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New Shimadzu XSeeker 8000 benchtop x-ray CT scanner costs about 20% as much as the company’s main floorstanding model. (Photo: Shimadzu Scientific Instruments) Last week, I invoked the theme of x-ray vision in a figurative sense, writing here about MES systems that use real-time production data to give processors an “inside view” of their operations. Today, I’m talking about actual x-ray vision inside plastic parts and even some metal components.…

On the heels of opening its first US plant in North Carolina last month, Swedish plastics compounder Polykemi AB announced the launch of a subsidiary in Mexico City. The company had been supplying the Mexican market with plastic raw materials from its production facility in Ystad, Sweden, and US-based partner companies. “Now that our new production facility in Gastonia, NC, is operational, it is a natural step in the globalization…

A recent survey found that 75% of British consumers would support a ban on chewing gum made of plastic, reports Circular, a media outlet serving sustainability professionals working in resources and waste. Not surprisingly, the survey was commissioned by an upstart plastic-free chewing gum brand named Nuud. If you’ve ever looked at the ingredients listed on chewing gum packaging, you would have come across something called “gum base.” This is the…

PTXPO closed after three days of conversations, presentations and exhibitions. The volume and variety of content bestowed the paradoxical quality of feeling long and yet flying by. Just two years ago it seemed like a gathering like this might be a thing of the past. And yet, trade shows are back, with irreplaceable learning opportunities. PTXPO brought learning opportunities to the Donald J. Stephens center in Chicago.Photo Credit: Matt Stonecash…