Page 45 - Plastics News June 2023

BUSINESS NEWS

Elite Plastics invests in 3-layer Bandera blown film
Dow Sources Bio-
line
based Feedstock for US

Plastics Production

ew Energy Blue facility in Iowa
Nwill supply renewable eth-
ylene from corn stalks and leaves
biomass for Dow’s US plastic pro-
duction.
Dow has secured a long-term sup-
ply of bio-based ethylene feedstock
for use in renewable-polyethylene
production through a North Amer-
he line has been developed to director at Elite Plastics, Italy-based ican agreement with bioconversion
Tproduc fi 30 Bandera are among the world lead- company New Energy Blue.
recycled content in building co blown fi New Energy Blue will make the bio-
Elite Plastics, one of the UK’s lead- lines. The company started in 1947 based ethylene from leftover corn
ing PE extrusion companies, is known and with this heritage comes decades stalks and leaves (aka, corn stover).
for keeping up with the significant of experience and expertise, he said, Dow will buy the bio-based ethyl-
advancement and innovation in poly- and they utilise the latest technologies ene and use it to produce polyeth-
mer technologies. Their research and to produce lines that will allow us to ylene for packaging, footwear, and
development have enabled them to drive forward technical innovation in transportation applications.
create ‘recipes’ that enable them to fi market. E Plastic ask The companies say the collabora-
manufacture cutting-edge polythene Bandera to propose a state-of-the- tion fi agreemen in No
fi fo mu industries. art line for Elite Plastics, and ‘Bandera America to convert stover into a
met the brief perfectly’.
To help them stay at the forefront of plastic source material. It’s also
their industry, the company has invest- It has been a long process for Elite Dow’ fi agreemen in re-
ed in a bespoke 3-layer co-extrusion Plastics to get to the point of commis- gion to use agriculture waste for
blown fi lin fro Italian design sioning this state-of-the-art line. The plastics production.
and manufacturer of complete extru- site had to be prepared, and crucially Dow will use the bio-based eth-
sions line for packaging and convert- the roof had to be raised to provide ylen certifi plastic manu-
ing, Bandera. The line has been devel- the required height. Elite took ad- facturing facilities in the US Gulf
oped to utilise at least 30% recycled vantage of the opportunity to install a Coast. Those facilities produce
content into the film recipe whilst still large Solar PV system on the roofs of polyethylene, low-density polyeth-
maintaining the technical characteris- both their extrusion halls, as part of ylene, linear low-density polyethyl-
tics Elite’s customers’ demand. It fea- its Net Zero Strategy. Film produced ene, high-density polyethylene, and
tures a compact and functional layout on the brand-new Bandera line - and high-pressure copolymers.
providing Elite with maximum flexibil- their other lines, for that matter - will
ity for a variety of applications. It also have been made partially utilising solar ISCC Plus is an international sus-
has a flexo printing facility. power, reducing the carbon footprint tain certification progra
of the products. that emphasizes traceability of raw
According to Josh Salmon, commercial materials.

June 2023 PLASTICS NEWS 45