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Sarvjit Singh
According to the OECD Global Plastic Outlook, the world generated 353 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2019, a number which has more than doubled since 2000. Out of this, only 9% was rycled while almost 50% was landfilled, 19% incinerated, and 22% was discarded in uncontrolled sites or in the environment. Many parts of the world are not equipped to deal with the large amount of plastic waste they generate or import from aboard. According to the UNEP Global Waste Management Outlook, 3 billion people do not have access to controlled disposal services for solid waste, and 2 billion people still lack access to regular waste collection. Therefore, a large portion of plastic waste is either littered or inadequately disposed. Of all plastics produced since the 1950, nearly 80% ended up in the environment or in landfills. With no changes in the way we produce, consume and dispose of plastic, another 33 billion tonnes of plastic is expected to accumulate on the planet by 2050.
In terms of global governance, the Basel Convention is the key international instrument to regulate transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal; the Secretariat is based in Geneva. In 2019, Parties to the Convention agreed to add plastic waste under the convention, making it the first international agreement to directly address the issue of plastic pollution. At the 16th Conference of the Parties held in May 2023, Parties to the Basel Convention adopted technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of plastic waste, POPs waste, and e-waste.While avoiding the generation of plastic waste is overall preferable, environmentally sound management of plastic waste, once it is generated, is essential to protect human health and the environment. Without proper collection and disposal system, plastic contaminate the air, soil and water, thus causing harm to ecosystems and people. Since the adoption of the plastic waste amendments, the Basel Convention provides guidance for better management of plastic waste.
Since the 1950s, an estimated 9% of all plastic produced by humanity has been recycled. While there has been an increased interest in and development of plastic recycling systems and facilities, still only 14% of plastic waste is currently being collected for recycling. As plastic disposal in landfill and burning has damaging consequences on human and environmental health, recycling is increasing seen as having huge potential to tackle the plastic crisis. However, plastic recycling presents many challenges due to the nature of the material itself. Meanwhile, relying on recycling alone is not sufficient to solve the plastic crisis and address the full impacts of plastics across the value chain.
‘Offsetting’ is another practice associated with plastic recycling and that represents a false hope in tackling plastic pollution. The practice of collecting plastics already present in the environment, ‘legacy plastics’, cannot pay off for the production of virgin plastics because these usually accumulate levels of toxicity that renders them unrecyclable and do not compensate the damage caused by newly produced materials.
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The “Thermoforming Plastic Market by Plastic Type (PP, PS, PET, PE, PVC, Bio-plastics, ABS), Thermoforming Type (Vacuum Formed, Pressure Formed, Mechanical Formed), Parts Type (Thin Gauge, Thick Gauge), End-use Industry, and Region - Global Forecast to 2024”
The thermoforming plastic market is expected to grow from USD 34.8 billion in 2019 to USD 45.9 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 5.7% during the forecast period. New product launches leading to an increased application scope of thermoforming plastic as well as the growing usage of these products across various end-use industries, including food & agriculture packaging, healthcare & pharmaceutical, construction, electrical & electronics, automotive packaging & structures, consumer goods & appliances, are expected to augment the market growth. However, the non-suitability of thermoforming plastic for the packaging of heavy items is the major factor restraining the growth of the market.
Automotive packaging & structures is the fastest-growing end-use industry of thermoforming plastic, in terms of value
Thermoforming plastic is gaining importance in the automotive packaging & structures end-use industry. Thermoformed plastic parts in the automotive sector are durable, reusable, and can be customized in any color. These parts do not require painting. Thermoformed parts are strong and can be reinforced. Some other properties include lightweight, easy to clean, and chemical resistance. Some of the major applications include dashboard assemblies, interior door panels, seating parts, engine bay paneling, exterior body panels, bumpers, air ducts, pickup truck bed liners, wheel well liners,
truck liners, floor mats, and cargo mats.
The vacuum forming thermoforming plastic segment accounted for a major share of the thermoforming plastic market, in terms of value, during the forecast period.
The global thermoforming plastic market is projected to be dominated by the vacuum forming thermoforming plastic segment, in terms of both value and volume during the forecast period. Vacuum forming is cost-effective, provides quicker tooling, and has the ability to form very large parts. This process also allows for sharper details, undercuts, mold-in-texture, and has tighter tolerances. Whereas pressure forming process is used mostly for complex shapes. The mechanical forming process is used rarely for thermoforming plastic.
North America is the largest, and APAC is the fastest-growing thermoforming plastic market
North America is the largest region in the thermoforming plastic market due to the high demand for thermoformed structural parts and thermoformed packaging from automotive, food & agriculture packaging, consumer goods & appliances, and healthcare industries. North America is home to some of the prominent thermoforming plastic manufacturers such as Pactiv LLC, Sonoco Products Company, D&W Fine Pack LLC, and so on. APAC is the fastest-growing region as the growing population presents a huge customer base for FMCG products and consumer durables, which in turn is expected to lead to the growth of the thermoforming plastic market.
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Recent years have seen a steady increase in the demand for high-performance plastomers and elastomers that combine the physical properties of rubber with the processing advantages of a thermoplastic material. This trend has been accompanied by a growing urgency in the demand for sustainable solutions that offer the same material performance but with circular content and a reduced carbon footprint.
Borealis' production location in Geleen, the Netherlands, is the production site for Queo™, Borealis' range of high-performance polyolefin plastomers and elastomers. In March 2023, the facility received the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS), thus enabling Borealis to introduce a new product line to meet customer demand for circular solutions: the Bornewables™ line of Queo.
