The development of pigments with purpose

Colour plays a crucial role in plastic products, from safety indicators to brand recognition. Today, the suppliers and users of pigments and colour masterbatches are increasingly focused on sustainability. New pigments give compound and masterbatch suppliers colourful options, and laser-marking additives have been extended to dark coloured surfaces.

One aspect of plastics sustainability is designing for recyclability. Concerns have been raised about the limitations of carbon black in recycling systems that use near infrared (NIR) reflectance for sorting. However, black pigments with infrared reflectance that allow NIR sorting are available.

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