Polyesters manufacturing companies

Duro Bag Manufacturing Company EcoPLA bags consisted of three-layer blown film, with an interior layer of polylactide sandwiched between layers of a proprietary biodegradable aliphatic polyester. The bags were intended to replace paper bags for collection of compostables. ... 

Table 3.1 shows the production and application data of some polyester manufacturers. Plant capacities vary between 10,000 and 300,000 tonnes per annum. Some of the listed companies also mannfactnre vinylesters or epoxy thermosets as well as polyesters. The average price of polyester resin between 1999 and 2012 is demonstrated in Fig. 3.8, which shows that the price of polyester resin steadily increased nntil the economic crisis (2008), after which it decreases from nearly 2.5/kg to 1.6/kg. This tendency is similar to that observed for Brent crude however, Brent cmde nnderwent a sharper drop than polyester resin. 

Plastic materials represent less than 10% by weight of all packagiag materials. They have a value of over 7 biUion including composite flexible packagiag about half is for film and half for botties, jars, cups, tubs, and trays. The principal materials used are high density polyethylene (HDPE) for botties, low density polyethylene for film, polypropylene (PP) for film, and polyester for both botties and films. Plastic resias are manufactured by petrochemical companies, eg. Union Carbide and Mobil Chemical for low density polyethylene (LDPE), Solvay for high density polyethylene, Himont for polypropylene, and Shell and Eastman for polyester. 

Manufacture and Processing. Terephthalic acid and dimethyl terephthalate did not become large-volume industrial chemicals until after World War II. Imperial Chemical Industries in the United Kingdom in 1949 and Du Pont in the United States in 1953 commercialized fibers made from poly(ethylene terephthalate). Dimethyl terephthalate and ethylene glycol were the comonomers used by both companies (see Fibers, polyester). 

Vinyltoluene. Viayltoluene is produced by Dow Chemical Company and is used as a resia modifier ia unsaturated polyester resias. Its manufacture is similar to that of styrene toluene is alkylated with ethylene, and the resulting ethyltoluene is dehydrogenated to yield vinyltoluene. Annual production is ia the range of 18,000—23,000 t/yr requiring 20,000—25,000 t (6-7.5 x 10 gal) of toluene. 

Your company manufactures terephthalic acid, a listed chemical, both for sale/distribution as a commercial product and for on-site use/processino as a feedstock in the polyester process. Because it is a reactant, it is also processed. See Figure D for how this information would be reported in Part III, Section 3 of Form R. 

Petroleum refineries produce a stream of valuable aromatic compounds called the BTX, or benzene-toluene-xylenes (Ruthven 1984). The Cg compounds can be easily separated from the Ce and C compounds by distillation, and consist of ethyl benzene, o-xylene, m-xylene, and / -xylene. Ethyl benzene is the starting material for styrene, which is used to make polystyrene / -xylene is oxidized to make terephthalic acid, and then condensed with ethylene glycol to make polyester for fibers and films. The buyers of / -xylene are the manufacturers of terephthalic acid, such as BP-Amoco, who in turn sell to the fiber manufacturers such as DuPont and Dow. These are big and sophisticated companies that have strong research and engineering capabilities, and are used to have multiple suppliers. The eventual consumers of adsorbents are the public who consider polyester as one of the choices in fabric and garments, in competition with other synthetic and natural fibers. Their purchases are also dependent on personal income and prosperity. In times of recession, it is always possible for a consumer to downgrade to cheaper fibers and to wear old clothes for a longer period of time before new purchases. 

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