Produced with ISCC PLUS–certified renewable feedstock, the new line represents an expansion of the Bornewables portfolio of circular polyolefin products, which offer the same material performance as fossilbased polyolefins, yet decoupled from fossil-based feedstock and with reduced carbon emissions.
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increased sustainability with no compromise on quality
Produced using proprietary Borceed™ technology, Queo products bridge the performance gap between conventional plastics such as polyethylene (PE) and conventional elastomers like ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM). Applications include automotive, flexible and rigid packaging, housewares, and wire and cables. "The Bornewables line of Queo is a value-add solution that will enable Borealis' customers to continue to benefit from Queo's unmatched sealability, flexibility, compatibility and processability properties, while also meeting their sustainability goals," says Britta Warnke, Borealis Vice President Commercial, Advanced Products and Mobility.
The Bornewables line of Queo products is ISCC PLUS certified based on a mass balance approach, a chain of custody model that makes it possible to track, trace and verify sustainable content from feedback through to finished product. Bornewables feedstock is derived solely from waste and residue streams: from vegetable oil products as well as oil waste and residues – for instance, used cooking oil. The use of renewable feedstock is a key component of
Borealis' Circular Cascade approach, which illustrates how the company aims to lead the transformation of the plastics industry from linear to circular production.
The launch of circular plastomers and elastomers represents another step towards Borealis achieving its circular economy targets: by 2025, Borealis targets a four-fold increase in share of circular products and solutions to 600 kilotonnes per annum. By 2030, the volume of circular product and solutions is set to reach 1.8 million tonnes per annum globally, turning today's plastic waste into a valuable resource to be reused. "The Bornewables line of Queo plastomers and elastomers strengthens our position as a global circular economy leader,” says Chris McArdle, Borealis Vice President Circular Economy Solutions and New Business Development. This launch marks another step on our EverMinds mission to lead the transformation to a circular economy for plastics and again underlines how we re-invent essentials for sustainable living."
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With the rise in the consumption of raw materials, plastic processors are facing higher political and social demands to use a greater proportion of recycled materials. Companies such as MultiPet GmbH, a recycling company that processes used PET materials into flakes, make this transition possible. Along with their sister company Multiport, which specializes in making HDPE compounds from packaging waste, they are considered important suppliers of secondary raw materials for the plastics processing industry.
MultiPet GmbH is part of Veolia, a
globally active environmental service provider. MultiPet processes discarded PET bottles and trays into high-quality recycled PET flakes that are pure enough to be used by plastic processors to create new products and containers. How does the PET recycling process work?
MultiPet receives pressed bales of pre-sorted PET waste. After the bales are broken up, plastics are first checked for impurities, then ground into flakes and intensively washed.
The FLAKE PURIFIER+ multi-sensor sorting systems from Sesotec come into play directly after the ground material has undergone a two-stage
density separation process involving two rounds of hot washing. At this stage, the sorting systems separate discolored materials, foreign plastics, and metals from the flakes.
Sesotec FLAKE PURIFIER+ units are designed especially for use in plastic flake processing and are characterized above all by the ease of operation and heightened throughput capacities.
At MultiPet, the FLAKE PURIFIER+ systems are equipped with multiple sensors for color and material recognition. This enables MultiPet to produce PET flakes in batches of different colors and qualities for use as raw materials in the plastics
processing industry. By using recyclates produced by MultiPet, plastic processors are reducing their CO2 footprint, contributing to climate protection and conserving resources.
“Sesotec’s processing technology enables us to keep the loss of good material to a minimum”, says Herbert Snell, Managing Director of MultiPet GmbH. “This makes our sorting processes even more efficient.“ Sesotec‘s scope of delivery was complemented by a turn-key material handling setup which included steelwork platforms and material conveyance systems, simplifying integration into the overall system.
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The versatility of plastic is one of its strongest characteristics, and it makes it particularly popular amongst designers. Once you have found the right plastic for a project, you have endless design possibilities. Plastic is also a favored material for BASF's design team: in collaboration with Citroën, the chemical company rethought the classic carwith plastic as the central building block that made the implementation of the innovative concept possible in the first place.
Alex Horisberger: In many aspects, the concept car answers questions that are directed at the mobility of tomorrow: How can I simplify my commute? Can a vehicle save resources and be fun at the same time? How can it look good at the same time? The result is a particularly lightweight yet robust and durable automobile - without frills, unnecessary luxuries and well thought out down to the smallest detail.
What challenges arise in such a development? What requirements have to be met?
Horisberger: Durability, recyclability and simplicity play a crucial role in
the novel concept. At the same time, the aim was to make sustainability look good. And in terms of production technology, the simplification principle was also consistently implemented; for example, the driver and passenger doors are identical. During development and design, we worked closely with Citroën to select the right materials from BASF's broad portfolio.
To what extent can plastics help meet these challenges?
Horisberger: Plastics are incredibly versatile and can therefore contribute to the functionality and functional integration of many vehicle components. Our polyamides have also proven their longterm durability many times over under typical automotive conditions without aging or corrosion. Of course, the sustainability aspect is also crucial: BASF is developing plastics that enable both mechanical and chemical recycling to support the industry in its transition from a linear to a circular economy. In addition, these engineering plastics can be made from renewable or recycled raw materials.
