Published Continuously Since 1925

January 2011
THE GLOBAL PLASTICS MAGAZINE plasticstoday.com/mpw

Baby steps
in bioplastics
Less noise, more
movement as bio-based
resins get real

Xten’s green journey:

Sorting hype from results

Eye on Your Markets debuts

with Medical, Packaging,
and Automotive

Molder makes its own

biomaterial

MW1101_001
MW1101 001 1 1/3/11 3:25:46 PM
 See us at Plastec West, Booth 3911

MW1101_002
MW1101 002 2 1/6/11 8:52:02 AM
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MW1101 004 4 1/3/11 3:27:10 PM
 VOL. 88 NO. 1

JANUARY 2011

plasticstoday.com/mpw CONTENTS
COLUMNS
12 Modern Executive
An “Xten-sive” look at life as an American molder,
Chapter 4: A year of slashing waste
The final installment in this series following Xten Industries reveals what
worked, what didn’t, and what’s up next for the Wisconsin molder.
Julie Hagan/iStockphoto.com

PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
14 Processing Trends
Preventive maintenance: Replace a seal, save a $1 million project
Injection molding: Patented tech boosts natural fiber content
Extrusion: Need LDPE for film clarity or improved processability?
Not any more
Eye on Auxiliaries: Dryers
ON THE COVER 18 Material Thoughts
Focus on
Auxiliary
The latest materials Equipment:
28 Much ado about developments in resins, Dryers
bioplastics compounds, and additives.
The performance of bio-based
materials is starting to catch up 22 Product Watch
New technology and business
with the “green” marketing hype
developments around the
surrounding them. world, plus Focus on Auxiliary
Equipment: Dryers.
12

EYE ON YOUR
MARKETS 25
32 Market-specific reports
Medical: DFMA helps medical OEM save plenty
Rigid packaging: Plastic bottle recycling rises even as
plastic bottle usage drops
Automotive: Trelleborg becomes first-time WIT user for
new plastic brake pedal
Flexible packaging: Opinion: Starving an
industry

SPOTLIGHT 37
42 Old-school molder making
big splash with new material
Consumer goods processor Propper takes
on bioplastic development.

14

32
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
6 Contact MPW 38 Classifieds
6 Web exclusives 40 Calendar of Events
9 Letter from the editor 40 Advertiser index
10 First Look: News & Analysis
plasticstoday.com/mpw MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 5

MW1101_005
MW1101 005 5 1/3/11 3:27:14 PM
 M P W web exclusive
Online now at
plasticstoday.com/mpw/exclusives
Bio-based tableware, EPS foam added to U.S. Sr. Group Publisher
Patrick Lundy; +1 973-808-0494 U.S. SALES
government’s procurement program patrick.lundy@ubm.com North American Sales Manager
Deborah Plank
These are just two +1 480-699-7196
of the eight products EDITORIAL deborah.plank@ubm.com
3300 E. 1st Ave., Ste. 370
recently added to Denver, CO 80206 USA Digital Sales Manager/
the list of bio-based +1 303-321-2322 Account Executive
+1 303-321-3552 fax John Guadagno
product categories +1 203-601-3741
Press releases john.guadagno@ubm.com
that are eligible for mpweditorial@ubm.com
Federal procurement Account Executive
Editor-in-Chief Beth Berner
preference. Access Matthew Defosse; +49 6406-832061 +1 440-209-1478
matt.defosse@ubm.com beth.berner@ubm.com
the complete list and
Managing Editor Account Executive
description of each Bio- Amie Chitwood; +1 303-399-0109 Tony Marsh
Preferred designated amie.chitwood@ubm.com +1 310-445-3725
item, and items for future designation, from the link in this article. Senior Editor/U.S. tony.marsh@ubm.com
Clare Goldsberry; +1 602-996-6499 Directory/Buyer’s Guide/
clare.goldsberry@ubm.com Classified Advertising Manager
Senior Editor/U.S. Iris Topel
Unilever’s new sustainable packaging goals Tony Deligio; +1 303-254-4762 +1 718-478-8104
iris.topel@ubm.com
bad for PVC, challenge bioplastics tony.deligio@ubm.com

