Proposed wire and cable products incorporating high-performance Flexible Noryl resins, now need to undergo only short-term ageing testing vs. a 150 day long-term ageing test, speeding time to market. This is because Flexible Noryl grade developed by GE in 2005 has been now accepted by Underwriter Laboratory as cable coating and is governed by UL1581 standard for cable with temperature rating of 105 degree C. The new GE materials have already proven themselves in the automotive and consumer electronics industries, and, with this new UL listing, are poised for rapid growth in appliance wiring applications.

The UL758 safety standard is used by UL to evaluate wire and cable applications and assign successful constructions an AWM Style number and descriptive style page that provides a set of criteria for an AWM construction that other manufacturers must adhere to. Since Flexible Noryl resin was listed, approximately 30 new AWM Style Pages have been approved for various products that incorporate the GE materials. Most of these applications, including computer cable, hook-up wire, flat ribbon cable, use Flexible Noryl resins as a replacement for PVC wire coatings to meet end-customer requirements for non-halogenated flame retardants. The material provides excellent performance properties such as excellent temperature and flammability, better abrasion resistance than cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), excellent chemical resistance, and lower specific gravity (1.03) than either PVC or PE. For wire and cable manufacturers, this polymer also offers easy processing and faster throughput, as it does not require cross-linking. Flexible Noryl is an excellent material candidate for thin-wall and ultra-thin-wall coating that can significantly reduce weight and mass.

Flexible Noryl resins provide flame-retardant properties capable of meeting UL1581-VW1 performance, one of the most stringent global requirements for consumer electronics. As a replacement for PVC, which can leach phthalates (plasticizers) into the environment and form dioxins when burned, the Flexible Noryl resin portfolio of 10 grades complies with the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) standard governing specific heavy metals and certain brominated FR additives. Flexible Noryl resins also help customers comply with Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) requirements by avoiding an additional waste stream from PVC that can add to recycling costs.