Sponsored By

Bixby International (Newburyport, MA), a custom thermoplastic sheet extruder and laminator, and Green Dot (Cottonwood Falls, KS), a full-service bioplastics company, have teamed up to focus on renewable/biodegradable products in textiles, wood-filled composites, natural fiber-reinforced sheet and elastomeric film and sheet.

Clare Goldsberry

August 6, 2015

2 Min Read
Green Dot partners with Bixby International to develop bioplastic sheet

Bixby Green DotGreen Dot first approached Bixby in 2012 for the primary reason of working with Marc Gagnon, Bixby's Vice President, R&D Development. "Marc is not only a recognized leader in plastics technology and plastics processing, he is the rare blend of knowledge, experience, energy, passion and honesty," said Green Dot CEO, Mark Remmert. "Marc never tires of explaining processes and investing his time in understanding customer needs and struggles. He is a great guy to work with."

Green Dot recognized early on that its success relied on the need to collaborate with industry partners who shared its passion for new ideas, new technology and new ways of doing things. Bixby is one of those companies, said Bixby's information.

Several months after connecting, Green Dot and Bixby ran their first development prototypes for making elastomeric-coated textiles. Since then, the programs developed by the companies have focused on renewable/biodegradable products in textiles, wood-filled composites, foamed extrusions, extrusion coated natural fibers/fabrics, natural fiber-reinforced sheet and elastomeric film and sheet. The cooperation between Bixby and Green Dot goes a long way in helping generate solutions that have a positive impact on Green Dot's customers, as well as on the environment.

"Bixby has been very excited to work with Green Dot because of the unique bioplastic resin technologies," said Gagnon. "Their polymers have allowed us to explore and compete against conventional plastics with both elastomeric and rigid extruded applications where their biodegradability brings enhanced value to the applications of our end users. The most exciting fact is that we have not had to sacrifice on performance—either in physical properties or processing—in order to deliver the additional benefits of a true biopolymer. If you add to that the support of a great team and the creativity of Green Dot's people, we feel like we've hit a home run in this business relationship," said Gagnon.

Remmert echoed Gagnon's sentiments. "Bixby has tremendous product development capabilities. They can go from idea to concept to prototype very quickly. The product development staff has the experience, equipment and material know-how to help customers turn their imagination into reality. And do it quickly."

About the Author(s)

Clare Goldsberry

Until she retired in September 2021, Clare Goldsberry reported on the plastics industry for more than 30 years. In addition to the 10,000+ articles she has written, by her own estimation, she is the author of several books, including The Business of Injection Molding: How to succeed as a custom molder and Purchasing Injection Molds: A buyers guide. Goldsberry is a member of the Plastics Pioneers Association. She reflected on her long career in "Time to Say Good-Bye."

Sign up for the PlasticsToday NewsFeed newsletter.

You May Also Like