved grade of 1″ diameter Natural Acetal rod (a popular performance plastic used in food processing). And let’s assume this material would sell for approximately $2.00 – $2.50 per linear foot.

Changing to a Bright Blue FDA approved grade of Acetal Rod would cost about $3.50 – $4.00 per foot.

Upgrading to a Metal and X-ray detectable plastic that is FDA grade and Blue Acetal plastic rod would cost in the range of $8.25 – $9.00 per foot.

A recall of 100,000 pounds of poultry is, of course, significantly more expensive than upgrading the plastic materials in the food processing plant. Consider the upgrade an inexpensive insurance policy against these kinds of monster recalls, with a simple change to metal detectable plastic materials.

Metal Detectable Plastic and X-Ray Detectable Plastics Actually Saves Money

Reference Articles:

Tyson Recalls

Oct 15, 2016 – 1,148 pounds:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-096-2016-release

Sept 27, 2016 – 130,000 pounds:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/health/tyson-chicken-nugget-plastic-recall/

Pilgrim’s Pride

May 13, 2016 – 5,550,904 pounds: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-027-2016-release-exp3

Michigan Turkey Producers

Oct 15, 2016 – 54,011 pounds:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-097-2016-release

ThomasNet

625 Food Recalls in 2018 – Over 125 million pounds discarded:

https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/how-can-food-industry-improve-food-processing-purity/

Press Release Source: Massive Food Recalls For Contamination Making You Blue

Contact us for more information on these Metal Detectable Plastic and X-Ray detectable plastic products. Blue Sheet and Rod are available in Acetal, Delrin®, Nylon, PBT – Polyester, and more. The special ‘triple detectable’ grades are currently produced in Acetal (Tecaform® UD Blue) and PBT – Polyester (Hydex® 4101 UD Blue). More materials are in final stages of development. Contact us for your special requirements.

Recycled Plastic Lumber has Extreme UV Resistance

Recycled Plastic Lumber has Extreme UV Resistance

Does Recycling of Plastic Material Really Work?

Yes, UV Resistant Recycled Plastic Lumber lasts and lasts

What happens to your ‘blue recycled trash’ materials? A common question regarding recycling is, ‘Does It Work’?

The answer is ‘YES’ it certainly works.

One of the most recycled plastic materials is HDPE. This is the material that laundry detergent bottles, milk jugs, opaque vitamin bottles and many more common household containers are made from. The HDPE is a FDA and NSF approved resin, and is the go to material for cutting boards, margarine containers, food storage containers, and many of your milky colored drinking cups.

So, what happens to these items after you put them into your recycle bin?

Your local recycling center sorts through your clean recyclables and segregates the materials by the type of plastic. HDPE has the recycle code of #2, and this can be found on the bottom of many of your plastic items. The other plastic items are sorted out based on the recycle number and type of material. This allows for better and more efficient reprocessing of these resins into new and re-purposed items.HDPE recycled into usable lumber products

The reprocessing of plastic scrap or discarded post consumer products generated a large quantity of plastic material. The HDPE recycling market is a fast growing area of the recycled plastic sector. The other common plastic that is recycled is PET, which has the code of #1, and this is the very clear water bottles and soda bottle material.

Once the discarded containers and other HDPE scraps are collected, they are sent to a recycle plant. This is where the containers are cleaned, sent to the grinder, and converted into small pieces that can be used in the manufacture of new products. This reprocessing of post consumer goods into a usable plastic lumber is the first step in the recycling process. Much later, after the very long life of the HDPE recycled lumber is over, it can be again reprocessed into another recycled HDPE product, maybe even another piece of HDPE plastic lumber. The cycle of using an already produced plastic product, and then reusing, recycling or re-purposing this material is as environmentally responsible as any consumer can be. This ‘closed loop’ recycling eliminates the use of other natural resources, and cuts the impact on our planet.

Recycled Plastic into Lumber Cycle

In a recent press release, HDPE recycled content from milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, shampoo bottles and other post consumer content are gathered. Then it is ground to usable sizes, and then reprocessed into Recycled HDPE Plastic Lumber. The only additive are the colorant and a UV stabilizer or UV resistant additive. The material is sent threw an extruded or molding process, and the result is a plastic boards that look like real wood, but will out last any wood product by 5 – 10 times, and not require the maintenance that we know is required with wood lumber. The premium recycled HDPE plastic lumber, made by Bedford Technologies, has a 50 year warranty.

