The plastics industry has a variety of materials and technologies available for significantly reducing the ecological footprint of products. There are very few applications for which it is not possible to replace at least a portion of the fossil material with recyclates or bioplastics. Various methods, standards and software tools are available to determine what savings this can achieve.

Determining CO2 Savings from Recycled Materials and Bioplastics

Simulation

Software

Recycling

Umweltmanagement

Normen / Standards

Recht allgemein / sonst.

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Reducing the CO2 Footprint

Additives manufacturer Milliken has developed viscosity modifiers specifically for recycled polypropylene (rPP). The products, called DeltaFlow, improve the flow behavior of rPP for extrusion and injection molding processes, according to the company.

The modifiers allow recycled PP to be processed at lower temperatures. Among other things, this reduces cycle times during injection molding.

Additive

Improved Processing of Recycled PP

Chinaplas 2022, to be held from April 25 to 28, will bring together more than 4000 exhibitors of the plastics and rubber industries from all over the world to launch innovative green solutions.

The 3rd Chinaplas x CPRJ Plastics Recycling and Circular Economy Conference and Showcase will be held one day prior to the show in Shanghai (photo from last year’s event).

Kunststoffe

Photonik

Optik

Verbände, Institutionen, Messen

Dienstleistungen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Kunststoff-Verpackungsmaschine

Sondermaschinen

Kunststoff

Bauwesen

Baustoffe

The Theme Color of the Show Is Green

Statutory recyclate quotas and the specifications of brand-name producers are weighing heavily on the packaging branch these days and turning recyclate availability into a hot issue. Some polymers are simply not available in sufficient amounts. Experts at the 31st Dresden Packaging Conference provided insights into the current situations and explained why the situation could worsen in the future.

Recyclates of many polymer types are hard to get right now.

16:9

Verpackungsmaterial

Logistik

Streifinger, Florian

Kreislaufwirtschaft

Hard-to-Find Recylates

Electrical and electronics manufacturers want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their products and optimize waste management and recycling for them. This can be achieved, among other ways, by using more sustainable thermoplastics and quality-assured recyclates. A close cooperation between companies to establish material cycles and the recycling-friendly design of equipment are also important.

Driving Sustainability Trends in the Electrical and Electronics Industry with Polymers

Elektronik

Technische Kunststoffe

Thermoplaste

Polycarbonat

Support for a Greener E&E World

The HolyGrail 2.0 Initiative aims to improve the sorting of plastic waste. But the method also has certain drawbacks. Here, luminescent pigments provide an alternative.

Marker masterbatches enable different information to be embedded in plastics. This can be used to improve the recycling circle.

Improved Sorting of Plastic Waste with Luminescent Pigments

Messtechnik

Additiv-Batches

Luminous Markers instead of Holy Grail

In November 2021, four members of the Feddersen Group announced certification with ISCC Plus. With K.D. Feddersen Holding, now further companies of the group followed.

Further Companies of the Feddersen Group Certified

The circular economy and more sustainable additives are the focus of AF Color’s Fakuma presence this year.

The circular economy and more sustainable additives are the focus of AF Color’s trade show presence this year

Masterbatches

Messe Fakuma

kunststoffe-international.com

Polyamide

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Biobased Additives and Orange for PA

Caracol and NextChem (Maire Tecnimont group) partnered to create Beluga: a joint research project to produce the first 3D printed sailing boat prototype made in a single piece with MyReplast recycled material.

Caracol and NextChem bring to life the 3D printed sailing boat Beluga

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, andere

Anlagen für die Additive Fertigung

Caracol and NextChem Bring to Life Beluga

Together with the University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal, Germany, MultiPet GmbH is researching into injection-moldable blends that can be used to produce high-quality multi structured injection-molded parts from mixed PET.

Colorful mixture: the recycling of mixed fractions from bottles, blisters and trays remains a major challenge

Production of Injection-Moldable PET-Blends from Mixed Plastic Fractions

Polyethylenterephthalat

rPET Blends for High Standards

In the research project “UPcyclePET”, and together with Easicomp GmbH, Fraunhofer LBF developed a new material that had to prove its qualities in practical tests.

Upcycling of used PET beverage bottles into long fiber-reinforced thermoplastics

New Compound Materials for Durable Technical Applications

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Sustainable Components from PET Flakes

LyondellBasell has obtained the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus certification for certain grades of polyethylene and polypropylene produced at four of its U.S. manufacturing sites.

