Review of PVC dispersion and blending resin products

Abstract The world consumption of PVC (2001) was around 25 MM MT (55 billion pounds), second only to low density polyethylene. Total PVC consumption in North America (2001) was 15 billion pounds. This represents almost 17% of all domestic plastics sales of 88 billion pounds. Dispersion and blending (extender) PVC resins are truly specialty resins, and they represent no more than 5% of the total PVC sales. This paper reviews the manufacturing processes, markets, plastisol/organosol compounding, applications, and technical challenges for the dispersion and blending resin industry. It also discusses some guidelines to help the formulator select the most cost‐effective resin package.