Horisberger: We are dealing here with the reversal of the normal approach to a product, because often the prevailing principle is 'form follows function'. But when we look at a car from a sustainability perspective, materials and manufacturing technologies have to come first. In this project, the boundaries were pushed further and further, whether by using materials in unusual ways or by fundamentally rethinking the design of a component.
Which plastics are used in the concept car and why exactly these?
Horisberger: To make Citroën's vision of reusability and simplicity a reality, BASF relied on the material of a single TPU product family for the interior, for example, thereby facilitating mechanical recycling at the end of the product life cycle. Thanks to their versatility, our TPU grades enable different functions in the process. One visionary highlight of the concept, for example, was the production of a 3D-printed seat made of TPU material that is both highly flexible and functional. The iconic storage compartment
(Elastollan®) and the vehicle floor (Infinergy®) are made from the same product family. The exterior features lightweight yet robust plastic components that on the one hand reduce energy consumption while driving, but on the other hand leave design managers with all the design options they need.
The hood, roof and pickup-like trunk made of Elastoflex® are strong enough to be used as ladders, roof tent bases or for transporting Christmas trees.
How do you assess future developments as far as the use of plastics in design objects is concerned?
Horisberger: In the numerous customer projects we carry out as BASF Creation Center, we see that the versatility of plastics, combined with the right sustainability concepts, offer designers endless possibilities to design clever products that really make consumers want to act sustainably.
Just as oli impressively demonstrates: Modesty and sustainability can look good!
The all new eQ-SERIES raises the benchmark in energy savings in its category. Its advanced regenerative servo drive reduces energy consumption. The eQ-Series also allows to handle a wider range of applications. The eQ-Series maximizes acceleration and provides ultimate precision and repeatability throughout the cycle, thanks to its best-in-class servo drives. The eQ-Series delivers better shot weight and cycle time consistency throughout its cycle. It’s a new industry standard for an All-Electric Injection Molding Machine.
Interview with Christian Schiller, Co-Founder & CEO, cirplus GmbH
Sometimes you have to see a problem with your own eyes – or feel it with your own feet – to want to do something about it. At least that's how it was for Christian Schiller, who launched cirplus, a digital marketplace for recyclates.
In an interview, he talks about the moment when he realized that he wanted to actively combat plastic pollution and how he is doing his part with cirplus.
cirplus?
How did you come up with the idea of a digital marketplace for recyclates?
Christian Schiller: It all started with a trip around the world in 2017. After setting up the German offshoot of the ride-sharing community BlaBlaCar, I treated myself to some time out on the water. On the way from Colombia to Panama, I was dangling my legs in the water when suddenly something touched me and I realized we were driving through a carpet of plastic. It was a nightmare. How can it be that this material, worth trillions when we extract it from the earth's crust as petroleum, later ends up as trash in
the ocean? Something can't be right. Back in Germany, I did some indepth research with my partner Volkan Bilici, a software developer with experience in the plastics industry. It turned out how much plastic waste ends up in thermal recycling - in other words, in the waste incineration plant – even in collection-conscious Germany.
Schiller: Germany celebrates itself as the recycling world champion, but lags behind when it comes to plastics. Less than 6 percent of the waste from the yellow bag ends up back in production, even though the Packaging Act stipulates a recycling rate of 63 percent by 2022. The problem with plastic recycling is also the varying composition of the waste, because all kinds of things end up in the garbage can. This makes it difficult for recycling companies to produce consistent quality of secondary raw materials.
Therefore, there is a lack of recycled material, and the little is also relatively expensive. Recycled goods, however, must be economically competitive with virgin petroleum products. Until then, it is ecologically disreputable because it is not reused at the end of its life cycle. Here, there is certainly a need to raise awareness among both industry and consumers to make a significant contribution to environmental protection. But despite all the hurdles, as with glass and paper, I saw an opportunity to reconcile ecology with economy. That's how
cirplus came to be founded. To what extent do you contribute to climate protection with cirplus?
Schiller: cirplus is a kind of digital wholesale market for recycled plastics. The first step is to network waste disposers and recycling companies that produce recycled plastic from the waste. Processors can obtain this via the platform as raw material for new products, such as shampoo bottles. These packaging manufacturers supply brand-name manufacturers with bottles made from recycled plastic. That way, plastic ends up on the shelf and not in the ocean or incinerated. It also saves millions of tons of the valuable resource petroleum and doesn't contribute to the world's CO2 pollution.
What role does digitalization play in this?
Schiller: Of course, digitalization and AI also play a crucial role at cirplus. We are digitizing the procurement process. Costs can be saved at every stage of the value chain: cirplus helps to find new suppliers or customers, offers integrated material testing, and optimizes logistics right through to payment processing and complaints management.
On the other hand, cirplus increases transparency and security of supply. Thanks to worldwide networking, comparability and the ability to conclude contracts, every plastics processor can see from which
material stream a supplier has produced a recyclate. The platform thus anticipates regulatory dynamics and already integrates the idea of digital product passports, as recently demanded by the European Parliament.
You have initiated a standard for recycled plastics at the German Institute for Standardization (DIN). What is that all about?
Schiller: With the so-called DIN SPEC 91446, both buyers and sellers can be provided with standards for high-quality plastic applications in the future. This has not existed before. The next step now is to establish these standards in the market and ensure that recycled material is tested regularly. By bringing standards and transparency to demand and to offers, we are virtually a digital catalyst in the entire recycling process.
