Dow Chemical's Electrical & Telecommunications business unit and Teknor Apex Company have signed a joint market development agreement for flexible vinyl in several application areas.
The agreement grants Teknor Apex exclusive marketing rights in North America for flexible vinyl compounds containing Dow's "Ecolibrium" bio-based plasticizers in consumer and industrial product applications.
According to a press release, Pawtucket, Conn.-based Teknor Apex plans to commercialize compounds made with the Dow plasticizers this year and introduce the new compounds at the NPE 2012 trade show in April.
The plasticizers are made from virtually 100 per cent renewable feedstocks, and - according to Dow - their use in flexible vinyl compounds may help durable goods original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 per cent, if used instead of traditional diisononyl phthalate PVC plasticizers.