THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS (February 12, 2007) – Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical) recently celebrated 50 years of discovery at its Plastics Technical Center in Bartlesville, Okla.  With its origins as a sales service laboratory in the 1950s, the Plastics Technical Center quickly became renowned in the industry for its dedication to materials, application, and plastics processing development for customers of Marlex^® polyethylene, Marlex^® polypropylene, Ryton^® polyphenylene sulfide, and K-Resin^® styrene butadiene copolymer.  The Plastics Technical Center continues to play a key role in product innovation as well as educating customers and sales personnel in the use and processing of Chevron Phillips Chemical’s plastics.

“For the past 50 years, Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Plastics Technical Center has been at the forefront of turning concepts into real products,” said Mary Jane Hagenson, Vice President of Research and Technology. 

Over the years, many innovative milestones were reached at the Plastics Technical Center, including the co-development of the first successful plastic detergent bottle, bleach bottle, baby bottle, automotive fuel tank, and two-liter bottle closure. The Plastics Technical Center was also instrumental in processing innovations such as moving section molds for blow molding, die shaping for blow molded parts, insulated runners for injection molding, and fusion technology for polyethylene pipe.

“From the hula hoop to substrates for printed circuit boards, the Plastics Technical Center has played an integral role in bringing our research and development group, manufacturing facilities, and customers together to create commercial successes in the marketplace,” Hagenson said.

With state-of-the-art laboratories and processing equipment, the Plastics Technical Center offers potential and existing customers access to resources useful in developing and testing cutting-edge products.  Existing customers also receive on-site technical support when needed to troubleshoot processing issues.

“The clock is already ticking on our next 50 years and Chevron Phillips Chemical is excited about continuing to provide world class technical service to our customers,” said Hagenson.