Joining hands to further drive developments in the North American flexible vinyls market, the Electrical and Telecommunications (E&T) unit of chemical giant Dow (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) has entered into an agreement with US custom compounder Teknor Apex (Pawtucket, Rhode Island; www.teknorapex.com). Under the terms of the deal, Teknor Apex now has the exclusive right to market flexible vinyl compounds containing Dow’s proprietary “Ecolibrium” bio-based plasticisers in North America. Teknor Apex said it plans to commercialise the compounds this year and will introduce them at NPE, held from 1-5 April in Orlando, Florida / USA.

Commenting on the agreement, Thorne Bartlett, new business development director at Dow E&T, said, “Our relationship with Teknor Apex has provided Dow E&T with a unique opportunity to market beyond the power industry.” Adding to that, Louis Cappucci, vice president at Teknor Apex’s Vinyls division, said, “Compatible with a wide range of applications, footwear, flooring and profiles are among the first targeted areas for our new compounds.”

Made almost entirely of renewable feedstocks, Dow says its “Ecolibrium” bio-based plasticisers can help producers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40% if used instead of traditional diisononyl phthalate PVC plasticisers.