Pictured is LyondellBasell’s Channelview Complex. The company has obtained the ISCC Plus certification for certain grades of polyethylene and polypropylene produced at four of its U.S. manufacturing sites

Polyethylen

Polypropylen

LyondellBasell Gains ISCC Plus Certification

The state of Upper Austria has recognised Engel Austria´s commitment to building up a circular economy for plastics with the Upper Austrian Environmental Award 2021.

State Councillor Stefan Kaineder (left) congratulating Engel‘s Vice President Marketing Ute Panzer and Günther Klammer, Vice President Recycling at Engel, on winning the State Environmental Award

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Spritzgießen

Engel´s Skinmelt Technologie Awarded

As part of a new effort to advance the use of recycled ocean plastic, Sabic and Microsoft have collaborated to create Microsoft’s first consumer electronic product – The Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse – with an exterior shell containing 20% recycled ocean plastic.

Computer Mouse Made Partly out of Ocean Plastic

Over past months, many in-house workflows and development processes have slowed down and also changed. Nevertheless, time has not stood still, also not in injection molding technology. The debate and development have been shaped by two themes: digitalization and the circular economy. Below are some examples of developments and projects that underpin this trend.

Two displays are seamlessly integrated into the continuously 3D-formed instrument panel

Innovative Injection Molding in Times of Pandemic

Schaumspritzgießen

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Steuern, Regeln

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Folientechnik (IMD, IML, FIM, u.a.)

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Spritzgieß-Sonderverfahren

Nachhaltigkeit

Spritzgießsimulation

Schnecken und Plastifiziersysteme

Spritzgießmaschinen

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Machine Learning / Künstliche Intelligenz für die spanende Fertigung

Industrie 4.0 für die spanende Fertigung

Lasermarkieren

Oberflächentechnik

Laserbearbeitungen

Inline- / Online-Messsysteme

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

There Is More beyond the Horizon

Plastics Have Smaller Environmental Impact than Alternatives

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) published a report that analyzes scientific data on the environmental impacts of plastics and finds plastics to be more sustainable than alternative materials when life cycle assessments are taken into consideration.

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) published a report that analyzes scientific data on the environmental impacts of plastics and finds plastics to be more sustainable than alternative materials when life cycle assessments are taken into consideration. The report, authored by environmental scientist Kenneth Green and titled “Plastics and Sustainability”, further finds that eliminating plastics would be detrimental to ongoing sustainability efforts and that enhancing recycling systems is a practical solution.

“Too often we see groups criticize plastics using unscientific information. The report released today summarizes what data has indicated for years: plastic is lighter and more durable than alternatives, and it has a smaller environmental footprint,” said Tony Radoszewski, President & CEO of PLASTICS. “Switching to alternatives would not only harm an industry that employs almost a million Americans, but it would also harm our environment and our well-being.”

<a href="https://thisisplastics.com/wp-content/uploads/Plastics-and-Sustainability.pdf" target="_blank">Plastics and Sustainability</a> examined numerous life cycle assessments to determine differences in methodologies measuring the sustainability of different materials, including steel, aluminum, glass, and others. The report acknowledges that plastics’ sustainability can and should continue to improve over time.

“Assessing sustainability has to include plastic’s impacts on the physical environment as well as the climate, including the production of plastics from fossil fuels, and disposal of plastic waste into the environment. But we must take care in choosing alternatives,” said author Kenneth Green. “Comparison studies and common sense tell us that alternative materials will also produce environmental impacts, quite possibly worse than the plastics they replace.”

Plastics and Sustainability is consistent with reports that have looked at compilations of scientific life cycle assessments. One such study from University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, published in 2020, found that plastic has fewer environmental impacts than single-use glass, indicating that the increasing trend to substitute single-use plastic packaging with single-use glass-based packaging is “particularly troublesome” from a sustainability perspective.

<ul><li>According to the report current recycling systems are economically inefficient. However, a full reclamation of plastic monomers would bring society’s use of plastic materials closer to current conceptions of environmental sustainability.</li><li>Contrary to established wisdom, scientific life cycle assessments of plastics and alternative materials find that plastics tend to have lower carbon footprints, making them the more sustainable option among current materials in a number of applications.</li><li>Those life cycle assessments also suggest that substituting plastics with other materials would create environmental tradeoffs that could be less environmentally sustainable.</li><li>Plastics, a relatively novel material in the history of human goods manufacture, have become critical to sustaining prosperous and technological societies. Suggestions to discontinue using plastic would very likely be detrimental to both human and environmental well-being.</li></ul>

Plastics Industry Association  

https://www.plasticsindustry.org

2021-10-28 PLASTICS Report

issue 06/2022

issue 05/2022

issue 04/2022

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