In April, Milliken & Company will begin building the largest clarifier plant in its history in Blacksburg, South Carolina. The world-class plant is due to begin operations in 2020 and will boost capacity of Milliken’s Millad® NX™ 8000 clarifier by approximately 50 percent. The expansion is needed to meet fast-growing global demand for this polypropylene additive that is helping users to realize significant sustainability and performance advantages.
“Brand owners and packaging producers are clearly seeing how Millad NX 8000 can contribute to improved environmental and manufacturing results. It is one of the most successful products in the history of plastic additives, and arguably the most important in the past 30 years,” according to Allen Jacoby, vice president for Milliken’s Plastic Additives business. Unprecedented global demand for the technology has prompted Milliken to expedite the construction of its new facility by two years.
Demand for Millad NX 8000 is growing in every geographical region and across many end-use markets, with the strongest growth in Asia. Milliken’s investment will enable the company to better serve its customers worldwide and meet dynamic market requirements.
Millad NX 8000 creates opportunities to replace less sustainable plastics such as polystyrene and PVC with NX UltraClear™ PP, a type of polypropylene that can only be produced using the Millad NX 8000 clarifier.
“Millad NX 8000 clarifier technology represents a step forward in both environmental and product performance,” Jacoby notes. “Milliken is asking other companies in the plastics supply chain to join us in stepping up to the plastics end of life challenge.”
