The Urethane Blog
August 19, 2020
August 19, 2020
Polyol PRICE INCREASE
Effective September 14, 2020, or as contracts allow, The Dow Chemical Company, on behalf of itself and its applicable consolidated subsidiaries (“Dow”), will increase off-list prices by the amounts listed below on all grades and package types of the following Polyol products in North America:
VORANOL US $0.03 / lb
VORALUX US $0.03 / lb
SPECFLEX US $0.03 / lb
Thank you for your continued business with Dow. Please contact your Account Manager if you have any questions related to this communication.
August 19, 2020
August 19, 2020
Polyol PRICE INCREASE
Effective September 14, 2020, or as contracts allow, The Dow Chemical Company, on behalf of itself and its applicable consolidated subsidiaries (“Dow”), will increase off-list prices by the amounts listed below on all grades and package types of the following Polyol products in North America:
VORANOL US $0.03 / lb
VORALUX US $0.03 / lb
SPECFLEX US $0.03 / lb
Thank you for your continued business with Dow. Please contact your Account Manager if you have any questions related to this communication.
August 18, 2020
Polyurethane Foam Association Shifts To Digital Fall Meeting
Online Sessions Will Feature Technical Presentations, Industry Issue Updates
The Polyurethane Foam Association (PFA) is shifting to a digital format for its November 4-5 meeting, originally scheduled to be held in San Antonio, TX.
Russ Batson, PFA’s Executive Director, said the decision was made after PFA’s Executive Committee reviewed safety concerns, travel restrictions, and meeting size limitations due to COVID-19.
“PFA members and staff both miss the networking and opportunity to visit with friends. We can’t duplicate that online, but we do have a strong lineup of technical papers that will be presented. In addition, attendees will get updates on regulatory developments, workplace safety rules and sales trends in key FPF markets,” Batson said.
Technical papers will cover topics including employee training, catalysts for “bed in a box” applications, and environmental technologies.
Batson said that a full agenda and registration details for the online meeting will be announced soon on the association’s website, www.pfa.org.
“PFA has remained very active in 2020, even with the turmoil of the pandemic,” said Chip Holton, PFA President and President of NCFI Polyurethanes. “We have stepped up electronic communications with our membership, and maintained our programs in regulatory monitoring,
COVID best practices, and advocacy for the flexible polyurethane foam industry. While we look forward to being able to gather in person as soon as possible, our digital meeting will continue to give our members time-sensitive information vital to their businesses.”
The Polyurethane Foam Association is a trade association founded in 1980 to help educate foam users, allied industries, and other stakeholders. PFA provides facts on environmental, health and safety issues and technical information on the performance of FPF in consumer and industrial
products. FPF is used as a key comfort component in most upholstered furniture and mattress products, along with automotive seating, carpet cushion, packaging, and numerous other applications.
August 18, 2020
Polyurethane Foam Association Shifts To Digital Fall Meeting
Online Sessions Will Feature Technical Presentations, Industry Issue Updates
The Polyurethane Foam Association (PFA) is shifting to a digital format for its November 4-5 meeting, originally scheduled to be held in San Antonio, TX.
Russ Batson, PFA’s Executive Director, said the decision was made after PFA’s Executive Committee reviewed safety concerns, travel restrictions, and meeting size limitations due to COVID-19.
“PFA members and staff both miss the networking and opportunity to visit with friends. We can’t duplicate that online, but we do have a strong lineup of technical papers that will be presented. In addition, attendees will get updates on regulatory developments, workplace safety rules and sales trends in key FPF markets,” Batson said.
Technical papers will cover topics including employee training, catalysts for “bed in a box” applications, and environmental technologies.
Batson said that a full agenda and registration details for the online meeting will be announced soon on the association’s website, www.pfa.org.
“PFA has remained very active in 2020, even with the turmoil of the pandemic,” said Chip Holton, PFA President and President of NCFI Polyurethanes. “We have stepped up electronic communications with our membership, and maintained our programs in regulatory monitoring,
COVID best practices, and advocacy for the flexible polyurethane foam industry. While we look forward to being able to gather in person as soon as possible, our digital meeting will continue to give our members time-sensitive information vital to their businesses.”
The Polyurethane Foam Association is a trade association founded in 1980 to help educate foam users, allied industries, and other stakeholders. PFA provides facts on environmental, health and safety issues and technical information on the performance of FPF in consumer and industrial
products. FPF is used as a key comfort component in most upholstered furniture and mattress products, along with automotive seating, carpet cushion, packaging, and numerous other applications.
August 17, 2020
UC San Diego research lab to make environmentally friendly flip flops from algae
By Reuters
Researchers at University of California, San Diego hope to make future beach visits both environmentally and fashion-friendly, with a new formula for biodegradable flip flops.
Mike Burkart, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the public research university in San Diego, California, has developed a polymer from algae, which decomposes naturally.
“We begin by growing algae and we grow them in raceway ponds where we can grow them up to very high density,” said Burkart during a tour of the a lab for Reuters. “At that point when they are fully grown, we take the water out of them…and basically we’re able to get the algae down to a very viscous paste.”
“Then what we do is extract all the lipids out of that algae and it’s those lipids that we’re making our materials out of,” he said.
The laboratory initially made gasoline from algae before turning its attention to surfboards, and now the humble flip flop.
“Almost every major shoe manufacturer has come to talk to us about the possibility of using our materials in their products,” Burkart said.
The simple footwear is affordable and popular around the world, and therefore makes up a significant portion of discarded plastics polluting oceans and seas. But Burkart is hoping his algae-based shoe-wear will change that.
“We’re also talking to other companies, for example, for things like food packaging or other types of materials that we don’t want to live forever in the environment,” Burkart said.
“We really want those to be able to decompose or be able to be recycled,” he said.
17 Renewable and biodegradable polyurethane made from algae and turned into a flip-flop is shown at a lab on campus at UC San Diego, in San Diego, California.
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