Milliken to invest in a new clarifier plant in Blacksburg, South Carolina
In April, Milliken & Company will begin building the largest clarifier plant in its history in Blacksburg, South Carolina. The world-class plant is due to begin operations in 2020 and will boost capacity of Milliken's Millad® NX™ 8000 clarifier by approximately 50 percent. The expansion is needed to meet fast-growing global demand for this polypropylene additive that is helping users to realize significant sustainability and performance advantages.
Significant environmental advantages
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| Increasing market demand for Millad® NX™ 8000 clarifier prompts Milliken to boost production capacity by 50 percent |
Millad NX 8000 offers many sustainability and performance advantages over previous polypropylene clarifier generations for plastic molders and brand owners who use it. "In contrast to previous generation clarifier technologies, Millad NX 8000 has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions for plastic manufacturers," says Zach Adams, global product line manager for Milliken's Plastic Additives business. "Our propriety technology improves the aesthetics and processability of polypropylene, a plastic which is lightweight, has a low carbon footprint and almost always performs better than less sustainable plastics in a life cycle analysis."
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has validated that the processing of resin containing Millad NX 8000 requires lower energy consumption than other polypropylene that uses third-generation clarifiers, allowing the UL eco-label to be used on those products. Lower processing temperatures are benefitting users with energy savings.
Millad NX 8000 creates opportunities to replace less sustainable plastics such as polystyrene and PVC with NX UltraClear™ PP, a type of polypropylene that can only be produced using the Millad NX 8000 clarifier.
About Milliken
Milliken has been solving everyday problems with innovative solutions for more than 150 years. Its research, design, and manufacturing expertise reaches across a breadth of disciplines including specialty chemicals, floor covering, and performance and protective textiles.
