Swedish start-up flame retardant manufacturer Paxymer (www.paxymer.se) has been accepted as a member of Cleantech Inn (Lund / Sweden; www.cleantechinn.se), an organisation that provides support for companies with innovative and sustainable products. A spin-off of PP Polymer (Vällingby / Sweden; www.pppolymer.se), Paxymer produces and markets a “green” flame retardant system for plastics, also called Paxymer, that controls the burning process without persistent, bio-accumulating chemicals.

The new flame retardant, currently available in extrusion injection-moulding and blow moulding grades, is sold as a masterbatch or compound directly to polymer producers and converters. Said to be free of asphyxiate gases, it alters the burning behaviour of the plastic, eliminating dripping and reducing smoke while lowering the heat release rate and slowing the polymer’s degradation. The company says Paxymer also preserves the mechanical properties of the base polymer and at the same time possesses lower density and better chemical- and hydrolytic resistance compared to mineral-based and other halogen-free systems.

The product was born out of a 2002 request to PP Polymer by the civil contingencies agency MSB to develop a non-toxic flame retardant for plastics used in buildings, to protect firefighters and rescue workers from toxic fumes. Paxymer says it is “at the absolute forefront of legislation,” already fulfilling pending regulations pertinent to the entire burning process. The flame retardant is also said to perform well with other plastics additives. Another advantage is that it protects production workers by minimising powder flow and eliminating toxic substances from the material flow.