Higher-performance and easier processing PE film resins for packaging, a one-pass crosslinked PE for photovoltaic (PV) wire and cable, several higher-performing nylons and TPEs, “greener” plastics, and enhanced styrenic and PC resins are among the new materials that made their debut at the big show in Orlando, Fla., last month.

Braskem, a major Brazilian producer of polymers and chemicals, has signed an agreement with German bioplastics compounder FKuR Kunststoff GmbH that will enable production of customized grades of Braskem’s BioPE.

Braskem in Brazil has acquired the polypropylene business of Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Braskem in Brazil has acquired the polypropylene business of Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich.

Coke subsidiary Odwalla Inc., Dinubia, Calif. plans to transition all of its single-serve bottles to PlantBottle packaging of HDPE made from 96% to 100% plant-based materials.

It’s not every day that you get two new entrants into the U.S.

Already the first to develop bio-sourced LLDPE and HDPE, Brazil’s Braskem (U.S. office in Wilmington, Del.), has produced the first samples of polypropylene from 100% renewable raw material.

Major chemical companies are investing big bucks in new plants and technologies to produce plastics from annually renewable sources, not from petrochemicals.