How do you think the plastics industry needs to develop in the future?
Schiller: In the future, a path must be found in which bioplastics lead away from plastic production from fossil sources. By then, plastic that has been used as packaging, for example, can be recycled up to ten times before it ends up in an incineration plant. That's the only way plastic will have a sustainable future. I mean, we fly to Mars and can't manage to run plastic in circles. That's absurd, and for me it's also a failure on the part of policymakers.
Minnaar. An Eco-Block building also costs much less to construct compared with typical methods. "A standard government classroom in Southeast Asia costs on average US$14,000," Ward said. "An EcoBlock classroom costs about $7,000. Plus, it only takes around five hours to build."
The Classroom of Hope team has now ordered enough Eco-Blocks to rebuild eight schools previously destroyed in the earthquake –making the startup of a factory to make the blocks in Indonesia vitally important. Block Solutions hopes to have the plant up and running by mid-2022.
and PET, and continues to investigate other resins. Outside of Finland, Block Solutions says it expects to use alternate fibers for its product, such as bamboo, sugarcane, acacia and rice husk. "The carbon footprint of our product is close to zero," the company claims.
The Eco-Blocks are joined together using a rubber hammer, and can be modified with normal woodworking machines, for example, to cut out holes for electrical sockets. "A 30square-meter building can be built in 2.5 hours by two persons without any professional experience in construction," the company says on its website.
There is much discussion these days about the circular economy, and the means for incorporating plastics into this model. Recycling a used plastic bottle back into a clean, new bottle has some obvious environmental advantages. But a much more impactful model, in many cases, would involve turning tons of discarded plastics into products with a very long lifespan.
Using recycled plastics in construction or in roadways, for example, helps to take those materials out of circulation for many years. And there can be additional benefits – such as leveraging plastics' light weight, durability and elasticity to enhance the final products. Two groups in very different parts of the world –Finland's Block Solutions Oy and Costa Rica's Center for Regenerative Design and Collaboration – are doing just this.
Block Solutions is combining mixed recycled polypropylene (PP) and other plastics with wood-fiber byproducts from Finland’s forest industry to produce a
biocomposite. It then is injection molding this material to produce large, patent-pending, Lego-like blocks that snap together and can be used to construct low-cost buildings. The firm says it can also use plain recycled plastics to make the blocks. Rebuilding schools in Indonesia. For its first major project, the company used its beige EcoBlocks to rebuild a five-classroom school in a small, earthquakedevastated village in Lombok, Indonesia.
In a recent interview with social enterprise news outlet Pro Bono Australia, Duncan Ward, the Indonesia-based founder of Classroom of Hope Ltd., said of Eco-Blocks: "It took six days to build the school with these things. It would usually take around three to six months [to build a school], but these blocks are fully interlocking and come in groups of two, four, and eight, which makes things quicker." The lightweight blocks have a degree of elasticity, thanks to the plastic in them, which makes them less likely to cause significant harm in earthquake-prone areas. The weight of the Eco-Block wall is only onetenth that of a conventional cinderblock wall. The injection molded Eco-Blocks are lightweight, durable and easy to install. Copyright: Alfred
"Once the factory is built, Classroom of Hope will become a major customer and we'll launch a program to build the additional 200 Lombok schools that were lost in the 2018 earthquake," Ward said. Additionally, the South African-born Ward told Pro Bono Australia, "For every classroom we can build with Eco-Blocks, we’re also removing two to three tonnes of plastic waste from the environment."
It took just six days to build the Lombok school, instead of the usual three to six months, and cost about half as much. Copyright: Alfred Minnaar. Block Solutions CEO Sanna Silfverberg explained in an email interview that her firm collects its plastic feedstock from "normal household waste or other sources with safe and traceable origins." The firm's recycling partners "provide us with proof of origin for the material," she said. "This is really to make sure that the blocks are safe to build with." The resulting biocomposites contain 50 to 70 percent plastic, and the firm currently does not incorporate any additives into the compounds. She said the company can use waste PP, polyethylene (PE)
"PP is the most suitable resin for processing and gives good quality finishing and strength," Silfverberg noted. "PE is also very close in performance to PP, but a little softer. PET has a slight disadvantage with the weight and processing, but it is working nicely in the production."
Compared to typical, 5-inch cinder blocks, Eco-Blocks offer roughly double the load capacity. Block Solutions notes that an extensive set of tests have been performed by an external accredited institute to verify the product's characteristics. This includes thermal conductivity (Uvalue determination), fire testing, load-bearing and tensile-strength testing. The blocks do need to be covered with gypsum board or concrete, the company noted, in order to reach the needed fireresistance requirements.
While Block Solutions currently operates only three injection presses in Finland, the company is preparing to set up numerous factories in the next six to nine months, in Indonesia, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Egypt and Kenya, with additional plants also in the works. The firm says it is making progress in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Block Solutions CEO Sanna Silfverberg. Copyright: Block Solutions Oy
Eight to ten times on average a wooden pallet is used in the handling area of logistics before it shows a defect and has to be sorted out. This is neither particularly economical nor good for the environment. Pallets made of plastic offer a more sustainable solution.
In an interview with K-MAG, Wolfgang P. Albeck talks about the switch from wood to plastic and the concrete advantages of plastic pallets for companies and the environment.
Mr Albeck, how did the decision to use plastic pallets instead of wood come about?
