Toll compounding FAQ

Toll compounding, also called contract compounding (compoundage à façon in French), means an external compounder produces your compound or masterbatch on its own extrusion lines, following your formulation. You usually own the recipe and often supply some or all of the raw materials. The toll compounder brings the machines, the process know-how, quality control and logistics, and charges a processing fee per kilo or per campaign.

In toll compounding you bring the formulation, and often the raw materials, and we run it. In custom compounding the compounder develops and sells its own formulation. Polytechs Solutions works on the toll model and on mixed models where we source part of the raw materials while you keep ownership of the recipe. For our own branded products, see Polytechs Products.

A new compounding line means CAPEX, installation time, qualification and staff before the first saleable tonne. Toll compounding turns this into a variable cost and lets you test demand first. It fits three situations: your lines are full, you need a qualified back-up source, or you want to validate a new formulation or market before investing.

Polytechs runs 18+ lines in Cany-Barville, France: BUSS co-kneaders, co-rotating twin-screw extruders, compaction lines for non-dusting blends and pilot lines, with liquid injection, reactive extrusion, underwater pelletizing and air-cut pelletizing. The feasibility assessment tells you which line and screw configuration fit your formulation.

Choose a co-kneader when your compound is heat- or shear-sensitive or highly filled: HFFR cable compounds with ATH or MDH, crosslinkable cable grades that must stay below their reaction onset, PVC or heat-sensitive additives. Choose a twin-screw when you need reactive extrusion, vacuum devolatilisation, several side feeds, high-loading liquid injection or high throughput. We recommend one or the other after reviewing your brief.

Yes. We dose liquid or molten additives such as maleic anhydride, organic peroxides, polyisobutylene (PIB) and silicones directly into the extruder with metered pumps. Direct injection is more accurate than pre-coating pellets and avoids sticky premixes. Maximum loading depends on the polymer and the liquid.

We run chemistry inside the extruder: grafting (for example maleic anhydride onto PP or PE to make coupling agents and compatibilisers), peroxide crosslinking, and controlled degradation such as visbreaking PP to raise its melt flow. Doing it during compounding saves a separate processing step. Volatile residues are removed by vacuum devolatilisation.

Yes. We turn 100 % additive blends (one-pack systems) into stable, dust-free pellets. You get a single feeder instead of several, fewer weighing errors, less airborne dust in the plant and a lower dust-explosion risk.

Polyolefins, engineering polymers, fluoropolymers, epoxy resins, acrylics, rubbers, styrenics, TPEs (TPU, TPE-E, TPV, TPS, TPA), bio-based and biodegradable polymers and recycled polymers. On the additive side: mineral fillers, cling and adhesive agents, fluoro-additives, liquid additives, natural fibres, halogen-free and halogenated flame retardants, compatibilisers and blowing agents.

Trial quantities are agreed project by project. Scale-up trials then run on the same line configuration as production, so the data you collect is directly usable for your campaigns.

It depends mostly on two things you control: raw-material availability and your own qualification of the trial material. The path itself is always the same: NDA, feasibility assessment, lab trial, scale-up trial, campaigns. Tell us your target start date in the request form and we'll say whether it's realistic.

Three options: you supply them (consignment stock at our site), we source them, or a mix of both. Incoming materials are checked and traced by lot. The choice is written into the toll agreement together with yield and material-loss tolerances.

Yes, depending on line availability at the time of your request. The fastest back-up is one qualified in advance: run a trial now, validate the material, keep the formulation ready. When your own line stops, the switch then takes days rather than weeks. Use the back-up capacity form, and call +33 (0)2 35 57 81 81 if production is already at risk.

It's one of the main reasons customers come to us. You move from a lab trial to scale-up and first commercial campaigns on production-scale equipment, then decide on your own investment with real process and market data.

We sign a bilateral NDA before any technical exchange. Your formulation and your product IP stay yours, our process know-how stays ours, and both points are written into the toll agreement. Project data access is limited to the team running your campaigns, and materials and lots are traced.

No. Start with non-confidential information: polymer types, additive families, target properties, volumes and process constraints. We'll send the NDA, and you share the recipe once it's signed.

It depends on who supplies what. When you supply raw materials, you remain responsible for their REACH status. Roles (registrant, importer, downstream user) and safety data sheet responsibilities are defined project by project in the toll agreement.

Our Cany-Barville site is certified ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment) and ISO 45001 (health and safety), ISCC PLUS for mass-balance circular and bio-based materials, and GPI for the prevention of plastic pellet losses. Polytechs also holds Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) customs status and the EcoVadis Committed badge. Certificates are available on request.

Yes. Our ISCC PLUS certification lets us process circular or bio-based feedstock under mass balance and pass the sustainability claim down the chain with the right documentation. Tell us in the request form if your project needs certified material; the claim covers the materials within our certificate scope.

Authorised Economic Operator status means EU customs authorities consider Polytechs a reliable operator. For you it usually means smoother customs formalities on raw materials you send us from outside the EU and on compounds we ship abroad.

Each production is checked against the agreed specification. Our lab measures MFI, viscosity, density, ash content, melting point, contamination on film and pellet, colour, mechanical properties, VOC content, IR, DSC, TGA, HPLC and humidity. A certificate of analysis is issued per lot.

Requirements such as EU 10/2011 for plastics in contact with food, good manufacturing practice (EU 2023/2006) or automotive VOC and fogging limits are reviewed during the feasibility assessment and written into the specification. Tell us your target standard in the request form.

Yes. We correct melt flow with peroxides, compatibilise mixed PE/PP streams, restabilise against degradation and reduce volatiles by devolatilisation. We measure contamination on film and pellets. If you want to correct MFI in your own extruder, our sister brand FX PEROX supplies peroxide masterbatches.

Bags, big bags and octabins, with on-site storage and worldwide delivery. Packaging, labelling and Incoterm are agreed per project.

In Cany-Barville, Normandy, France (Seine-Maritime), within reach of the ports of Le Havre and Rouen. We deliver across Europe and export worldwide.

Yes, under Polytechs Products: Clean Xpress® purging compounds, PW cling masterbatches, SW additive masterbatches, FX PEROX peroxide masterbatches and FX AID processing aids (products-polytechs.com). Toll compounding under Polytechs Solutions is a separate service, and customer formulations are never used for our own products.

Fill in the feasibility form. It takes about five minutes: your need, your polymers and volumes, and whether you need an NDA. You get a reference number immediately and a PDF copy of your request.