— By Plasteurope.com correspondent — 

Japanese engineering plastics producer Polyplastics (Tokyo; www.polyplastics-global.com) announced the development of new Duracon POM grades that are reinforced with short cellulose fibre rather than glass. 

Developed within the company’s Duracircle initiative, the regenerated cellulose fibres are produced through a solvent method that yields a lower environmental impact, such as reducing carbon emissions.

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As a replacement for glass reinforcement, the new grades maintain the mechanical properties inherent to POM, the company said. They can also increase bending modulus without significantly increasing density, featuring both light weight and high rigidity. 

Polyplastics has three Duracon POM grades in development. One formulation is reinforced with 15% short cellulose fibres, while the other two incorporate 30%, the company said. The density of the three materials varies from 1.42-1.44 g/cm³ and the bending modulus ranges from 3,900-5,800 MPa.