Unilever, one of the world’s largest brand owners of FMCGs (fast- Senior Editor/Asia
Stephen Moore; +65 9687-0420 INTERNATIONAL SALES
moving consumer goods), plans to reduce its product packaging stephen.moore@ubm.com Europe, Middle East, South America
weight by a third in the next 10 years and do away with PVC as Hermann Plank
Assistant Editor/Germany +1 480-704-3273
much as possible by 2012. Bioplastics are of interest but not yet Yvonne Klöpping; +49 69-90552-140 hp@tecnokal.com
yvonne.klopping@ubm.com
truly viable nor particularly sustainable, it says. Italy, Spain & Portugal
Online Editor
John Clark; +1 310-740-9045 Ferruccio Silvera
john.clark@ubm.com +39 02-284-6716
ferruccio@silvera.it
Composite curing technology eliminates need Digital Media Project Manager, Plastics
Jamie Quanbeck; +1 608-442-4467 Japan
for autoclaves jamie.quanbeck@ubm.com Katsuhiro Ishii
+81 3-5691-3335
A new method for curing advanced composites is less expensive amskatsu@dream.com
and requires 500-1000 times less energy than the conventional CIRCULATION/SUBSCRIBER SERVICE
PO Box 3568 China, Taiwan, Hong Kong
processes. Called the Specialized Elastomeric Tooling (SET) Northbrook, IL 60065 USA Rudy Teng
+1 847-559-7590 +886 2-2799-3110
process, it cures a composite laminate by pressing the material rudy.teng@hintoninfo.com
+1 847-291-4816 fax
between heated, rubber-lined molds. mpw@omeda.com
Korea
Young Media
MARKETING, ART & PRODUCTION +82 2-2273-4818, 4819
ymedia@ymedia.co.kr
Ceramic nano-particles Marketing Manager
Patrice Aylward India
could help processors patrice.aylward@ubm.com Ajit D. Nagpurkar
beat copycats, pirates Lead Art Director +91 22-25295725
ajitn@vsnl.com
A small company has devel- Marco Aguilera
marco.aguilera@ubm.com
oped a new means to help CORPORATE OFFICE
Associate Art Director
plastics processors, their cus- Jenny Field UBM Canon
jenny.field@ubm.com 11444 W. Olympic Blvd., Ste. 900
tomers, and others take some Los Angeles, CA 90064-1549 USA
of the sting out of the dam- Publications Production Director +1 310-445-4200
Jeff Tade +1 310-445-4299 fax
age done by product piracy. jeff.tade@ubm.com
The high-tech solution relies CEO, Publishing Div.
Publications Production Manager Paul Miller
on a material used for centuries to give a product “its own DNA.” Orlando Lopez paul.miller@ubm.com
orlando.lopez@ubm.com
VP/Executive Director, Publishing Div.
Ad Management Services Stephen Corrick
John Foley stephen.corrick@ubm.com
Primer on conductive plastics: Consider this as you john.foley@ubm.com
specify these materials VP, Operations, Publishing Div.
Roger Burg
Reprints
Lus Roca, director of the compounding department at Spain’s Foster Printing Service
roger.burg@ubm.com
Aimplas, the Technological Institute of Plastics in Valencia, offers +1 800-879-9144 VP, Digital Media
sales@fosterprinting.com Jason Brown
some insight and advice to processors to consider as they venture jason.brown@ubm.com
in search of conductive thermoplastics. Director of Circulation
Sandra Martin Sr. VP, Events Div.
sandra.martin@ubm.com Kevin O’Keefe
kevin.okeefe@ubm.com
List Rental Chief Financial Officer
Thanks to our plasticstoday.com sponsors: Statlistics Fred Gysi
Jennifer Felling, postal lists fred.gysi@ubm.com
+1 203-778-8700 x138
j.felling@statlistics.com
Turk Hassan, e-lists
+1 203-778-8700 x144
t.hassan@statlistics.com
Audience Development Director
Leonard Roberto
leonard.roberto@ubm.com

6 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

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MW1101 006 6 1/6/11 8:53:04 AM
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MW1101_008
MW1101 008 8 1/3/11 3:30:36 PM
 EDITORIAL
Baby steps
for bioplastics
t’s easy as a journalist to become
I enthralled by the hype surround-
ing bioplastics. We love reporting on
genuine developments, and every day
seems to bring something novel out of
the bioplastics realm. “It smiled at me!”
“It said ‘Da-da’!” “It crawled!” The
bioplastics baby learns a new trick daily,
and it is both fun and appropriate for us
to chronicle its growth and development.
We’ve done so in our feature in this issue
(beginning on p. 28), and also in our
Spotlight processor focus.
The volume of news revolving around
these plastics sometimes makes us feel as
if we publish a farming journal; we’ve
had to get as sharp on the vagaries of
plant starch as we once did on the ben-
efits of bimodal reactors for polyolefins.
It is important to learn the new lingo,
since it’s clear that brand owners and
retailers are serious about their desire to
reduce their carbon footprint and their
use of nonrenewable resources. Bioplas-
tics, recycled plastics, and natural fibers
all will have a part to play.
But as processors well know, the
best steps for sustainable manufacturing
often are the ones they have been incre-
mentally taking for many years (and for
which they too often do not get credit).
Shaving a millimeter off of a bottle’s
neck, better distribution of a barrier
plasticstoday.com/mpw
MW1101_009
MW1101 009 9
Some of us love them, some of us are
skeptical, but all of us are required to
watch this timely trend.
material, timely preventive maintenance:
These and the rest of a plant manager’s
challenges are what make for great pro-
cessing of plastics. We get it.
Of course, we’ll continue reporting developments; advances in material,
on bioplastics. Like any baby, they’re machinery, and processing technology;
loud and demand attention, and one day reviews from our trips to market-specific
they will be big enough to make a real conferences and trade shows; and more.
difference in many processors’ lives. But Internally, we’ve divided the markets
trust us to keep our eye on the ball and amongst ourselves so that we each can
our pages filled with the information more intensely focus on the news of
we’ve been delivering for 86 years: easy critical changes in your end-use market.
on the hype, heavy on the quantitative, If there’s a topic you would like to see
and focused on helping you run your covered, feel free to let us know.
operation profitably and safely. As always, enjoy your magazine, and
keep the feedback coming to mpwedito-
• • • rial@ubm.com.
With that thought in mind, let me
introduce our newest section, entitled
Eye on Your Markets. In the past few
years we’ve noticed that many of our
friends in the plastics processing commu-
nity speak a new language—that of their
customers. A processor who might once
have described himself as an injection
molder or films extruder now says he’s
Matt Defosse,
“a supplier of underhood automotive Editor-in-Chief
systems” or “a supplier of flexible, sus-
tainable packaging to FMCG majors.”
Eye on Your Markets should be your
first port of call to find market-specific
information, including news on legal
MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 9
1/3/11 3:30:40 PM
 FIRST LOOK
Daily news and features at plasticstoday.com/mpw
In Brief
Big packaging matchup
Rigid plastics packaging processor RPC is
acquiring Superfos, Europe’s largest injec-
tion molder of plastics packaging, from its
equity investment owners for £204.7 million
($319.7 million), making it one of the largest
plastics packaging deals of 2010. Superfos
(Taastrup, Denmark) has nine processing
facilities across Europe and employs more
than 1300. The buyer, RPC Group Plc,
employs almost 6000 at 40 facilities across
Europe and at one in the United States.
Greiner sets up in Mexico
Austrian plastics processor Greiner has
opened its first molding plant in the Ameri-
cas in Apodaca, a municipality within Mon-
terrey. This is Greiner’s first processing
facility outside of Europe and the processor
indicates it will be the first of several in the
Americas.
Coastal activity
Label converter and printer Cenveo acquired
Gilbreth Packaging Solutions, a converter of
full body shrink sleeves and other flexible
packaging, in a deal on the U.S. East Coast.
Meanwhile, out west, Rotonics Mfg. Inc.’s
plans to close its rotomolding facility in Gar-
dena, CA were halted after it was able to sell
the operation to Sherman McKinnis, the man
who actually founded the company in 1973.
What you had to say
“The only way to avoid trapped air is to vent the tool. Add a
ring-vented dummy pin at the spot where the voids occur.
Vent to atmosphere.”
Forum member JDub offers some friendly advice on venting of injection molds.
Have a problematic issue at your facility? Ask the experts in the Forum for help:
plasticstoday.com/forum.
weekly poll at plasticstoday.com/mpw. Polls
change weekly; let your (digital) voice be heard.
10 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
MW1101_010
MW1101 010 10
Inquiring cynics want to know,
‘Can it last?’
A lot of cynics were born in the past
decade as the roller coaster paths traced
by the world’s financial and, ultimately,
plastics markets have hardened hearts
to announcements of good news, in the
knowledge that bad must soon follow. It
would be difficult to find persons more
cynical than the staff here, but the mosaic
formed by the many facts, comments,
and data we receive reveals there is still
good momentum in the ongoing steady
business conditions.
Some markets—China, Brazil, the
Middle East, India, and Indonesia—are
talked about like the odds-on favorite
in a sporting match; barring unforeseen
catastrophic events, the plastics proces-
sors active in these markets have plenty
of solid business opportunities ahead
of them. Growth in emerging markets
will be “a defining feature of economic
developments during the next 10 years,”
according to the year-end (2010) eco-
nomic outlook for the global chemical
industry from the American Chemistry
Council (ACC). Those emerging markets
are importing chemicals and plastics
from the U.S. at a time when only the
Middle East offers a better-cost position
to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
A broad indicator in the U.S., the U.S.
Manufacturing Technology Consump-
tion (USMTC) report, revealed recently
that October USMTC totaled $387.13
Source: Processors’ responses to a recent
Happy faces, business is up: here the K show
staff of extrusion systems manufacturer batten-
feld-cincinnati. Many signs point to continued
solid business conditions.
million, which was down 2.5% from
September but up 154.9% when com-
pared with the total of $151.86 million
for October 2009. With a year-to-date
total of $2.5 billion, 2010 was up 83.2%
compared with 2009.
According to the ACC, the U.S. GDP
will moderate to 2.4% in 2011, and then
increase to 2.8% in 2012. Global GDP
is expected to grow by 2.5% in 2010
and 3.0% in 2011, before recovering to
a 3.4% gain in 2012. The lower growth
rates in the U.S. can be attributed in part
to continued weakness in housing, as any
residual boost from inventory restock-
ing has “played out.” Vehicle sales have
rebounded strongly, boosting plastics in
automotive. Vehicle sales are expected
to rise to 12.7 million units in 2011 and
14.4 million in 2012, recapturing the
previous peak.
Polling news
How is your company’s capital
purchasing budget for 2011
shaping up?
We’ll invest more this year
We’ll invest about the
same this year
We will invest less in capital
50% equipment in 2011
40% 43%
30% 32%
25%
20%
10%
0%
(From a recent poll of readers at PlasticsToday.com)
plasticstoday.com/mpw
1/3/11 3:45:45 PM