Wolfgang P. Albeck: In 2019, we started using plastic pallets as loading aids in our long-distance transports, i.e. in the transport between our 36 sorting centres in Germany. Pallets are a long underestimated production factor in logistics. Many companies assume that the use of wooden pallets and the exchange option are without alternative, cheap and sustainable, but on closer inspection all that is not the case.
In what way?
Albeck: We have analysed the use of our wooden pallets in detail and found three structural points at the
core. Firstly, the low durability. In the handling area of logistics, wooden pallets have a defect after only a few turns (8 to 10!), are no longer safe and have to be sorted out and booked out as broken pallets. Moreover, in pallet exchange you do not always receive flawless, but already damaged loading aids. Secondly, wooden pallets are heavier than the H1 pallets we use, absorb more and more moisture over time and thus become even heavier. Thirdly, the wooden pallets become darker due to the absorption of moisture and dirt. Then they are no longer considered hygienic and may no longer be used according to the EU rules for the transport of pharmaceuticals (GDP), which trans-o-flex adheres to.
How could the plastic pallets solve these problems?
Albeck: The 30,000 plastic pallets we have been using since 2019 have reduced the annual number of broken pallets by 240,000. On the other hand, we hardly have any breakage with H1 pallets. They are predicted to have a service life of more than seven years.
At 18 kilos, H1 pallets are a quarter lighter than wooden pallets. These weigh 24 kilos when new and also absorb more and more moisture in the course of their life, making them even heavier. As a result, a full
articulated truck with freight on wooden pallets has to carry over 200 kilos more load on each journey. Finally, the plastic pallets are GDP-compliant throughout their entire service life.
How do you as a company benefit from the changeover?
Albeck: We have been able to increase productivity because we have less work with the plastic pallets. In addition, they are cheaper on balance. Although they have higher acquisition costs, they save money in the end in a full cost calculation. And the prices for wooden pallets have at times tripled in the last two years.
Recently, you have also started making the pallets available to your customers. How does that work exactly? And what are the advantages for the customers?
Albeck: After the advantages in internal transport have clearly been proven, we wanted to make these advantages directly available to our customers as well. We have therefore now started to provide our customers with plastic pallets for so-called mixed pallets. These are consignments on which the customer stacks parcels for different recipients.
We collect these mixed pallets from the customer and bring them to one of our sorting centres. There, the parcels are taken off the pallet, distributed to the different relations and the pallet can go back to the customer. In order to ensure that there are always enough pallets on hand at the customer's premises, even in the event of fluctuations in quantity, we can assume as a rule of thumb that the customer needs about three times the number of pallets that he sends as mixed pallets every day. The benefit for the customer is also less breakage, easier handling for the employees, less administrative effort.
To what extent can plastic pallets make logistics more sustainable?
Albeck: By being more economical and environmentally friendly. The durability, the lower weight and the GDP conformity clearly speak for the plastic pallet. According to a Fraunhofer study, an H1 pallet causes 50 per cent less CO2 emissions over its entire life cycle than an equivalent number of wooden pallets in the same time. What's more, the pallets we use can be completely recycled if they ever break down. The plastic is regranulated and can be used to make new pallets again.
Increased productivity in injection moulding process translates to lower unit costs, a stronger competitive position, and more profit. To achieve this goal, optimising product changeover times is right at the top of the agenda. But this is a complex topic. Many different measures can help to save time and not all of them are equally suitable for every operation. Add to this the fact that the shortage of skilled workers often slows down optimisation projects. ENGEL sup-ports processors with customised training offers, helping to find the right measures and implement them in an efficient way.
A survey conducted by ENGEL among its customers clearly shows the massive time-saving potential that mould set-up holds. 73 percent of all injection moulding processors surveyed say that they take more than an hour to change products, and more than half of the respondents need to set up moulds at least once a day. "With the right measures, machine downtime caused by mould changes can be reduced by 50 to 80 percent," says Mario Wilke, consultant and trainer at ENGEL headquarters in Austria.
ENGEL offers a wide range of technologies for simple and fast mould changes. This includes magnetic clamping platens and quick couplings, intelligent assistance systems, the famox mould changing system for complete automation of the set-up process, and training offers that support the optimisation of the product change strategy.
Given the right approach, a huge amount of time can be saved during mould set-up. For example, with the Setup wizard, which interactively guides the machine operator through the individual steps. Source: ENGEL AUSTRIA GmbH
ENGEL consultancy starts as early as in the selection of the appropriate training package. Three different courses are available, each tailored to the different requirements of the processors, the conditions in the company and the know-how of the production staff. Basics, Advanced and Expert differ in terms of the depth of knowledge taught and the mould change methods covered.
While Basics provides an introduction to the topic and demonstrates the potential using a pilot machine in the ENGEL training centre, the two more advanced courses take place on site at the processor's facility. Together, the mould set-up processes are analysed and the various methods for product change optimisation are evaluated.
Starting with magnetic rapid clamping systems and multiple couplings, through mould positioning and preheating, to the use of a Setup wizard in the Expert course. In all three courses, ENGEL collaborates with Stäubli and other partner companies. This means that participants are given valuable information and practical tips beyond the scope of the injection moulding machine. "In view of the shortage of skilled workers, Wizard based mould set-up is increasingly shifting into the processors' focus," as Wilke emphasises. "Standardised menu-driven mould changes not only save time, but also reduce the risk of errors." The Setup wizard is a kind of checklist that interactively guides the machine operator through the individual steps required for the mould change. To the extent possible, the Setup wizard handles
the program steps automatically. Manual steps need to be confirmed on the control unit. This empowers less experienced employees to set up moulds safely and without errors. For experienced mould set-up teams, the Setup wizard further boosts efficiency.
