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Global automotive OEM Toyota has signed up to be the first customer to purchase the new F3300 3D printer from polymer 3D-printing solutions provider Stratasys. Toyota will utilize the F3300 for new production support, including parts and fixtures, and for prototyping applications to accelerate time to market. Compatible with a range of plastics The F3300 uses a portfolio of materials that address high-use applications in the additive manufacturing environment. They include widely…

Electric mobility encompasses a lot, lot more than the semi-ubiquitous electric vehicle, as outlined in a comprehensive report from research firm IDTechEx, “Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea & Air 2024–2044.” The document covers all vehicle volume and drivetrain breakdowns, including battery-electric, fuel cell, and hybrid vehicle unit sales; battery demand (GWh); and market revenue generation (in US$ billion). The report further details emerging technology trends underpinning the transition, from silicon-anode batteries…

Polymer 3D-printing pioneer Stratasys announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Siemens Healthineers to advance medical imaging “phantoms” for computed tomography (CT) imaging. CT phantoms are specialized devices used to evaluate and ensure the performance of CT scanners. By simulating certain characteristics of the human body, phantoms enable the assessment of core metrics, including radiation dose and image quality. They aid in calibration and safeguarding consistent scanner…

A collaboration between sustainable chemistry company Avantium N.V. and Netherlands retailer Albert Heijn leverages the sustainability of Avantium’s 100% plant-based and circular material PEF (polyethylene furanoate) for packaging. Refresco, the global independent beverage solutions provider for brands, will produce Albert Heijn’s new fruit juice bottle made of PEF. Albert Heijn is the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands and is the first in the world to introduce PEF packaging for…

Collab Composite, a collaboration between Arctic Business and Piteå Science Park, was launched in Sweden in April 2023 with the aim of connecting international industry with innovative startups in the field of fiber composites. The collaboration is starting to bear fruit with the announcement that two leading companies have joined as partners in the project. The first industrial partners for Collab Composite are Saab and Hitachi Energy. Both are currently…

Toray Industries’ French subsidiary, Toray Carbon Fibers Europe S.A., has obtained ISCC Plus certification for its Lacq and Abidos production plants in southwest France. This certification allows Toray Carbon Fibers Europe to allocate and use biomass or recycled materials through the mass balance approach to produce and supply carbon fiber. Thus, Toray Carbon Fibers Europe now has the ability to reduce the life cycle inventory (LCI) of its carbon fiber,…

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving and go on a food binge (followed by a shopping binge on Friday), PlasticsToday hopes that the gathering of the tribes around your table remains a peaceful, civilized affair. If we can get past the polarization for a minute, it’s undeniable that we have much to be thankful for and that we all have much more in common than what divides us, as someone…

The resin markets maintained their slower pace leading into the extended Thanksgiving holiday week. The steady flow of buyer inquiries seen earlier in the month subsided, and most grades of Prime polyethylene (PE) peeled off as much as a penny, as did polypropylene (PP), which was helped by easing PGP monomer costs, reports the PlasticsExchange in its Market Update. Exports account for almost half of all PE sales Upward momentum has…

The industry’s first acrylic rear lens, used on the 1948 General Motors Co. Cadillac Series 60, 61, and 62 models, has been named the 2023 Hall of Fame winner by the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). The acrylic, made possible with the invention of a polymer called polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) by Dr. Otto Röhm in 1932, was a game changer, replacing ground glass and enabling a…

It’s been a very busy year for injection molder and contract manufacturer MGS. It acquired Technolution, a Danish medtech product development firm, in June and followed that up with the purchase of moldmaker Winther Mould Technology, also based in Denmark, in October. Back home at its Germantown, WI, headquarters, MGS broke ground on a 120,000-square-foot Innovation Center in September. These acquisitions — supplementing the purchase of European toolmaker Formteknik in 2021 —…