View from the field
Here is a true view from the field: Lisa
Jane Scheller, president and CEO at Sil-
berline, plants one of 65 sugar maples
with a Little League baseball player at the
sports park near her company’s HQ, in
celebration of the company’s 65th year in
business. Silberline, a supplier of effect
pigments, also marked the occasion with
tree-planting fun at its locations in Scot-
land, Singapore, and China.
Pricing summary: Where will prices go next?
Brought to you by MPW and The Plastics Exchange
The year 2010 closed on a high note—but
unfortunately, we’re referring to plastics pric-
es. Michael Greenberg, founder and presi-
dent of spot trading platform The Plastics
Exchange, noted recently, “Limited supplies
and rising monomer prices have been the key
drivers to the recent bull run in commodity
resin prices. The spot propylene market is
still strong,” which fed price rises at the end
of last year. Polyethylene’s prices were not
climbing as much towards year’s end.
“December usually brings excitement as
players along the supply chain square up
their year-end inventories, with a keen eye
already peering into the New Year’s market,”
added Greenberg. What you paid in 2010
depends on where you are, from whom you
buy, and, importantly, who you are, but in
general processors shelled out about 19%
more for HDPE in December 2010 than they
did at the start of the year. Polypropylene
Are you looking to buy new
or upgrade your ERP sys-
tem? Glenn Nowak of IQMS
answers your questions on
plantwide integration soft-
ware at plasticstoday.com.
plasticstoday.com/mpw
MW1101_011
MW1101 011 11
(PP) prices rose about 19% in the 12 months
and general-purpose polystyrene (PS) set
you back about 14% more.
But that’s yesterday’s news. The ques-
tion on your mind is, “What will I pay in
2011?” Sorry, but we opt out of the fortune-
teller business. One source we do appreciate,
the often-insightful Seeking Alpha website
(www.seekingalpha.com), wasn’t scared to
make a prediction on oil prices, and plastics
prices typically track oil.
The site reports, “Our macro-pricing
model suggests that the price of crude oil
may average around $86 per barrel in 2011.
. . . We expect crude oil prices to challenge
$100 per barrel in 2011. Our crude oil price
ceiling is determined by an estimate of price
which the global / U.S. economy can absorb
without going back to recession.” Here’s a
solid prediction: We will continue to live in
interesting times.
plasticstoday.com/mpw
Want more news? Find it every
day at plasticstoday.com.
We’ll save you the trip if you
subscribe to NewsFeed, our
daily e-newsletter, at
plasticstoday.com/newsletters.
MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
FIRST LOOK
Names in the News
William Barker is now
CEO at hot runner
manufacturer Mold-
Masters. Hamdi Con-
ger, chairman, served
as interim CEO since
mid-September, when
the company’s long- Mold-Masters
time CEO, Jonathon CEO Bill Barker
Fischer, left the company.
Karl Hehl, the longtime technology
innovator at Arburg, passed away in late
November. He is survived by his wife
Julie, their daughter Renate Keinath,
and his brother Eugen, with whom he
helped lead Arburg, a company founded
by their father, to become one of the
world’s leading manufacturers of injec-
tion molding machinery.
Rick Shaffer stepped down as presi-
dent and GM of Netstal’s U.S. opera-
tions in Devens, MA, with the com-
pany’s former national sales manager,
Michael Sansoucy, now in that role.
[On the record]
“Processors are concerned about
production, legal regulations, logis-
tics; brand owners don’t care, they
assume all of those are a given.”
Atussa Sarvestani, industry consultant at
BeOne Group.
“Leading manufacturers in Singapore
now produce more than 50% of
the world’s microarrays, half of the
world’s thermal cyclers, and 10% of
the world’s contact lenses.” Beh Kian
Teik of Singapore’s Economic Develop-
ment Board (EDB), speaking at the recent
Medtec Southeast Asia trade show.
“As a processor of both standard
and bioplastics, I see the double
standard [in how customers con-
sider bioplastics].” Andy Sweetman,
global marketing manager of sustain-
able technologies at processor Innovia.
(More in our bioplastics feature in this
issue, p. 28.)
• JANUARY 2011 11
1/6/11 8:56:23 AM
 MODERN EXECUTIVE
An “Xten-sive” look at life as
an American molder, Chapter 4:
A year of slashing waste
By Clare Goldsberry Running an injection molding business during an economic downturn has chal-

