Sustainability Put To The Test!

BATAVIA, OHIO – June 3, 2009…Milacron’s exhibit booth (S#24012) at NPE 2009, the large international plastics trade show being held in Chicago June 22-26, 2009, will feature “Earth Friendly Technology” regrind PET carpet. In addition to the company’s clean and energy efficient machines and manufacturing systems, there is also its choice of carpet made from recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the material normally used for bottling carbonated soft drinks and water. “We believe that responsible firms should take every possible step to support the plastics industries drive toward sustainability”, said Bob Strickley, Director of Marketing for Milacron Inc. “Our show theme for this NPE 2009 is “Earth Friendly Technology” and our suppliers for this show were requested to contribute ideas to support our commitment to this theme and stay within a very tight budget,” states Strickley. The issues in the plastics industry as it relate to sustainability and recycling as it relates to PET are indeed global issues.

“I have been associated with Milacron trade shows for years and immediately recognized the importance of the theme given the issues in the plastics industry. We factored the theme into the booth design and have many innovations in the booth to reflect the theme. The biggest decision was the carpet selection supplied by Event Flooring of Lilburn, GA, USA which is made from regrind PET” states Tim Kemplin, President of Positive Productions, Batavia Ohio.

Thanks to the high intrinsic viscosity to the high intrinsic viscosity requirements of the PET bottle grade resin regrind PET carpet material is superior to virgin grade resin materials in terms of strength, according to Event Flooring. With the superior nature of PET as a raw material the properties required for carpet is not negatively impacted by recycling. In the process recycled PET fiber is ultimately made into yarn, is then tufted into carpet. The US Food and Drug Administration requires that the highest grade of PET is used in PET beverage bottles. The superior characteristics of the material is not lost or degraded in the recycling process resulting in a fine grade carpet.

“It’s safe to say that I received a bit of an education on PET carpet during this process. I do recall polyester ‘shag’ carpet of the 60’s and had to be re-sold. The manufacturing processes have changed and the results are indeed quite impressive” states Strickley. A strong selling point of the carpet selection was the fact that PET fiber is naturally hydrophobic and results in very low moisture content than other carpet fibers. PET carpet cleans better, resists stains and looks better longer. “Milacron always has very heavy booth traffic at the NPE Show and this year we will be putting recycled PET carpet to the test” states Kemplin of Positive Productions.

First incorporated in 1884, Milacron is a leading global supplier of plastics-processing technologies and industrial fluids, with major manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and Asia. Milacron knows what matters in manufacturing, and every day, puts this know how to work to help customers improve their productivity, cut costs, increase energy efficiency, eliminate scrap and reduce cycle times. This year, Milacron is celebrating 125 years of making a genuine impact on the industries it serves. Visit www.milacron.com for more information.

For more information and for a no charge pass to attend the NPE 2009 show visit http://www.milacron.com or call Bob Strickley, Director of Marketing Milacron Inc. 513-536-2576 or Bob_Strickley@milacron.com