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Date Archive - March 2022

Call Goes Out for EV-Specific Fire Standards

The UL 94 flame-retardance standard was developed by the then Underwriters Laboratories in the 1960s to address insurers’ concerns regarding fire hazards of cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions. To this day, it is a commonly applied parameter for the combustibility of plastic materials, despite such TVs being no longer in widespread use. Addressing advances in the electrical appliance industry, the International Electrical Commission (IEC) introduced the glow wire test standard…

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FDA Seeks Broader Authority to Prevent Medical Device Shortages

When Rahm Emanuel, the White House Chief of Staff under President Obama at the time, famously said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste,” he was referring to the Great Recession. It represents an opportunity, he went on to say, to do things and enact policies that seemed impossible before. The statement could equally apply to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed an alarming domestic shortage of…

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Sugar-Based Plastics Developments Advance Further

Photo Credit: University of Burmingham This past January, we reported on a research team from U.K’s University of Brimingham and Duke University that have been collaborating on the development of a novel family of polymers from sustainable sources that reportedly retain all the same properties as typical thermoplastic elastomers, but are degradable and mechanically recyclable. The researchers used sugar-based starting materials—more specifically, isosorbide and isomannide compounds to create two polymers,…

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Jabil First Molder to Earn MedAccred Certification in Mexico

Contract manufacturer Jabil announced today that it has received accreditation for its plastic injection molding operation in Tijuana from the MedAccred program. Its the first company in Mexico to earn this certification. MedAccred claims to be the only industry-managed supply chain oversight program for key critical manufacturing processes in the medical device industry. The audit requirements that must be met to achieve accreditation are set forth by MedAccred subscribing members,…

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Radoszewski Out at Plastics Industry Association

Tony Radoszewski The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) announced this morning that Tony Radoszewski is no longer its President and CEO, effective March 25. The statement came from Tad McGwire, Chairman of the Board. Radoszewski assumed the leadership role on September 16, 2019. He previously held the position of president of the Plastics Pipe Institute since 2006, and has more than 40 years of industry experience. He succeeded William Carteaux, who passed away…

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What Does Ukraine War Have to Do with Plastics?

Meusburger’s mold plate warehouse is well stocked and isn’t supplied from Russia or Ukraine. But the company is not immune to the current price squeeze from tight supplies in Europe. (Photo: Meusburger)   It’s not just about spiking oil and natural gas prices and their effect on plastic resin tabs. As an essay in Bloomberg Opinion puts it, “Steel is the other big commodity shock from Russia’s invasion.” According to that…

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