lenges, and while 2010 saw some resurgence, the efforts that Xten Industries put

into reducing, reusing, recycling, and sustainability paid off in many ways.

f one thing is evident, it’s the commit-

I ment of the management team at Xten
Industries, a custom injection molder and
contract manufacturer in Kenosha, WI,
to sustainability in many different areas
of the company. From the president,
Matthew Davidson, to the managers to
Xten’s team members, everyone at Xten
has taken up the challenge to make Xten
a sustainable company.
The term “sustainable” can be inter-
preted in several ways, and all compa-
nies need to be sustainable in terms of
business development and profitability.
Xten’s efforts over the past two years—
and especially in 2010, in which MPW
tracked these efforts—have resulted in
a better company. While not every-
thing gave the company what it initially
expected in some areas, the experiments
were lessons in what works and what
doesn’t. That’s valuable to any business.
“From the 35,000-ft vantage point,”
says Davidson, “the biggest impact on
our business is that a culture of sustain-
ability has taken hold at Xten. All of the
various things that we did from doing
more with less, trying to save energy and
materials, to working more efficiently has
benefited us beyond any one specific thing
we’ve accomplished over the past year.”
Still, when pressed to name one thing
the management team felt had the big-
gest impact on the bottom line, it was an
unexpected answer: heater bands. “We
did six or eight machines first—the big-
gest energy consumers—and we’ve seen
real benefits from it,” says Rob Korpela,
Xten’s manufacturing manager. “Even
when we’re running at the same rate as
The Xten management team is committed to making a positive impact. Left to right
are William Renick, VP of operations; Matthew Davidson, president; Rob Korpela,
manufacturing manager; and Mark Dirr, director of engineering.
we did before we put the heater bands on, temperature—we found it holds within
we see that our electric bills dropped.” 2 deg F,” he says. “So on the processing
Mark Dirr, Xten’s director of engi- side, it’s really helped. The new units have
neering, adds that the equipment sup- also decreased the amount of maintenance
plier, ServTek, Milacron’s aftermarket we do.” On an older-style heater band, all
business unit, now has heater bands of the electrical posts stand proud, mak-
for smaller machines, whereas it hadn’t ing it easy for the band to short out if not
designed them for small machines previ- protected. The new style has all of the
ously. “[ServTek] changed the design electrical buried within the band itself,
from eight sections of the clamshell and not exposed above the surface. Also,
design for one machine to two longer a band can be replaced in sections, or the
pairs for the small machines,” he says. “It bad section can be jumped out until a new
made the production floor much cooler one can be installed.
this summer.” However, the group jok- Another investment Xten made in
ingly noted that they might need more its efforts to reduce energy consump-
gas-fired heat this winter, given there will tion has been mostly positive: installing
be less heat emitted from the presses. Like variable-frequency-drive (VFD) motors
many things, there’s a trade-off. from CCS Technology (England) on the
Korpela says Xten has seen benefits larger presses. VFDs ramp the motors
from the heater bands in processing as up and down depending on the need for
well. “The presses hold a more constant power. Xten installed these systems on

