Hartalega: We Are Not Polluters

An internationally-recognised glove manufacturer has denied allegations that its factory near Taman Suria, Batang Berjuntai, is causing air and water pollution.


Hartalega Holdings Bhd managing director Kuan Kam Hon, who called the allegations “baseless and a misrepresentation,” said he was disappointed that no clarification had been sought from the company over the claims.

“As a responsible public-listed company on Bursa Malaysia and a world-class manufacturer of nitrile gloves, we are compelled to put the record straight.

“We are very transparent and willing to clarify any doubt. We abide by local and international environmental regulatory standards.

“How can a company that receives so many international and local awards be in violation of environmental regulations?” he told reporters at a press conference here yesterday.

It was reported in the local media that the factory was allegedly causing air and water pollution. The factory had existed long before the residential area was built and there was a lack of a buffer zone between the two.
Kuan said officers from the Department of Environment, the Kuala Selangor Municipal Council, International Trade and Industry Ministry and the Malaysian Industrial Develop­ment Authority had visited Hartalega’s manufacturing facilities and confirmed its compliance with all building and environmental regulations.

He said this included the use of environment-friendly biomass boilers, its various corporate social responsibility initiatives in Taman Suria and it spending over RM5mil annually to treat effluents and emissions to ensure that these met requirements.

He also handed out copies of support letters from local residents and businesses, including several village development and safety committees.

(Hartalega Q2 net profit up 42.3% - CLICK HERE for details)

Merry Christmas

To those who are celebrating Christmas, John Woon had a message for you.

Check it out here =>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtyshfWDX5Q&feature=related

Yulex Partnering to Expand Guayule Cultivation

Yulex, a manufacturer of renewable biomaterials derived from guayule, has partnered with Arizona Grain to expand and manage its guayule agriculture program. This long-term commercial agreement will enable Yulex to cost-effectively and rapidly scale its agriculture program to meet the demand of major manufacturers of medical devices and consumer brands seeking high-performance sustainable materials such as Yulex natural rubber.

Under the terms of the agreement, Yulex will supply its proprietary seed to Arizona Grain who will contract with its network of over 600 growers to produce guayule. Arizona Grain will oversee the growing cycle from field establishment through harvest and transportation of feedstock to the Yulex processing facility for the extraction of guayule natural rubber. While the initial focus of the program will be Arizona-based, the agreement allows for expansion into California and New Mexico.

Thai Nitrile Plant to Start Up in 2012

Platts is reporting that Bangkok Synthetics, expects its new 110,000 mt/year nitrile latex plant at Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, Rayong province, to start operations in the third quarter of 2012. According to BST, about 90% of nitrile latex consumers are rubber glove makers situated in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

As for the plant’s feedstocks, the company said butadiene will be supplied captively from its 140,000 mt/year butadiene plant at Map Ta Phut, while acrylonitrile will be provided either by a domestic producer at Map Ta Phut or sourced via imports

Resistance to Copper-Catalysed Oxidation and Surfactants for Fillers in Latex

Manufacturer:  We have two questions:

1) How to improve ageing resistance of our latex dipped products that are going to be exposed to an environment that contains heavy metal ions such as copper and iron during service?
2) What is the requirement of surfactants for adding filler in dry form (i.e. powder) and wet from (i.e. slurry).

We manufature both household gloves and examination gloves.


John Woon (Senior Latex and Rubber Consultant): Please see my comment below:

1) You need to use a combination of both your curatives and antioxidants at the right levels.
2) You need different levels of surfactant for both types of fillers with higher level for dry filler. Also, the particle size of the fillers play an important part in deciding the surfactant types and levels. Calcium carbonate, talc and clay are to be treated differently.

Details of my answers have been sent to you separately at your request.

Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) in Natural Rubber Latex Concentrates

 
Manufacturer: We are producer of natural rubber latex concentrates and our sister company manufactures latex dipped products. Both companies have often experienced latex storage stability problem despite keeping the VFA Number low during production. We found that the VFA Number could suddenly increase on storage despite a reasonable level of hygiene standard. Can you explain why?

 
John Woon (Senior Latex and Rubber Consultant):  VFA i.e. volatile fatty acids which primarily consist of acetic acid with traces of propionic and formic acid, are formed as a result of bacterial breakdown of carbohydrates. Hence low VFA Number is usually welcomed as a sign of latex concentrates having been carefully prepared as far as bacterial contamination is concerned.

However, an initial low VFA could not always guarantee that the latex would continue to be stable because some live bacteria that are present in the latex could be inactive and dormant. But they could burst into activity weeks later by some external stimulation such as addition of ingredients which could act as nutrients for bacteria and the usual agitation.

One way to find out whether there would be any further damage done by bacterial action is to do a culturing of a sample of the latex on a suitable medium and carrying out a plate count of the bacteria present. If the result is nil, then the VFA Number would remain low on storage bearing  in mind, of course, that there are other factors such as the breakdown of protein which would also affect negatively the storage stability of latex concentrates.

To understand fully the whole picture of latex stability of which VFA is only a small part, you need to attend my lecture on "Latex Properties and Stability".

Yule Catto Buys PolymerLatex from TowerBrook Capital

UK-based Yule Catto has agreed to acquire Germany’s PolymerLatex from TowerBrook Capital Partners. The transaction, which is subject to the necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals, is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2011.


Yule Catto is already the owner of the Synthomer polymers business, and this acquisition will bring together two well established companies with a combined turnover of approximately £800m and employing more than 2,000.

Synthomer and PolymerLatex are important suppliers of emulsion polymers, which are used to manufacture a wide range of products including paints and coatings, adhesives, construction products, synthetic latex gloves, paper and textiles, floor coverings and PVC.

Yule Catto also owns Revertex Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., the leading Malaysian manufacturer of Natural Rubber latex compounds, water-based emulsion polymers and synthetic resins.

Vystar's Market Presence Poised to Grow in 2011

Message from Bill Doyle, President and CEO:

As we all look forward to the new year, Vystar^® Corporation expects to expand its market presence by pursuing a variety of exciting opportunities.  I'd like to use this space to give you a quick summary of some of the latest developments.

To begin with, several international media outlets and websites have recently spotlighted Vystar and Vytex^® Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) including Global Finance Magazine, Today's Medical Developments, Cleanroom Technology, High Velocity Radio, MO.com and Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry.    The Vytex story is attracting interest from both the technical and business arenas and we expect an ongoing active media schedule.

I'm also pleased to report that Vystar has secured an initial three-year licensing agreement with KA Prevulcanised Latex Pvt. Limited (KAPVL) of Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India.  KAPVL is part of the Ooppoottil Group, India's largest latex concentrate processor and the country's largest latex glove producer.  KAPVL will exclusively manufacture and sell Vytex NRL in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.  This license agreement allows Vystar access to  the protected Indian market where the duties for imported latex raw material hover around 70 percent.  There is a large manufacturing base for latex products-including gloves, condoms, and foam-in India and its neighbors.  KAPVL strengthens our production network already in place in Malaysia and Guatemala to expand our reach and better serve our global customers. 

There's good news from Malaysia-based condom manufacturer Richter Rubber Technology, which will launch two new product lines:  Vytex NRL condoms and ultrasound probe covers.  The line of condoms and probe covers made with Vytex NRL is expected to be commercially available by early 2011 through their established distribution channels and retail outlets.

If what we accomplished in 2010 is any indication, the next 12 months are sure to be an exciting period for Vystar-especially as manufacturers continue to realize the advantages of Vytex NRL and the media embraces the Vytex story.  As always, stay tuned for further developments.