That’s a long time, our UV Resistant Recycled Plastic Lumber will last.

Plastic lumber does not rot, splinter, require paint or sealants annually, nor any other regular maintenance. Perhaps a semi-regular washing down is all that would be needed to have this material continue to look like new.UV Resistant Recycled Plastic Lumber, and Why You Should Use Recycled HDPE Lumber

What are popular items that are made from this recycled HDPE plastic lumber? The limit to uses is only limited by your imagination. Some of the most common HDPE plastic lumber products are: outdoor decks, outdoor furniture, docks for lakes and marinas, trellises, walkways, playground components, parking bumpers, sign posts and many more. All of these items outperform the lumber products previous used for these applications.

Call us for more information on the available sizes and colors of recycles HDPE plastic lumber, 866-832-9315.

Worlds Largest Acetal Rod Made By Gehr Plastics

Worlds Largest Acetal Rod Made By Gehr Plastics

Gehr Plastics Announces Huge 24″ Diameter Acetal Rod

Gehr Plastics is an industry leader in large high performance plastic materials. They announced at this years IAPD Conference in San Diego, the new production of 24″ diameter (600mm) Natural Copolymer Acetal Rod.24" diameter Natural Acetal Copolymer Rod

24″ Diameter Is Worlds Largest Acetal Rod

Gehr Plastics has been an innovator in the large cross section plastics market. This new 24″ diameter (600mm) is the Worlds Largest Copolymer Acetal Rod. They also produce a Copolymer Acetal Sheet that is 8.0″ thick, also the Worlds Largest.

Being an industry leader is more than making the largest material, it is also about making the best quality material. Gehr Plastics is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 approved and certified, guaranteeing a consistently high quality product. The product line that Gehr Plastics produces is also quite large. The materials include: ABS, Acetal (POM-C and POM-H), HDPE, Kynar, Noryl, Nylon, PEEK, PEI, Polypropylene, Polysulfone, PPO, PVC (Type 1, Type 2 and CPVC), PVDF and Ultem materials. All of these materials are available in a wide range of sizes, and yes, some of the largest.

Gehr Plastics Long History

Gehr Plastics has been leading the industry in innovation since 1932, and is now in the third generation of family owned and operation. From the wide range of materials to the extremes in size range, this is cutting edge performance from a family run company. They also released a web-app for picking plastic materials, Gehr Plastic Selection Tool, and it is also available for mobile devices. This comparison tool compares not only plastics, but metals as well, for a great look at the best physical properties for an application.

While quality and size are keystones to excellence, Gehr Plastics is also interested in materials that the rest of the industry has not

Large Cast Nylon Type 6 Rod

Large Cast Nylon Type 6 Rod

considered. Over the last several years, Gehr has produced some PLA materials (made from plants) and even a Clear Nylon Rod for higher temperature sight-glass applications. These are just a few of the cutting edge areas that Gehr Plastics is leading in this industry.

Industrial Plastics is Master Distributor

Gehr Plastics materials are sold through a tight network of Master Distributors throughout the United States. Industrial Plastic Supply, Inc. of Anaheim, CA is proud to be one of the top selected suppliers of these innovative materials. Contact us for any of these high quality and wide size range materials, call us @ 866-832-9315 or send us a note here.

Best Methods To Pick The Proper Plastic Sheet Materials

Best Methods To Pick The Proper Plastic Sheet Materials

Best Tools To Assist In Your Plastic Sheet Search

Use the best available tools to narrow down the best plastic sheet material for your application.

What are the best methods to pick the proper plastic sheet material?
Use the tools that the professionals use to find the best plastic material for your application.

Where To Begin

The process of picking the proper plastic material starts with determining the ‘must have’ physical properties needed for your application. Designing a part with the minimum performance factors in mind will help to eliminate an overly
expensive part.

Critical factors to consider are:

  • Temperature requirements (short term and long term)
  • Chemical or Environmental Requirements
  • UV resistance (Will it be in direct sunlight)
  • Color or Transparency
  • Strengths (Impact and Compression)
  • Compliance Issues (Certification for FDA, NSF, Dairy, etc.)