12 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

MW1101_012
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eight machines, the smallest 500 tons
and the largest 880 tons. After getting
mixed results, Davidson says, they col-
lected data and had CCS return to the
facility for final installation.
“They are all up and running right
now,” says Dirr. “The only negative we
see is that when we start a press and the
oil has to be warmed up, we have to
manually set the motor to run at 100%
and then set the motor back to automatic
when we run production.”
Getting customer buy-in
Saving materials was a big effort that
began in 2009 and continued with greater
effort in 2010. In Part 2 of this series
(June 2010 MPW), Xten told how the
focus was on scrap and regrind, a big part
of any molder’s operations. The goal of
Xten was to reduce the amount of regrind.
Regrinding scrap on the production floor
created unnecessary contamination, dust,
and noise, Korpela noted then. And the
company was selling most of it.
To enable press-side regrinding
whereby much of it is fed back into the
hopper during processing, Xten created
a separate grinding area for some of the
materials, and educated its customers
about increasing the use of regrind in
their products. “In that area, it would
be hard to do better than we’ve done,”
states Korpela.
“We currently have a customer that
is interested in using more and more
recycled material for their products,”
adds Dirr. “It’s good to have a partner
in that way to help us push our use of
recycled materials further.”
Davidson adds that the company
hasn’t sold any resin to an outside broker
in almost two years. “The effort toward
more recycled content is partly driven by
cost, but it’s also driven by new materi-
als,” he says. “As we look at different
and new materials, we also look at using
regrind more cost effectively. We’ve been
analyzing some new, reformulated plas-
tics with environmentally friendly fillers,
such as reclaimed wood and paper. In
both cases, the paper and wood fibers
are kept out of the waste stream and
used to add strength or stiffness in cus-
tomer applications.”
plasticstoday.com/mpw
MW1101_013
MW1101 013 13
Xten Industries, Part 4
Dirr explains that Xten is encourag-
ing customers to try some of the more
sustainable-rated plastics that have the
required strength and durability. “We’re
working with additives, and have found
a couple of really good, new [ones] out
there now.”
Getting customers on board with
these efforts continues to have its chal-
lenges, however. Dirr says that one of
Xten’s biggest hurdles is getting “more
customers actively involved in working
with us—partnering with us—to take
the materials to the next step. The energy
savings we had to do for ourselves to
reduce our overhead, but the biggest
opportunity is in the materials.”
That will be one of the company’s
goals for 2011. “We would like to edu-
Heater bands for Xten’s larger presses
were the segmented style (right),
with eight individually replaceable
segments per barrel section. For the
smaller machines, ServTek changed
the design to a clamshell style—only
two segments per barrel section.
cate our customers more with respect to
using recycled materials or fillers with
sustainable sources,” Dirr says. “We’re
currently doing a demonstration with
one customer. If we can get three or four
big customers on board with this sustain-
able and recycled material, that would be
a big thing for us.”
Davidson reluctantly admits that
Xten’s broad customer base hasn’t really
embraced all of its efforts yet. “They’ve
read the articles in [this] magazine and tell
us they think it’s nice what we’re doing,”
says Davidson. “But we’re really trying
harder to get them to join in with us.”
Finding the savings
Another goal for 2011 is cutting down
on Xten’s water usage. “One thing we
started doing is trying out a different sys-
MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
tem that blows back the water to the tower
system, rather than down the drain,” says
Korpela. “We do eight to 10 changeovers
a day, which means a lot of water down
the drain. We’ve tried a couple of systems
and haven’t had good success yet, but
we’re continuing to look at them.”
Other waste-reducing activities include
monitoring any air leaks and plugging
them right away. Another new project in
2010 was recycling used oil. “That was a
trial this year, and it’s worked well, given
us good success,” says Korpela. “Not
only are we saving on oil disposal fees,
but the cleaned, reused oil is about half
the cost of virgin oil.”
Yet another new effort involves using
dry ice, rather than solvents, to clean the
molds after a run. “I’ve read about the
system for years,” says Dirr, “and we
decided to take a look at this. It’s been
around for a while and now we feel it has
potential benefits for us.”
Short of using dry ice, Korpela adds
that they’re working with a company
that does solvent washing, and recy-
cling their solvents with that supplier.
Additionally, Xten is working with the
company to help them dispose of other
things correctly. “They walk through the
plant, tell you what your highest waste
stream is, separate out your waste—such
as paper, fluorescent light bulbs, etc.—
and recycle it,” explains Korpela.
“Internally, we took a look at all the
various aspects of our business that are
being viewed as sustainable and created
something like a Wal-Mart report card,”
concludes Davidson. “We’ve looked at
all the possible things we could do to
make the company more sustainable. We
put a list together and now we’re figuring
out how to address those issues in 2011
and years to come. Air, water, raw mate-
rials—anything we’re throwing out the
door or bringing in the door, we’re going
to figure out how to make a positive
impact in each of those areas. We haven’t
defined everything yet, but going forward
we will continue to look for new ideas.
We’ve always found ways to save money
when we’ve started looking. That’s the
whole concept of conservation: saving
money and the environment, while build-
ing a sustainable business.” MPW
• JANUARY 2011 13
1/3/11 3:53:49 PM
 PROCESSING
TECHNOLOGY PROCESSING TRENDS
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

Replace a seal, save a $1 million project

By Matt Defosse

Good things come in small packages, with a good example to be found at additive supplier Amfine. Running into

serious problems with a dryer used to prepare nucleating agents, the company was able to replace a seal on a vacuum

dryer and save a $1 million project.

