A Letter to Manufacturers from Symphony's Technical Director

The resource within Symphony Environmental that sets it aside from the other suppliers of oxo-biodegradable masterbatch is the wide knowledge and experience available from our Technical Team.

I have been involved in the conversion sector of plastic packaging for over 38 years. For ten years I ran an extrusion, printing and bag making company that I founded in 1988. This successful company is still running today with a turnover exceeding £25 million p.a.

My colleague and Technical Manager, Emyr Peregrine, has worked in the polymer industry for 20 years, in variety of process, manufacturing and application-development roles. He was trained by RAPRA, and has a broad experience of materials, processing and testing. Together, and with the assistance of our Senior Technical Executive, David Buxton PhD and our Technical Executive, Perry Higgs B.Sc. and our laboratory staff, we can provide a solid back-up to the converter using d2w masterbatches.

Oxo-biodegradable masterbatches are sensitive materials. The Symphony Technical team can advise you how to get the best out of them whilst maintaining the productivity of your process and the quality of your product. We are familiar with the nuances of film manufacture and the effect that the process has on the product. The process-temperatures within a blown-film line can vary considerably; often the set temperature is much lower than the actual melt temperature due to adiabatic influences etc. Mixing in the extruder can influence the performance of the masterbatch. We can help you avoid the many common pitfalls encountered within the industry - such as bubble-instability, sharkskinning and melt fracture, gels etc. - these are issues we understand.

Every day we draw upon our wide range of experience within the industry and specifically with our oxo-biodegradable products. We have built up an in-depth understanding of the consequences of mixing other effect additives with the d2w masterbatch. The reaction of slip, anti-block, anti- static and other migratory masterbatches have to be understood and accounted for.

Essentially, the unique aspect of Symphony is our ability to work alongside members of the converting industry, understanding their language, sympathetic to their problems, appreciating their priorities and ensuring that d2w performs properly without affecting the production process.