Albis focuses on materials for recycling, health care, lighting

Photo by Albis Plastic GmbH Mills

Friedrichshafen, Germany — Albis Plastic GmbH took aim at recycling, health care and lighting markets at Fakuma 2018.

The Hamburg-based compounder and resin distributor showed resins, compounds and masterbatch concentrates for those end markets at the event in October, officials said in a news release.

"This comprehensive selection of products will help us make good on our promise to deliver the perfect solutions every time for our customers' specific needs," Chief Sales Officer Ian Mills said in the release.

For its own materials, Albis has expanded its Alcom Med product portfolio to include tailor-made compounds for health care applications such as pharmaceutical packaging and diagnostic applications. These products are based on a variety of different polymers and include coloring as well as a variety of fillers.

Alcom LDDC is the newest addition to Albis' Alcom Lighting product line. The material was created in response to the latest developments in vehicle interior design. The product can be used to create high-gloss lacquer surfaces that can be back-lit in any color, officials said, resulting in high-quality symbols and displays on seamless functional surfaces in any color with no discoloration.

Albis also is expanding its Altech Eco product portfolio to include a recyclate-based PET/PBT blend compound. This compound can be modified with fillers and additives, officials said. It represents a sustainable, cost-effective alternative to prime PBT and nylon 6 compounds without sacrificing mechanical properties or exceptional surface quality.

A new Easyflow series of Alfater XL also is available. It's a deep-black material with excellent flowability for thin-walled components, tools with long flow paths or complex geometries, officials said. The series offers excellent weather resistance and adheres well to filled, reinforced and unreinforced polyolefins like polypropylene.

On the resin distribution side, Albis has expanded its lighting portfolio to include Makrolon polycarbonate materials from Covestro. The portfolio includes specially developed materials with light diffusion effects, high reflection coefficients and increased thermal conductivity.

Albis also offers Ultramid deep gloss nylon resins from BASF for automobile interiors. The materials combine the chemical resistance of semicrystalline nylons with the high gloss and depth of view of amorphous plastics, officials said.

For more complex applications, Ultramid Advanced N compounds offer exceptional mechanical properties at higher temperatures, increased resistance to moisture and high dimensional stability.

Ultramid Vision is a semicrystalline nylon that allows light to pass through largely unhindered, yielding transparent yet highly durable components. Its balanced profile of properties makes it a good fit for chemically demanding environment.

In recycled materials, Albis has increased its offerings through its recent purchase of compounder Wipag Deutschland GmbH, which specialises in the manufacture of injection-mouldable carbon-fibre-based compounds. PP carbon-fibre compounds from that new unit feature excellent rigidity and low density, saving weight, cutting cost and increasing efficiency compared to highly filled fibreglass-reinforced nylons, officials said.

Wipag, with sites in Neuburg and Gardelegen, Germany, has developed eco-friendly technologies that allow waste carbon fibre, mainly from the auto industry, to be reprocessed into CFRP compounds. Wipag also uses post-industrial and post-consumer polypropylene.

Renewable content materials from Quality Circular Polymers, a joint venture between LyondellBasell and Suez, also are now part of the Albis lineup. Those products include post-consumer polyethylene and PP under the Hostalen and Moplen trade names. The materials are targeted at many applications, including cosmetics and toiletries.

In the last 18 months, Albis bought out a US joint venture partner and moved its North American headquarters from Texas to South Carolina. Albis became sole owner of Albis Barnet Polymers LLC, a JV that it had formed in 2016 with resin and fibre supplier William Barnet & Son LLC of Spartanburg, S.C.

Albis also had opened a compounding plant in Duncan, South Carolina. The acquisition of the JV included a recycling centre that Barnet had operated in Duncan. That unit, with 70 million pounds of annual capacity, recycles post-industrial nylon and polyester fibre into pellets.