eals and other replacement parts the layers. They consumed a large
S often do not get much thought
from the plastics community until
amount of nitrogen purge gas.
As they ran the first batches of
it’s time to refurbish or conduct product in the new dryer and tested
scheduled maintenance on a piece of the results for solvent content and
equipment. There are times, though, dissolved color numbers, Amfine’s
when a bad seal can bring an entire experts realized that they needed
project to a halt, as additives and to achieve a much deeper vacuum
PVC stabilizer supplier Amfine in order to reach the target values
Chemical Corp. (Hopkinsville, KY) for solvent and color: A value of 50
discovered when it was ramping up Torr or less was needed in order to
a line to produce a nucleating agent dry at a low-enough temperature to
that also serves as a clarifying agent hit their targets. After making sev-
for semicrystalline polymers. Scott McNair, Amfine’s facilities manager, stands eral changes to the configuration of
Amfine is a joint venture of beside the once-troublesome vacuum dryer. the original seals, operators report-
Adeka Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. ed getting closer to the 50-Torr
of Japan, with it primarily serving plas- used in upstream production; the higher level in the dryer, but the product still
tics processors in the Americas. For this the temperature in the dryer, the more did not meet QC standards.
nucleating agent, making the product solvent can be removed. Temperature The level of vacuum achieved with
included drying under vacuum so that must be finely controlled to achieve a the factory-installed seals was inconsis-
no oxygen enters the process during low dissolved color value (high clarity), tent from batch to batch, so cycle times
drying. Dryer batches run 24/7 until as too high or low a temperature can for the dryer ranged widely.
completed. The product must pass two leave the product cloudy and therefore Nitrogen purge gas entering the dryer
critical quality tests: one measures the undesirable for customers’ products. from the factory-supplied seals was mak-
level of solvent remaining in the product Usual running temperature in the dryer ing it impossible to achieve the 50-Torr
and the other measures the level of dis- can exceed 240°F. The values for solvent level. The addition of nitrogen to the pro-
solved color. and color content are documented on cess had a secondary effect, to decrease
The drying process removes a solvent each batch of product produced. the bulk density of the product, making
it fluffier. The result of this was that
Murphy’s Law comes to town fine particles began to clog the outlet
When Amfine’s process engineers origi- filters, increasing the pressure differential
nally specified the capabilities of the between the inside and outside of the
dryer they needed to its manufacturer, dryer, a potentially dangerous condition.
they assumed that if it could hold 100
Torr (133.3 Pa) of vacuum, the process Mastering Murphy
would be successful. The dryer was deliv- After some searching, Amfine’s facili-
ered with some blow/cut seals installed, ties manager, Scott McNair, contacted
which were designed to hold the pre- shaft seal manufacturer Meco’s regional
scribed 100 Torr. These seals were com- distributor, Jerry Chevalier of Mid South
An EP seal (left) from Meco is shown posed of a series of Teflon lip seals, with Mechanical Sealing in Tennessee. After
mounted on the drive end of the dryer. nitrogen blown into chambers between visiting Amfine, where he helped the

14 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

MW1101_014
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 PROCESSING
TECHNOLOGY
maintenance team to measure the dryer
shaft and the space around it for a custom
seal, Meco (Georgetown, ME) quoted a
split, elastomer-free ExPac (EP) model
seal with a mechanical drive mechanism.
These seals can accommodate axial shaft
growth in applications with wide tem-
perature and pressure variances such as
this one had, and can hold vacuum effec-
tively. The elastomeric drive version of
the ExPac was ruled out due to the high
temperature and chemical compatibility
considerations in the application.
The split design was critical because
the retrofit of the dryer would take much
less time if the bearing and drive could
PROCESSING TRENDS
be left intact. The seal was delivered and
installed in late April 2008. Chevalier
helped with installation of the seal and to
oversee the startup of the machine with
the new seal in place.
A seal sleeve slightly wider than the
shaft diameter was removed to maximize
available space for the new seal. The EP
seal required a nitrogen purge, but with a
significantly reduced flow rate compared
to the first seal (from several hundred to
near zero cfm).
Happy and profitable ending
When the seal was installed, plant
operators were hoping that the dryer
could pull a vacuum deeper than 50
Torr. In fact, it is able to consistently
approach zero Torr with the new seal.
Dryer cycle times became predictable,
and consistent achievement of deep
vacuum resulted in more consistent
product quality and higher profitability
for Amfine.
The ExPac seal is designed for its
seal face pressure to be adjusted occa-
sionally as rotating faces wear over
time. In the first 2 ½ years of operation,
the seals have not needed to be adjusted
yet. McNair goes so far as to say that
the seals “literally saved a $1 million
project.”

INJECTION MOLDING
Patented tech boosts natural
fiber content in molded parts
By Tony Deligio

Innovative Plastics & Molding (IPM) has added a Canadian pat-

ent to its U.S. patent for a technology that utilizes fluid assist
to produce molded parts with a high natural-fiber content for a
superior stiffness-to-weight ratio, as well as cost advantages.
Robert Joyce, IPM’s founder and inventor of the process tech- Innovative Plastics & Molding used its patented tech-
nology, told MPW that his technology allows loading of natural nology to produce these parts from a wood-compos-
fibers, like jute or wood flour, at levels of up to 40%-50%. ite material consisting of wood flour and a polyolefin.

In addition to reducing part weight
and boosting fiber content, the process
speeds cycles by augmenting cooling.
The fluid-assist technology, which pref-
erably utilizes nitrogen, according to
Joyce, is key for producing molded parts
with high natural-fiber content.
“The goal is to keep parts as light and
as strong as possible,” Joyce says. IPM’s
plan going forward is to sell licenses
for the technology, with a compounder
producing its FibreTuff fiber-loaded pel-
lets. Joyce says that at this point in time,
several potential licensees are lined up,
with automotive, consumer, building,
and furniture applications in the works.
In addition to targeting thick-walled
parts, Joyce says the process imparts
higher heat-deflection temperatures to
its compounds, particularly for natural
fibers, getting up to 300°F. Joyce’s work
on the technology goes back a decade,
with initial research involving calendar-
ing sheet. He was granted the Canadian
patent (2,547,523) on Sept. 14, 2010
for a molded article with a cellular wall
having cavities composed of a wood
This cross section shows a furniture
component that uses S1S Hardboard
with the FibreTuff natural-fiber poly-
olefin injection molded composite, with
no glues or adhesives needed to bond
materials, creating an improved stiff-
ness-to-weight ratio, reduced costs, and
a greener part.
flour and polyolefin. The U.S. patent
(7,214,420) was awarded in May 2007.
By forcing the melt against the tool
cavity walls, this technology also pro-
motes heat transfer from the part and
serves to reduce sink and warpage, with
40% reduction in cycle time possible,
Joyce says. The fluid-assist technology
also improves fiber dispersion while elim-
inating weldlines on the part surface.
In terms of potential applications, with-
in automotive Joyce thinks load floors,
headliners, cargo trays, seats, doors, and
appliqués are likely targets. Within furni-
ture, frames, seat backs/bottoms, and arms
hold promise, while in building and con-
struction, he thinks floors, walls, siding,
windows, doors, cabinets, and acoustical
ceiling tiles are workable. The company is
also working on designs for luggage, trays,
containers, and pallets.