Processor benefits from in-depth injection moulding know-how of trainer
One key component of the ENGEL offering is the training of employees who support the implementation of optimisation measures at the processing facility. In all phases of product change optimisation, the processor benefits from the ENGEL trainers' in-depth understanding of injection moulding. "This sets us apart from many other seminar providers on the market who do not focus on the injection moulding industry," as Wilke emphasises. "We make sure that our customers leverage the injection moulding production cell to the max – and with as little overhead as possible."
ENGEL is offering the new product change optimisation courses in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The courses are available in other countries on request.
100% bio-based, naturally compostable, free of potentially harmful substances, climate-friendly and resource-efficient in production and processing.
How exactly is the material produced?
InterviewwithDr.-Ing.AnneLamp, CEO & Co-Founder, traceless materials GmbHAs early as 1908, textile engineer Jacques Brandenberger invented cellophane, a film made of natural polymers. However, the material was displaced by synthetic polymers with the development of numerous plastics. In the wake of the climate crisis, natural polymers are now coming back into focus as an alternative to fossil raw materials. traceless offers such an alternative.
In an interview with Anne Lamp talks about traceless, the production of the material and its possible applications.
Dr Lamp, with traceless you have developed a new type of material. What is it about?
Dr Anne Lamp: traceless® is a natural, plant-based plastic alternative. We use plant-based residues from the agricultural industry to produce a thermoplastic granulate that can be further processed using standard plastics processing methods. My motivation for developing the traceless® material was to develop a biocompatible material according to the cradle-to-cradle principle –
Lamp: The basis for the production is plant-based raw materials – more precisely: a side stream from industrial grain processing, for example brewery or starch production.
We have developed an efficient and simple process to harness the natural polymers in it. This is the secret behind our materials. The challenge: to bring this technology to scale! At an industrial production level, the production is pricecompetitive with plastics, but we are not there yet. In the two years since our founding, we have built and commissioned a pilot plant and are currently producing our materials there. A larger demonstration plant is being planned. We want to start building it this year. In view of the great demand, time is pressing!
For which products is the material particularly suitable? What is it not suitable for?
Lamp: traceless® has thermoplastic properties, and can be processed in a similar way to many plastics – for example into moulded parts, films or paper coatings. Injection moulded parts are a great potential.
In general, a biocircular material is suitable wherever products easily end up in the environment or where conventional recycling is difficult. Of course, new materials like ours cannot yet replace all plastics, especially in the high-performance
sector. The material is stable in storage, but when exposed to weather and moisture it begins to decompose – one of the advantages of the material, but one that makes it rather unsuitable for a garden chair, for example. Therefore, disposable products or packaging are of particular interest, where the enormous resistance of plastic is not necessarily needed.
Where exactly is the material used? Do you already have experience?
Lamp: Our first product on the shelves is a small hook that we developed together with the fashion retailer C&A. The injection-moulded part is used for this purpose. The injection-moulded part is used to hang up socks. C&A is planning to significantly reduce the amount of conventional plastics in packaging and came to us looking for solutions. Especially with a small part like the hook, recycling is difficult in practice, so a plastic-free solution was interesting here. After some development time, the launch of this innovative project then attracted a lot of attention, there was a lot of press and positive feedback. Many C&A customers, on the other hand, hardly noticed that the hooks were different, because apart from the amber appearance, they look quite similar. We consider that a success –our material should work just as easily as plastic!
Last year you won the Next Economy Award as part of the German Sustainability Award. What does this award mean to you?
Lamp: It was an important award for us because it recognises the core objective of our company: to drive
the green transformation of our economy. Especially in the consumer goods sector, sustainability claims are omnipresent but usually difficult to verify. We see the fact that the high-calibre jury has recognised our business model as sustainable after a thorough examination as a great external confirmation that we are on the right track. Of course, such a prestigious award is also important for our customers – processors, brands and retailers. But it is also very clear that we have not yet reached the end. We want to produce one million tonnes of traceless® material by 2030, and replace less sustainable materials in many applications –we still have a long way to go!
You also participated as an exhibitor at K 2022. How did the trade fair go for you?
Lamp: As a young company founded in 2020, it was our first K as an exhibitor. We don't offer plastic, but a natural material, but it can be processed like plastic – so it was clear to us that we would not only participate as a visitor, but also as an exhibitor. We were one of the only suppliers of natural polymers, so the interest was correspondingly great! We had an unbelievably large number of exciting discussions with processors and brand owners, from which some promising new development projects have already emerged. It was also a great opportunity to expand our network: On the very first day, I was able to meet German State Secretary Dr. Christiane Rohleder for a personal discussion together with some industry representatives. It was really exciting to enter into dialogue and to understand even better how our solution can contribute to mastering the challenges of the entire industry.
traceless is produced from grain waste in a particularly resource-efficient way. The use of natural polymers makes the material biocompatible and climate-friendly.
