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Date Archive - September 2022

Sustainable Resource Management of Plastic Feedstocks

Encina makes feedstock monomers from end-of-life plastics. In April, the company made news with a big investment to build its first commercial scale facility in Pennsylvania. Recently I spoke with Sheida Sahandy, Chief Sustainability Officer and General Counsel at Encina, about her vision for the circular plastic industry. Encina’s process begins with sorted, post-consumer waste from MRFs, along with high-value scrap material. A second sort is performed, removing contaminants and…

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US Manufacturing Has Renaissance, While China Turns Inward for Growth

While we keep an understandably wary eye on inflation numbers, interest rates, and the stock market, something else is going on in the global economy that deserves our attention — a manufacturing renaissance in the United States, partly powered by baffling Chinese policies. The Sept. 26 edition of the New York Times carried an article under the startling headline, “Factory Jobs Are Booming Like It’s the 1970s.” US manufacturing has now…

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Polyacetal Printing Technology Accelerates Product Development Cycle

Japan’s Polyplastics has developed 3D-printing technology for production of Duracon polyoxymethylene (POM) resin. The technology, known as Material Extrusion (MEX), reportedly delivers 3D-printed parts with physical properties close to those of injection molded parts. Polyplastics will highlight the new 3D-printing technology at K 2022, which runs Oct. 19 to 26 in Düsseldorf, Germany. The company will exhibit in booth B02 in hall 7A. Typically, only amorphous resins or resins with…

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Novel Catalyst for Converting Carbon from Hard-to-Abate Sectors

Co2RR unit and containerPhoto Credit: RenewCO2 We were recently contacted by new startup RenewCO2, which  announced its spin-out from Rutgers University, securing an exclusive licensing to scale its novel catalyst technology to convert carbon from hard-to-abate sectors and transform it into a feedstock for carbon-negative, plastic monomers at a fraction of the cost of plastics derived from fossil sources. Founded by immigrants Dr. Karin Calvinho and Dr. Anders Laursen out…

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U.S. Plastics Pact Invites Innovators to Apply for Reuse Catalyst Program

The U.S. Plastics Pact is now accepting applications for its Reuse Catalyst, a program to accelerate development of scalable solutions for reusable and refillable plastic packaging in the United States. “The Reuse Catalyst aims to bolster the development of emerging and established reuse innovators, and the broader industry, through shared learnings, expertise, connectivity, and amplification,” said Emily Tipaldo, Executive Director of the U.S. Plastics Pact, in a prepared statement. “This…

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Thermoplastic Composite Door Assembly Receives DOE Merit Award

An ultra-lightweight, carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite door assembly is the winner of the 2022 Annual Merit Review Team Award presented by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO). The design is the result of a collaborative effort among Clemson Composites Center, the University of Delaware, Honda, Proper Tooling, and Lanxess. The project began in 2016 when Clemson University researchers began working on technology for fuel savings and energy efficiency…

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