plasticstoday.com/mpw MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 15

MW1101_015
MW1101 015 15 1/3/11 4:03:09 PM
 PROCESSING
TECHNOLOGY
EXTRUSION
Need LDPE for film clarity or improved processability?
Not any more
Plastic film processors are finding they can reduce the use of LDPE in their film, or even stop adding it entirely, while
maintaining similar clarity and processability. Some, in fact, are seeing a big uptick in mechanical properties, even a
doubling of impact strength, with a recently introduced metallocene polyethylene from ExxonMobil Chemical.
The supplier introduced its Enable brand
of metallocene polyethylene (mPE) in
2008, and since then the material has
met rapid success in the market, says
David McConville, global PE market
development manager. ExxonMobil also
supplies Exceed-brand mPE and its Vis-
tamaxx propylene-based elastomer. This
last material is finding “a very nice fit”
in the stretch hood market, he says, with
it also seeing use in applications as varied
as raffia, tape, and surface protection
films and even in cast polypropylene.
“We’re still finding new applications [for
it] and so are our customers,” he says.
Enable mPE was in the spotlight on
some high-layer lines running at the
recent K show in Düsseldorf, including
on a nine-layer film that included EVOH
in its core. McConville says processors
are using the new mPE to replace or
simplify the blends they use, downgauge,
improve processability, and improve out-
put—almost anything a film processor
could want. “Using [Enable mPE] lets
you run with less LDPE, or even not use
it at all,” he says.
Processors often add low-density
polyethylene (LDPE) to their film recipes
to increase a film’s clarity and to improve
processability. “But in the past year we’ve
shown quite successfully that with the use
of Enable mPE, you can get rid of LDPE,
run your line at the same speed, and get
much better tear resistance. It’s one of
the focuses of our marketing effort right
now,” he explains. “[With Enable mPE]
there is a significant increase to mechani-
cal performance, even a doubling of dart
impact strength. . . . Customers are latch-
ing onto this very quickly. Everyone is
working to take cost out of film, and this
has been a real winner.” It’s even helped
his own company, which has switched
16 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
MW1101_016
MW1101 016 16
PROCESSING TRENDS
to an Exceed mPE for the bags it uses to
ship its resin to processors, without need
for LDPE in those bags.
In addition to this mPE development,
McConville says he and his colleagues
also are excited about the growing trend
among some processors to run dedicated
five-layer polyolefin film lines. With his
company’s materials running on such
lines, “We’re getting added performance
even in the pure form. You get more
stiffness, so you can downgauge. . . . It’s
still early in the development phase [for
these lines] but it’s intriguing as you can
really increase the mechanical properties.
We believe these lines will be the next
step-change in downgauging.”
Most five-layer lines, he explains, are
Processors are starting to use the Enable
for barrier films and are not dedicated mPE grade to reduce their need for
to extrusion of PE film. On one of these LDPE in multilayer structures.
dedicated lines, instead of blending more
high-density PE in the core, the HDPE there still remain significant differences
would be added in the B layers in an A-B- in polyolefin film design among different
A-B-A structure. Two such lines were in regions, he says. Most of the difference
operation at the K show. can be traced to the great variance in
McConville, who works out of the what defines “fitness for use” in the dif-
company’s Singapore offices, has global ferent markets.
marketing responsibility. Despite global- For example, pallet wrapping in Asia
ization’s strong influence on packaging, is almost all hand wrap, whereas in
Europe or North America, it typically
is automated. Stand-up pouches have a
strong market presence in Asia but have
not been as popular in Europe or the
Americas. Bucking the trend is heavy-
duty bag design, he says, with its design
similar all around the world.
McConville, his colleagues, and the
extruder manufacturing OEMs with
which they closely partner see a bright
future for the plastic films industry, he
says. “Look at our portfolio of advanced
mPE, and couple that with the advances
Stretch hoods and similar applications
are targeted with the company’s Vista- in multilayer extrusion lines, and we and
maxx grades. the OEMs are pretty excited.” MD
plasticstoday.com/mpw
1/3/11 4:03:27 PM
 r
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MW1101_017
MW1101 017 17 1/3/11 4:03:44 PM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

MATERIAL THOUGHTS
RESINS & COMPOUNDS

Corn-based isosorbide could serve

as BPA replacement
Agricultural processing giant Archer
Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) has
begun marketing isosorbide as part of
its Evolution Chemicals product range.
Isosorbide, derived from corn, is a poten-
tial alternative to the petroleum-based
chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) in plastics,
epoxy resin, and other applications.
ADM claims to be the first com-
pany in North America to offer renew-
able isosorbide on a commercial scale.
Bisphenol A, the chemical it says can be
replaced, is used during production of
polycarbonate and epoxy, among other
materials, but it first gathered wide-
spread attention when it was proven to
mimic human hormones and possibly
lead to negative health affects, especially
in babies or fetuses. (Read our inter-
view with the scientist who discovered
BPA’s estrogen mimicking effect, as well
as an industry defense of the chemical
from Steven Hentges, executive director
of the American Chemistry Council’s
Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group in
September 2010 MPW.)
Both the U.S. Food & Drug
Administration and the National
Toxicology Program at the National
Institutes of Health, among other gov-
ernment watchdogs around the world,
have expressed concern about the poten-
tial health effects associated with BPA.
Isosorbide can be used in polyesters
for inks, toners, powder coatings, packag-
ing, and durable goods; polyurethanes for
foams and coatings; polycarbonates for
durable goods and optical media; epoxy
resins for paints; and detergents, surfac-
tants, and additives for personal care and
consumer products. ADM currently offers
isosorbide in both a technical grade (97%
pure) and a polymer grade (99% pure).
Archer Daniels Midland Co., Decatur, IL
www.adm.com