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Chemical recycling is often hailed as being a panacea. This process could make it possible to integrate all used plastics into a perfect circular loop. Many polymer producers, often accompanied by innovative start-ups, are making inroads and are now offering solutions – proof positive of the technology’s importance. What are these solutions? What exactly can we expect from them? Let’s take a look…
To understand the principle of chemical recycling, it is important to recall that all plastics are composed of one or more basic molecules, called monomers, which repeat to form a long chain: a polymer. In the majority of cases, the monomer(s) is/are obtained from gases or oils from oil refining operations.
There are currently three main families of technologies used to recycle plastics other than that of mechanical recycling. Although they are all different, these three types of technologies have a common objective: re-using end-of-life plastics in one or another of the main stages of their initial manufacturing process; that is to say, reprocessing them either into raw materials for the petrochemicals industry, basic monomers or purified polymers. This is kind of a return to the source for plastics. In this way, chemical recycling makes it possible to manufacture polymers with properties equivalent to those of virgin resins.
It is also the achievement of a paradigm shift. These technologies aim to overcome the limitations of mechanical recycling; not to replace it, but rather to complement it. In this way, it would be possible, in the not-too-distant future, for most plastic waste to enter a recycling chain. That waste will then constitute a precious resource that will have to be collected and sorted in the same way as other materials that are already the stars of the recycling industry.
This technology could also put an end to issues surrounding the presence of certain substances, especially those known as "legacy"
substances, additives that were authorised in the past but are no longer authorised (or may no longer be authorised in the future), which may limit the applications for recycled plastics. This advantage specific to chemical recycling should open the way to a circular economy for all plastics used in areas as sensitive as food, medical applications and toys, which are all subject to the most stringent health regulations.
In terms of resources, using both chemical and mechanical recycling should reduce the polymer production industry’s reliance on fossil fuels, even though it is generally accepted that plastics only account for 4% of oil consumption. It is also a key way to meet emerging regulatory requirements for the integration of recycled content in consumer products.
Mechanical recycling is well suited and already widely used for many end-of-life plastic products. They are sorted, shredded, washed and re-melted into granules or flakes, which are then transformed into new products. This relatively simple technology, which has not yet reached its full potential, works very well for objects made from a single polymer, such as a polyethylene canister, or for those where it is possible to easily separate the different components, such as used window and door frames. However, it is not as effective for items where several polymers are closely bonded, or combined with other materials, and are difficult to separate. This is the case for some multi-layer food packaging or residues from sorting or shredding certain plastic waste. This is where the three chemical recycling technologies come into their own.
Currently, three innovative technologies are available to complement mechanical recycling.
Conversion is a process that enables plastic waste to be transformed into hydrocarbons. Using heat and little or no oxygen, plastic waste is "cracked" to obtain either oil (pyrolysis) or gas (gasification). After purification, the oil and gas can be supplied to refineries or cracking plants whose products are then used to make new plastics, among other things.
This technique is increasingly being used. It is suited to almost all types of waste, especially that made up of several polymers or materials, such as certain multi-layer food packaging. It is also very effective in ridding polymers of all their impurities.
This operation consists of breaking the chemical bonds of the polymer in order to obtain the monomer, either using chemical agents (solvents, water, alcohols) or heat. The monomers thus obtained are then purified before they can be polymerised again. They are then injected into traditional production processes as a secondary raw material (recycled material).
As the name suggests, dissolution is a process in which polymers are dissolved most often in a solvent bath. This technology does not alter the polymer’s chemical structure, but allows it to be separated from certain additives, impurities and other materials. This recycling principle is based on the solvency of the polymers which are the sole component to be dissolved, while the other elements remain in a solid state. As in the case of mechanical recycling, the polymer thus recovered is used to manufacture new objects without having to be polymerised again beforehand.
All these innovative technologies help to reduce the environmental footprint of plastics. They are often still at the industrial pilot stage and require major investments. As a result, they still need to be optimised and reach a larger scale of production to demonstrate their full potential in terms of technical and economic performance.
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The coronavirus has only helped to underscore the importance of plastic packaging when it comes to keeping food contamination-free and to preserving its freshness and usability for longer. This is particularly vital now, given how millions of people worldwide are sheltering in place, and doing their best to make their provisions stretch. But the COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated another trend that has a major impact on product packaging -- e-commerce. Online shopping already was showing strong growth, but the current stayat-home phenomenon has only increased demand. An even broader awakening to the convenience of delivery to your doorstep may forever reshape parts of the retail sector.
In North America, it reported, the number of online orders for webonly online retailers soared 52% year-over-year in the United States and Canada for the period of March 22 through April 4, according to an online tracker from marketing
platform Emarsys and analytics platform GoodData. Revenue for web-only retailers in the U.S. and Canada was up 30% year-over-year for the period.
In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region during the same two-week period, year-over-year transactions for webonly retailers grew by 23%, according to Emarsys/GoodData. During the same period, year-overyear revenue was up 19% in the region.
Virus or not, retail e-commerce is rising sharply. New York-based consumer research firm Statista Inc. said that U.S. online retail sales of physical goods amounted to $365.2 billion in 2019, and projects that will rise to nearly $600 billion in 2024. Consider also that China’s annual, 24-hour online shopping spree known as Single’s Day -- last held on Nov. 11, 2019 -- generated record sales estimated at some $38 billion. The darker side of such a sales boom relates to the impact on the environment of so much product packaging. China’s State Post Bureau
reported that e-commerce giants delivered 1.88 billion packages from Nov. 11 to Nov. 16 last year, an annual increase of almost 26%. Greenpeace estimated that the waste generated exceeded 250,000 tonnes. The volume of packaging material used by China's ecommerce and express delivery sectors hit 9.4 million tonnes last year, and is on course to more than quadruple to 41.3 million tonnes by 2025 if they keep up the rate of increase, according to Greenpeace and other non-government bodies.
