Broadway to present ‘Greener solutions’ at Interplas 2023

Suffolk-based masterbatch manufacturer Broadway is  exhibiting at Interplas 2023, this week (26th-28th September) at the NEC in Birmingham. With 'their biggest and best stand yet.' This will be the 5th time Broadway has exhibited at Interplas, with their first show being back in 2011. 

With the world focused on reducing plastic waste, brand owners, pack techs and plastic moulders are increasingly seeking sustainable options. Historically, Broadway has been known for its expertise in colouring plastics. But in recent years, expansion of their in-house R&D facility has assisted the development of additive masterbatches and custom compounds. At Interplas 2023, Broadway is demonstrating their latest offerings, with a particular focus on improving sustainability in plastic manufacturing.

Broadway’s NIR Detectable ‘Piano Black’ Masterbatches are designed to improve the recycling compatibility of black plastics. These colourants deliver a rich ‘piano black’ finish, without a reliance on high levels of carbon black pigments, which typically pose a barrier to the recycling of black plastics. Carbon black pigments are strong absorbers of infrared radiation, so items containing traditional black pigments will not reflect a signal to the detector in NIR recycling facilities. 

This impedes the ability to sort the item, resulting in tonnes of otherwise recyclable plastic going to landfill.

“Broadway’s NIR Detectable Piano Black Masterbatch is a real achievement for our team. It provides a rich, high-gloss black, whilst retaining the potential for NIR detectability. This demonstrates our commitment to diverting materials away from landfill whilst also maintaining a resolute focus on the aesthetics of the moulded component. We’ll be exhibiting sample mouldings at Interplas and demonstrating their detectability with our NIR detector." Dr Stephen Rayner, Technical Manager.

A recent addition to Broadway’s additive portfolio is their endothermic blowing agent. In the competitive world of plastic manufacturing, a blowing agent masterbatch can offer multiple benefits to moulders and their customers. 

These include weight reductions and cost savings (of over 8.5% based on recent trials). According to the company, using less polymer is beneficial both from an environmental and commercial perspective and lightweighting plastic items offers benefits for various market sectors. Broadway’s blowing agent masterbatch relies on an endothermic reaction, so it’s more environmentally friendly than widely available exothermic blowing agents, which can give off harmful gases.

Broadway’s solutions for recycled materials is being exhibited at Interplas. They’ll showcase their colouring expertise, demonstrating that colour formulations for virgin material can be altered to achieve the same end colour in a PCR moulding. Broadway’s free on-site colour matching service is great for anyone formulating new colours for use in PCR. They can dose colour into a sample batch of the customer’s recycled material and colour plaques can be reviewed hot off the injection moulding machines. There will also be an interactive smell test to show the impact of Broadway’s odour neutraliser additive. 

This is designed to reduce smells which are often apparent when using recycled materials. Broadway can also run masterbatches using a PCR carrier resin, useful for brands seeking to legitimately claim “Made from 100% recycled plastic”.

Sales Director, Nick Barber said: “Interplas offers us the opportunity to catch up with old friends and to engage with new prospects. For us it’s a great chance to talk about Broadway’s solutions which offer sustainability improvements. This has been a real focus for us since we last exhibited, both in the way we operate and within our developing portfolio of innovative materials. In recent months we’ve also seen great interest in the special effects we’ve posted on our socials. Nothing beats seeing a moulded sample first hand, so look out for some of these on our stand too. We’ll look forward to seeing you there."