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By Don Rosato
Solution-based plastic barrier packaging technologies are being developed in an environment of increasing global legislation directives and regulatory trends. The annual Packaging Conference — just held in Orlando, Florida — highlighted a strong focus on new business and emerging technology in the plastics packaging industry. Let's take a look at some key regulatory trends and highlight a recent emerging barrier packaging technology discussed at the event.
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Chemical & Engineering News
With an eye toward soft robotics and self-assembling medical devices, scientists are finding out how best to trigger and put to work materials that move.
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Physics
Granular materials such as sand often behave like a collection of molecules, flowing like liquids in some conditions or locking together in solid structures in others. Now researchers experimenting with chains of metallic beads have shown a surprising link to the physics of polymers—long, chain-like molecules that form plastic and rubber materials. Both show a marked tendency to grow stiffer in response to any deforming force. The finding could help in the engineering of stronger materials.
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MECO’s EP Type-3 split seal, for dryers, mixers, blenders, reactor vessels, extruder-compounders and similar rotating equipment used in the plastics, chemicals, metals and other process industries. The EP Type-3 is sized for OEM and custom equipment. And we can help train your maintenance staff on seal MRO.
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Canadian Plastics
Philip David Coates, Dr. Rajen M. Patel, and John Beaumont are being awarded by the SPE for outstanding contributions to the industry.
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Medical Plastics News
The PlastiVan Program, in its 21st year, educates students of all ages by ‘changing the perception of plastics one classroom at a time.’ Its goal is to increase student knowledge of the contributions of plastics in modern life and promote careers in engineering. “The PlastiVan Program is a great way to excite young people about the science of plastics, and the vast opportunities the industry has to offer,” said Eve Vitale, SPE foundation director. “We travel to schools and companies throughout North America, educating people of all ages about plastics chemistry, history, processing, manufacturing, sustainability and applications.”
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SPE PREMIUM CONTENT

Medical Plastics News
Teleflex Medical OEM has launched a proprietary, hydrophilic surface coating for polymer-based devices that are navigated through the vascular system. The company says the coating performs favorably in terms of lubricity and extended durability when compared with other coatings on the market. It’s also said to have proven biocompatibility and shelf-life stability and exhibits low particulate count in testing, plus outstanding adhesion to the substrate material.
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Plastics Today
Additives supplier Clariant is introducing a family of high-performance waxes based on a renewable feedstock for use as filler and pigment dispersants, external/internal lubricants and mold release agents. Licocare RBW multi-purpose additives are based on crude rice bran wax. This is a non-food-competing by-product from the production of rice bran oil and is available in large quantities. The main target applications for Licocare RBW are in the processing of engineering thermoplastics and epoxy molded components.
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JWN
A company that creates new value from CO2 waste for the plastics industry has won funding from the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s investment arm, OGCI Climate Investments. The funding will be used to help further develop Econic Technologies’ pioneering catalyst technologies, which unlock the potential of waste CO2 by allowing it to be incorporated as a feedstock thereby enhancing margins and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
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ICIS
India’s plastics industry is targeting at least a 3% share of the global polymer export market by 2025, to be achieved by a combination of capacity expansion and technology upgrades, industry executives said.
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Clean, closed circuit cools more efficiently and eliminates fouling of heat exchangers. Can be used for condenser cooling of water-cooled chillers, hydraulics, compressors, other cooling tower heat loads. MORE
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Plastics News
Respondents to a thermoformer’s annual survey anticipate plastics industry growth during 2018 and report a climb in domestic polymer processing vs. non-U.S. production. About 55 percent of respondents identified as plastics manufacturing customers expect 2018 volume to stay about the same as last year. An optimistic 35 percent, however, project growth in volume vs. 15 percent envisioning less growth.
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Plastics Today
In the quest to add sustainability and green cred to plastics (which its detractors believe it lacks), many scientists continue their attempts to make plastic from various natural materials such as algae, switch grass, corn and sugar cane. Most of these scientists discount the fact that plastic made from petroleum is also natural — there’s nothing un-natural about petroleum or natural gas, as those materials are derived from nature, as Professor Emeritus Igor Catic of the University of Zagreb has written about in his various articles.
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Progressive’s ACCU-STEP Control System upgrade transforms our S109 into smart winders, allowing operators to set winding variables, recall saved recipes, and precisely control traverse pitch. MORE
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Recycling Today
Recycling of nonbottle rigid plastics and plastic wraps, bags and flexible film packaging (collectively known as film) grew by 10 percent in 2016, according to two reports from the American Chemistry Council. More than 1.46 billion pounds of rigid plastics were collected for recycling, while 1.3 billion pounds of film were collected for recycling. The reports also show dramatic long-term growth in both plastics recycling categories.
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Plasmatreat North America
Plasma pretreatment is the key enabler technology for microfine cleaning, surface activation and plasma coating of nearly all kinds of materials – from plastics, metals and glass to cardboard, textiles and composites. More and more conventional industrial pretreatment methods are being replaced by plasma technology in order to make processes more effective and environmentally friendly.
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Recycling Today
The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) has released results from Phase I of its End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Recycling Demonstration Project. The results demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of collecting and reprocessing certain plastic auto parts so they can be put back to use in automotive applications or reborn as new products.
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Plastics News
Plastics News has published its annual ranking of North American thermoformers. There is data for 227 companies. Here’s a look at some of the numbers behind the rankings.
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