GE Plastics (HQ: PO Box 117, NL-4600 AC, Bergen op Zoom) has set "A Year of Extrusion" as its theme for the coming "K'95" exhibition (Düsseldorf, October 5-12), with emphasis on new sheet grades, building applications and the opening of a dedicated Extrusion Development Laboratory. But, taken with everything else happening, GEP's real message is more like "A Decade of Polycarbonate".

Adding up to a massive boost for polycarbonate are: Introduction into Europe of the first plastics automobile headlamp lenses, moulded in PC and coated with a hard silicone composition: there are 12 "live" programmes and another fifty projects to come; GEP believes that 50% of the European car market will have switched to PC by 1998 and near-100% penetration by the end of the century is not impossible (and it claims a market share of 85-90%). The "hard news" is that the first offficial contract for coated PC lenses (for a new European model to be launched later this year) has been awarded to German lighting manufacturer Bosch, which in turn has awarded the coating contract (for 600,000 lenses/year) to GE Eurogard, the joint venture between GE Plastics and the Dutch coating specialist Knaapen.

Development of a five-wall PC roof-glazing sheet, meeting the new German building regulations for K-values of materials (which is also expected to be implemented in other European countries, including the UK). At 20mm thickness, the "Lexan thermoclear" sheet can replace 16mm 4-wall sheet without necessarily having to change profiles, where current 4-wall sheet has to go to 25mm thickness to meet the specified 1.8 K-value. As well as improved thermal insulation efficiency, the 5-wall sheet has higher stiffness, allowing greater roof spans to be used.

A new grade of Lexan polycarbonate has been developed for spectacle lenses, claiming many advantages over glass or transparent thermosets. PC spectacle lenses are relatively new in Europe but in the USA they have grown rapidly from a market share of 9% in 1993 to 14% in 1994 and an expected 59% share in the current year. Injection moulded, with a special scratch-resistant coating (developed by GE Silicones), the PC lenses protect against UV radiation and are positively recommended now by US opthalmic authorities.

PC is securing a firm base in packaging, as returnable/refillable milk bottles gain in consumer approval in Germany, Austria and Sweden (despite a DM 1 deposit and around 20 pfennig/litre higher price).

Reviewing the European market, senior managing director Uwe Wascher added compact disks to this list, revealing that GE Plastics is now selling 1,000 t per month of PC for this application – and it is only just starting. He also revealed that an announcement will soon be made to build the largest "single-shot" polycarbonate plant in the world, possibly (but not certainly) at the Cartagena site in Spain.

The accent on extrusion is aimed at widening the choice of materials. Extruders today look at only two materials, PVC and aluminium but, with ten new grades across the range and an extrusion new die and calibration programme, GE now aims to bring to extrusion the full engineering experience it has gained in injection moulding and develop an entire portfolio of materials. New extrusion grades will be offered in Cycolac ABS, Cycoloy PC/ABS, Valox and Xenoy PBT-blends, Lexan polycarbonate, Ultem polyetherimide and Noryl PPO (including a new GTX PPO/PA blend, used for thermal breaks in powder-coated aluminium windows).

The new Extrusion Laboratory at Bergen op Zoom is being developed in conjunction with extruder manufacturer Cincinnati Milacron and will initially have two single-screw lines (45mm and 60mm) with additional equipment to test and evaluate secondary operations such as painting and powder coating.