Crosslinked foam venture opens in Ontario

PXL Crosslinked Foam Corp., a manufacturer of crosslinked bun foam, has recently started production at its Cobourg, ON facility. The company is a joint venture of Toronto-based Polyair Inter Pack Inc. and Palziv Cross-Linked Foam Solutions, a subsidiary of Ein-Hanaziv Palziv Ltd. of Israel.
The new company’s crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) foam product is being targeted at the automotive, medical and footwear markets, according to Alan Castle, Polyair North American president, packaging operations.
“We saw cross-linked foam as an opportunity to extend our product mix,” said Castle, noting some of Polyair’s customers were already buying types of crosslinked foam from other suppliers. Polyair began discussing the possibility of a joint venture with Palviz after meeting representatives of the company at a trade show in Israel, according to Castle.
PXL manufactures the foam in a batch “extrusion” process which requires heat curing. The company sells the final block-shaped product to fabricators, who then mold and shape it according to the specifications of the end-user. Bun stock grade PEX is suitable for the manufacture of automotive gaskets, protective boots and sound deadening materials. It is also being considered as a replacement material for EVA foams used in automotive seating applications.
“Our goal is to grow this market,” Castle reported. “We want to get out in the field, understand the market, then be in a position to come back to fabricators and say, this is what it is going to take to make a certain product or fill a need of a customer.”
Polyair Inter Pack, a manufacturer of protective packaging and swimming pool products, operates seven manufacturing facilities in the U.S.