Lego announced today that it plans to invest more than $1 billion to build a new factory in Chesterfield County, VA. Once completed, the 1.7-million-square-foot facility will employ more than 1,760 people over 10 years, according to Lego. The factory will be designed to operate as a carbon-neutral facility, with 100% of its day-to-day energy needs matched by renewable energy generated by an onsite solar park. The site also will…
Many people know Canon for their state-of-the-art cameras and equipment. Little do they know, they also have hands in the moldmaking industry. In this MMT Chat, MoldMaking Technology Editorial Director Christina Fuges had the chance to discuss Canon Virginia Inc.’s Shuttle Mold System with Director of Business Development Wayne Daniel. This episode is brought to you by ISCAR with New Ideas for Machining Intelligently. #moldingequipment
Join us on July 12th at 2PM (EDT) for the Plastics in Politics Livestream. We’ll look at Colorado legislators approving an extended producer responsibility plan, why that could mean higher fees for plastics compared with other packaging materials and whether it’s a national model for bolstering local recycling. As well, we’ll look at shareholders at resin makers worried about the financial risks to their investments in virgin plastic production, and a…
Vienna-based chemicals company Borealis announced today the introduction of what it says is the world’s first pipe portfolio made from cross-linked polyethylene (PE-X) with renewable feedstock that carries mass balance accreditation under the ISCC Plus program. Compared with conventional PE-X pipes, the PEX Pipe Blue product line reportedly achieves a carbon footprint reduction of up to 90%. Borealis collaborated with Finland-based Uponor, a supplier of piping and other infrastructure products, to…
The fluoropolymer material is used as a binder and a separator coating in lithium-ion batteries. PVDF allows batteries to perform better, last longer and operate safely, Solvay officials said.
Setting a new record, the North American robotics market saw companies from the U.S., Canada and Mexico order 11,595 industrial robots in the first quarter—a 28% gain compared to the first quarter of 2021, according to data released by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). Revenue rose by 43%, reaching a value of $664 million. These results reflect a positive trend globally with preliminary data for 2021 showing that 486,700…
One of the great rebranding exercises of all time has got to be “vegan leather,” which sounds way more appealing than plastic leather, but that is precisely what it is. And it’s winning converts from unexpected quarters. As Hiroko Tabuchi writes in the Sunday edition of the New York Times: “It’s soft. It’s vegan. It looks just like leather. It’s also made from fossil fuels. An explosion in the use…
3D printing may print 3D objects but the process itself, which involves layering of materials, is primarily a 2D affair. However, researchers have set out to change that with a new process that they said is a “true” 3D-printing experience, they said. A team from Rowland Institute at Harvard University developed a new volumetric 3D-printing process that eliminates the need for support structures typically used to create complex 3D objects…
A novel form of 3D printing, dubbed melt electrowriting, has been used by researchers to produce scaffolds for artificial heart valves that mimic the different biomechanical properties of heart valve tissue. The fabrication platform allows researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany to combine various, precise custom patterns in the scaffold and fine tune its mechanical properties such that the patient’s own cells will form new tissue as…