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Aerospace applications are some of the most demanding in terms of performance and safety requirements. Vaupell, a group company of Japan’s Sumitomo Bakelite, has shown that these requirements need not stand in the way of more sustainable solutions with the development of a polyimide-based (PI) material containing up to 20% post-industrial recycled material. The virgin Ultem PI grade is supplied by Sabic. Vaupell’s R&D and engineering teams have demonstrated the…

With sustainability becoming ever more crucial to consumers, Renault has made the choice to respond to this demand by packing its new all-electric car with low-CO2 materials supplied by Forvia (formerly Faurecia). The materials include NAFILean-R and Ecorium, which incorporate recycled polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) content, and natural materials such as hemp fiber.  First time use of bio-composite in a vehicle. Materi’act, Forvia’s sustainable materials division, supplies the…

My company just completed its fifth NPE show, so I want to use this week’s Talent Talk to share our observations. KLA is a recruiting firm working only within plastics manufacturing. That means most of the exhibitors and attendees at NPE would fall within our client or candidate space. Since what I am going to relate here is based on hundreds of conversations over the course of the week, it…

Chemicals company Wacker announced today that it has acquired the manufacturing assets and technological know-how of Bio Med Sciences Inc., a developer of silicone coatings and skin adhesives based in Allentown, PA. Through the acquisition, Wacker said it will expand its expertise and business in silicone-coated healthcare products. The agreement was signed on May 30. The purchase price was not disclosed. Growing medical wearables market targeted. Headquartered in Munich with…

Already the world’s largest plastics producer, China is angling to be the biggest biopolymers producer in the years ahead, as well. According to a new report from Germany’s nova-Institut, the industry is expected to expand significantly from 765,631 tonnes in 2023 to 2.53 million tonnes in 2026, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 49%. This projected growth is largely driven by government policies and is at odds with…

The global skin packaging market is projected to increase from $10.85 billion in 2022 to approximately $17.59 billion by 2032, according to an April 2024 report published by Towards Packaging. That’s a 4.95% compound annual growth rate from 2023 to 2032. A tight and secure, form-fitting translucent film provides a hermetic seal of the packaged product. Skin packaging is appropriate for food and other markets. Skin packaging market trends… To…

Avient Corp. chose the recent Chinaplas show in Shanghai to highlight its newly expanded LubriOne portfolio, which now includes a range of internally lubricated polymer formulations that are produced without polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). These new grades can help customers comply with proposed regulatory restrictions surrounding the use of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which encompass PTFE, without compromising tribological and mechanical properties. Meeting demand for PFAS-free materials. “Asserting that the presence of PFAS…

Earlier this year I wrote about how microplastics are here, they’re there, they’re everywhere, and there is new research to further support this. In this case, the generator of microplastics might be someone in your house that innocently doesn’t know what they are doing. Someone that maybe looks like your or your spouse. That’s right — I’m talking about children. Got children? Got Legos? Then you’ve got microplastics. (I want…

When an email from Best Theratronics (BTL) owner Krishnan Suthanthiran landed in employees’ inboxes on May 18 ahead of the Victoria Day long weekend, they might have expected a rote corporate message encouraging them to enjoy the down time. What they read went in a wildly different direction. Instead, Suthanthiran lamented the fact that it seemed like “every other weekend is a long weekend in Canada,” cratering productivity. “Canadian manufacturing…

Resin demand surged at the start of the week on May 13, with NPE2024 in the rear-view mirror and buyers aggressively looking for material. Several waves of prime polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) railcar offers met initial needs and a high volume of resin transacted across the PlasticsExchange’s marketplace, the resin clearinghouse reports in its Market Update. However, offers seemed to dry up midweek and there was considerable unfilled demand…