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.TOP NEWS
SPE Joins Pworld Technology and Polymerupdate as Organizer for Recycling and Circular Economy Events
SPE
SPE, SPE’s India Section and SPE’s Recycling Division have been named collaborating organizers with Pworld Technology PVT LTD and Polymerupdate for an upcoming series of Recycling and Circular Economy (RACE) conferences. Three RACE conferences, each taking place virtually, have been announced for 2021 and early 2022: RACE Asia (July 15-16, 2021); RACE Americas (October 7-8, 2021); and RACE Europe (January 20-21, 2022). RACE conferences, which were launched in 2019, are focused on innovative ways to help the planet heal through recycling and shifting from a linear to a circular economy.
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.SPE CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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Date |
Event |
More Information |
March 31 |
WEBINAR: Less is More: How to Maximize Energy Savings in Plastics Processing — Part 2 |
Registration |
April 6 |
SPE Plastics Processing Conference: The Virtual Edition |
Registration |
April 8 |
The Skilled Workforce Challenge – A Global Perspective on Supporting the Next Generation of Mold Makers and Engineers |
Registration |
April 8 |
WEBINAR: Fractography of Glass Reinforced Plastics |
Registration |
April 9 |
Resume for the Virtual World Workshop |
Registration |
April 13 |
WEBINAR: Plastic Bag Recycling: The Obaggo Story |
Registration |
April 19 |
Virtual Technical Meeting |
Registration |
April 23 |
Interviewing for the Virtual World Workshop |
Registration |
April 27 |
WEBINAR: Capillary Rheometry: Application to Extrusion |
Registration |
May 4 |
SPE 2021 Auto EPCON Conference |
Registration |
May 5-28 |
ANTEC® 2021 - All Day Virtual Conference |
Registration |
May 7 |
Virtual Interview Practice Workshop |
Registration |
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Promoted By
EXTREME COATINGS TECHOLOGY
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Promoted By
C.W. Brabender Instruments, Inc.
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Weekly resin report: Production slowly ramps back up
Plastics Today
While the week of March 8 stayed within the realm of record activity as commodity resin markets remained very busy, mixed prices started to re-appear. After weeks of nearly no new producer offers, some fresh railcars began to roll in. The flow was sporadic, however, and consisted mostly of rougher off-grade, transitional materials. Other startup resins from a growing number of resin reactors also returned back online after losing almost a month of production, reports the PlasticsExchange in its Market Update.
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Polystyrene waste is everywhere; scientists just found a way to break it down
DOE/Ames Laboratory via ScienceDaily
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and their partners from Clemson University have discovered a green, low-energy process to break down polystyrene, a type of plastic that is widely used in foam packaging materials, disposable food containers, cutlery and many other applications.
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Recyclable bioplastic membrane could clear oil spills from water
Canadian Plastics
Cleaning up oil spills in water is one of the most challenging tasks in the global fight against pollution, and involves the difficult job of separating the oil from the water. Recent developments have involved using superamphiphilic membranes, which can be used as water-removal substances for oil/water mixtures.
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New software improves accuracy of factories' mass-produced 3D-printed parts
University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering via ScienceDaily
Researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed software to improve the accuracy of 3D-printed parts, seeking to reduce costs and waste for companies using additive manufacturing to mass produce parts in factories.
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Bergen International Chemical Foaming Agents for Foamed Film and Sheet Extrusion
- Increases Throughput for Faster Line Speeds
- Reduce Polymer Use
- Reduce Gas Use
- Better Control of Cell Size
- Applications in Co-extrusion & Monolayer Sheet, Thermoforming & Printing
- Suitable for Food Contact
- HDPE, LDPE, PS, PP, PET, PVC
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Post-consumer plastic bale prices jump
Plastics Recycling Update
Bales of curbside plastics have experienced notable price increases this month, with natural HDPE again hitting a record high.
The national average price of PET beverage bottles and jars keeps moving up and is currently at 10.14 cents per pound.
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Meet the microbes with an appetite for plastic
Reed Magazine
It’s tough, it’s cheap, and it’s everywhere. Polyethylene terephthalate is found in running shirts, carpet fibers, curtains, solar panels, tennis balls, microwavable containers and plastic bottles — about 500 billion bottles are manufactured out of PET every year.
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A user-friendly guide to medical plastics selection
Plastics Today
There are hundreds of thousands of plastics on the market today. In part one of this two-part article, plastics engineering expert and industrial designer Michael Paloian explains how to identify the optimal plastic resin for a given medical application.
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Plastic prices hit record high to stoke inflation concerns
Bloomberg
For anyone looking for examples of inflation these days, raw materials are a good place to start. Copper, steel — even lumber — are either near or at record highs. And so too are plastics, which are often overlooked but are on a tear right now.
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Promoted by Chroma Color Corporation
Historically the most common form of Color Concentrates (a.k.a. masterbatches) are colored plastic pellets. These concentrated colored pellets are typically built to contain 15-50% of specially selected pigments and additives. The remainder of the recipe is a blend of carrier resin, process aids and binders to support consistency within the virgin base resin.
The initial consideration when designing a plastic component is ensuring the base resin AND the color concentrate are suitable for the selected forming process. Common process examples include injection mold, blow mold, injection stretch blow, compression mold and extrusion.
Why?
Each process example will introduce different performance stresses.
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Could plastic made from bacteria guts help solve our waste crisis?
PBS
Despite the efforts of recycling programs and environmental education, it’s still hard for many of us to grasp just how much plastic humans produce. We are on track to produce a billion tons of plastic a year by 2050. Cumulatively, we’ve already produced more than 8.3 billion metric tons since 1950. That’s 20 times the weight of all human beings alive right now.
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With Kautex packaging die heads 100% color change can be
achieved while saving up to 75% in time and materials.
RapidXchange technology allows to reduce the purging process by up to 75% through rheologically optimized flow channels.
The groundbreaking results were achieved in comparison with uncoated heads in mono-layer applications.
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Talent Talk: Salary inflation for plastics professionals on the horizon
Plastics Today
Sometimes it's great to have a weather forecast. Other times you can see that a storm is coming just by looking out the window. For what I am about to tell you, I do not have any radars, I do not know where the high- and low-pressure areas are, or if there is moisture coming up from the Gulf. What I do have is a good window to what is happening in today’s labor market for experienced plastics professionals.
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Challenges of laser-assisted tape winding of thermoplastic composites
Composites World
Thermoplastic composites have been promoted extensively in recent years due to their high potential to increase production rates and enable weight reduction. One of the most discussed topics for increasing production rates with TPCs is in-situ consolidation during automated fiber and tape placement.
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From surgical caps to N95 masks, demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) remains high. Our Branson™ ultrasonic welders cut, seam and bond non-woven synthetic materials with precision and repeatability—increasing PPE production and providing the necessary levels of hygiene. Tell us more about your application: go.emersonautomation.com/branson-consult-an-expert [go.emersonautomation.com].
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 7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX 75063
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