So, booming e-commerce offers sales growth for key sectors as well as greater convenience (and safety) now for many, but it clearly comes at a cost. While public health trumps sustainability concerns at the moment, it’s clear that the packaging sector cannot afford to take its collective eye off the ball when it comes to being eco-conscious. As Dow Inc. CEO Jim Fitterling mentioned in ANTEC 2020 virtual conference on March 31: The
COVID-19 crisis is going to end, "but the air we breathe, our water and the land we live on is here forever. And we can't afford to lose the momentum that we've started to gain already to safeguard the environment and help us move to a more circular economy." Leaders in the European Union also are concerned that the current virusdriven economic slump will cause the focus on sustainability to wane, writing in a joint statement in midApril, “We should withstand the temptations of short-term solutions in response to the present crisis that risk locking the EU in a fossil fuel economy for decades to come.” These conditions offer both extreme challenges and enormous opportunities for brand owners, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, and for those designing and manufacturing the packaging. Multiple approaches being pursued Such firms are exploring and advancing multiple strategies to address these issues, including increased plastics recycling, more reusable packaging, greater use of
biomaterials, reduced material use, and design for circularity. Package designers also need to take into account the different priorities for on-shelf vs. e-commerce products. Eye-catching package design is less vital for products sold online than in the store, but ensuring the shipped product arrives at its destination undamaged is vital. Advances in these areas take diverse forms, but consider the efforts being by CPGs to redesign the e-commercefriendly and highly popular –– but largely unrecyclable –– flexible pouches to make them more ecofriendly. This mostly involves finding a way to convert those pouches’ multilayer, multimaterial constructions, which till now have been needed to protect the contents from such unwelcome factors such as moisture, oxygen, and ultraviolet light, into recyclable, mono-material structures.
For example: mono-material pouches
Mondi helped develop this fully recyclable, all-PE pouch
Several advances are happening in
this area. Austria’s Mondi Group, for just one example, worked with several partners for four years to develop an all-polyethyelene, stand-up pouch for Germany’s Werner & Mertz GmbH to use with its Frosch-brand detergent. This patented pouch features detachable decorative panels on both sides, to help enable easier recycling.
Another new technology, called AeroFlexx and developed by Procter & Gamble Co., enables liquid packaging in a flexible yet rigid package. Made with coextruded flexible film, the product leverages compressed air to inflate specific portions of the pouch, specifically along the edges, to bring a degree of rigidity not otherwise possible in a flexible package.
An AeroFlexx package uses half the plastic needed to blow mold a traditional bottle and can be delivered as roll stock to a filling facility, meaning it is easier to ship throughout the supply chain. In addition to significantly reducing
plastic at the source, the Chicago-based company’s vision is to be 100% recycle ready by 2025. While enabling seamless, edge-to-edge artwork, AeroFlexx also features a no-leak, self-sealing valve that offers easy, onehanded operation by the consumer.
New Jersey recycler TerraCycle Inc., meanwhile, is taking a completely different approach with its Loop circular shopping platform. Loop has gained support from many of the world’s best-known brands, ranging from Unilever, PepsiCo, and Nestlé to Danone, Procter & Gamble, and UPS.
The Loop circular shopping platform aims to get brand owners to develop durable, reusable packages that get picked up, sanitized and reused over and over again. The Loop system uses UPS to ship a variety of food, household cleaning, and personal-care products in a reusable and collapsible, padded container called the Loop tote.
The products are dispensed from reusable containers, which are returned in the same reusable tote when empty. Some have dubbed it “the milkman model,” in a nod to the old days when milk was delivered to your doorstep in glass bottles, which were later collected, cleaned, and reused. “Loop,” maintains TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky, “is an engine for CPGs to shift from disposable products that consumers own to durable ones they borrow.” The brand owners, meanwhile, actually own the package, which is meant to be reused at least 100 times.
The impact on packaging is obvious – instead of trying to make the cheapest possible disposable package or container, the brands are incented instead to design handsome, reusable containers out of durable materials. Numerous companies are also investing in initiatives and technologies to advance both mechanical and chemical recycling, and to develop biocompatible and compostable materials.
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Reducing downtime during mould change operations is a daily challenge when trying to remain reactive and competitive. From the simplest application to complete solutions for Quick Mould Change, Stäubli addresses these challenges with proven solutions for each key stage of the process.
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Whether it is inhouse, postconsumer or bottle recycling: you can only close loops in a precise and profitable way if machines are perfectly tuned for the respective application. Count on the number 1 technology from EREMA when doing so: over 6000 of our machines and systems produce around 14.5 million tonnes of high-quality pellets like this every year –in a highly efficient and energy-saving way.
We can help you select the machine that will meet your desired throughput rates based on the specific type of scrap. One size fits all? We don’t think so.
Picking the right rotor type is so important. Whether it’s purge, film, fiber, pipes, profiles, or any other kind of plastic, we have the ideal rotor in mind for your specific application.
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Bausano Extrusion Lines stand out not only for their quality, great solidity and extreme reliability, but also for the possibility to customize every part.
The quality of the extruders and the products is unquestionable: the best technology at the service of the plastic industry, to improve productivity and reduce energy consumption.