Review The Plastic Property Comparison Guide

The first tool suggested is a chart produced by the IAPD (International Association of Plastic Distribution – http://iapd.org/) linked in picture below, and listed on this chart are the most common plastic sheet and plastic rod materials that are commonly available. In addition, the chart compares the physical properties of these common plastic materials. Click on picture to access chart.IAPD Plastic Selection Rectangle Chart
Included in this chart is a relative cost comparison, which will assist in limiting the materials to proper plastics for a application without over-designing and using an expensive ‘over kill’ material. Some common plastic sheet materials can be very expensive. Materials like PEEK (PolyEtherEtherKetone) can be in the $100 per pound range or more.

Start Search With Temperature Resistance

After looking over the IAPD (International Association of Plastic Distribution) Physical Properties Chart above, now it is time to evaluate specifics for your application. The critical factors listed above are ranked by most important to least important. If your part needs to handle a continuous temperature of 300 degrees F, this is a critical physical property. Picking a material that softens at 250 degrees is a
recipe for disaster. Pick a material that can handle the temperature first.

Will Part Have Chemical Exposure

Next, look at environmental requirements. Parts exposed to chemicals are important to research. Find the chemical make up and the concentration of the chemical to insure the material you pick can handle this solution. Many plastics have excellent chemical resistance as evidenced by evaluating the container the chemicals are stored in already. A common plastic that is chemical resistant is Polypropylene, the same material used for automotive batteries. While Polypropylene and HDPE sheets are excellent in chemical resistance, their temperature range is quite limited. Also, these two plastics can not be easily bonded or glued, and would require heat welding for assembly.

Does Your Part Live In The Sun

Most plastics do not handle long exposure to direct sunlight without an additional UV additive. The one exception is Acrylic, which is the most UV resistant plastic sheet available. Some plastics handle UV well if they have a carbon black additive, or a extra UV package added at time of production.

How Critical Is The Color

The most common colors in many plastic sheets are Natural (white to tan) and Black. While other colors are available with a special run, this may require a large minimum order. Some plastics, like HDPE are available in many colors and textures for use in marine, playground and food processing applications. In many plastic applications, a machined part is being made, and the color is the least important factor. If it is an internal part of a machine, no one really cares about the color of the part. Some clients look for materials in a specific color to help ‘brand’ their parts for easy replacement and identification.

Nylon with huge amount of stress, cooled too quickly

Nylon with huge amount of stress, cooled too quickly.

How Much Stress Will The Part See

Strength is a wide range of physical properties covering many stresses a part may be exposed to. From impact to compression, expansion to tensile strength, all of these can be critical in designing a plastic part. There are other factors in the ‘Strength’ realm, like Notched Izod and water absorption. If your part will be exposed to crushing pressure, pulling apart force or impact, these are critical things to consider prior to picking your plastic part.

PTFE is a soft and slippery plastic, but will ‘cold flow’ under high pressure, and High Pressure Laminates like G-10 FR 4 sheet can withstand some of the highest pressures. The Notched Izod tests for materials that break easily if a scored mark has been made in the surface. Acrylics break very easily if scored, but UHMW will not break at all under the same test.

What Agency Approval May Be Required

In many applications a part may require approval or testing to meet a third party certification. One such common application is for materials in food processing applications. Common requests included UL ratings, Fire Ratings, Military specifications and many more. Food contact is a popular request, covering material that is either FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) approved. These agencies insure that materials are rigorously tested and comply with their requirements for safety. Some common materials used in food processing that meet the FDA certification are Acetal Copolymer – Acetal Homopolymer, HDPE, UHMW and Nylon, plus many others.
Once these steps have been completed, several materials should present themselves as meeting your criteria and physical property requirement. Unfortunately there is no one perfect plastic that works in all applications. However, for almost every application, there is a material that will work, and work better than most other substrates.

Cool Online Tool

There is also an additional tool that can be used to help identify some of these properties quickly, the Gehr Plastic Selector online application.

If you are still in need of assistance in identifying an appropriate plastic material, contact an experienced Plasticologist at Industrial Plastic Supply, Inc. – call 866-832-9315

Also see the article, New Methods To Pick Proper Plastic Sheet Materials, for additional information on this subject.