Ineos, BASF to bundle SBC, and styrene-based copolymers busi- stryenics operations brought in about $3
styrenics business nesses to the JV. This includes two pro- billion in turnover, and Ineos’s $2 bil-
The massive joint venture will have duction plants located in Germany and lion. BASF will receive cash consideration
about $5 billion in annual sales and one each in Belgium, Korea, India, and following the completion of the transac-
brings together all of the styrenics assets Mexico. Ineos intends to contribute ABS tion. The parties did not disclose any
of both firms, minus their respective production plants at sites in Germany, further financial details. Headquarters
expanded polystyrene opera- for the new company will be
tions. Each of the suppliers Frankfurt, Germany. Roberto
will have a 50% stake in the Gualdoni (54), at BASF since
venture once it is completed, 1987, will be named CEO
with that expected following of Styrolution. In April 2010,
antitrust approval in 2011. Gualdoni became president
The new JV is to be called of BASF’s Styrenics division.
Styrolution, according to the Christoph de la Camp (47),
Letter of Intent signed by the currently the CFO of Ineos
companies’ leadership on Nov. Nova, will hold that title at the
29, 2010. BASF had already new company.
announced plans to divest its PS, ABS, and other styrenics
styrenics operations by the end remain in strong demand for
of this year and, on Jan. 1, The picture shows (from left to right): Callum MacLean, board member of use in many electronic devices,
Ineos; Martin Brudermuller, board member at BASF; Roberto Gualdoni, CEO
2011, was expected to form of Styrolution; Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of Ineos; and Jurgen Hambrecht, large appliances such as refrig-
a new company, Styrolution, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF. eration liners and housewares,
encompassing all of its styren- automotive parts, power tools,
ics activities. Ineos is in the process of Spain, India, and Thailand to the new and more. Packaging remains a huge end-
acquiring the other 50% shareholding venture. Ineos also will contribute its sty- use market as well, despite replacement
in its 50-50 styrenics joint venture, Ineos rene monomer and polystyrene business- of PS by PET and other materials in some
Nova, from Nova Chemicals. Upon com- es to the joint venture, which includes packaging applications. Once formed,
pletion of the proposed joint venture with Ineos and Ineos Nova sites in Canada, the new JV will take the helm as largest
BASF, Ineos will transfer these activities five in the United States, and one each in styrenics supplier from Styron, the for-
into the new Styrolution group. Germany, France, and Sweden. mer Dow Chemical styrenics operations
BASF will contribute its SM, PS, ABS, Based on expected 2010 results, BASF’s it sold to Bain Capital in March 2010.

18 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

MW1101_018
MW1101 018 18 1/3/11 4:04:37 PM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
Styron has annual sales of about $3.7 bil-
lion; this includes its world-leading latex
business unit.
Ineos, Hampshire, UK, www.ineos.com
BASF Corp., Florham Park, NJ
www.basf.com
EMI shielding nearly
doubled with carbon-
fiber-filled polyamide
compound
Winona, MN-based plastics compounder
PlastiComp LLC has developed a long-
carbon-fiber-filled compound, using nylon
as its matrix material, that it says reaches
shielding levels almost double that of
comparable compounds, while also being
more cost-efficient and retaining better
mechanical properties.
The long-fiber-thermoplastic (LFT)
compounds the company now markets
provide up to 70 dB shielding in the
megahertz and higher-frequency ranges.
Applications are anticipated in parts and
enclosures in consumer electronics.
Traditionally, shielding materials are
created by molding engineering thermo-
plastics that are either painted with con-
ductive films or filled with conductive
and metallic additives to provide electro-
static dissipation (ESD) and electromag-
netic interference shielding (EMI), notes
Raj Mathur, the compounder’s business
development manager. Carbon fiber is
naturally conductive and thus a popular
additive. To increase shielding efficiency,
carbon fibers are often coated with metals
such as nickel. However, these materials
only achieve EMI shielding efficiencies
in the 30- to 40-dB range, according to
PlastiComp.
Coating the fibers with nickel or other
metals usually leads to a loss of mechani-
cal properties and shielding efficiency for
the carbon fibers. In addition, adding
nickel and secondary operations involving
conductive paint add cost to the process.
For a recent project, PlastiComp was
tasked to supply compounds suitable
for unidentified EMI applications. These
parts had to possess a stiffness of 35 GPa
or higher, provide 50 dB or better EMI
shielding, and possess a surface resistiv-
ity of 5 ohms/square or lower. There
were restraints on unit costs as well.
plasticstoday.com/mpw
MW1101_019
MW1101 019 19
Thicknesses varied in part sections and
were 1.5 mm or less.
PlastiComp went through structural
and mold flow analyses before it selected
a long-carbon-fiber-filled nylon that was
tested to 50- to 70-dB shielding effective-
ness. The compounding was such that
long fiber lengths could be retained; this,
along with the use of some proprietary
additives, were principally responsible
for creating a conductive network of the
reinforcing fibers, leading to the high
shielding effectiveness as well as the high
stiffness.
Plasticomp LLC, Winona, MN, USA
www.plasticomp.com
Smithers Group
acquires Pira
The Smithers Group, parent company of
plastics testing and consulting company
Smithers Rapra, has acquired Pira, which
produces reports and conducts testing
for clients in the packaging, paper, and
print industries and their supply chains.
Smithers officials say the purchase repre-
sents a strategic fit for their company.
Terms of the purchase were not dis-
closed. Selling Pira was plastics and
chemicals supplier BASF (Ludwigshafen,
Germany), which acquired Pira with its
acquisition last year of additives sup-
plier Ciba. Pira’s headquarters are in
Leatherhead, England; it employs about
120 at five facilities in the UK and the
United States.
“Pira represents a tremendous strategic
fit for Smithers,” says Michael Hoch-
schwender, president and CEO of The
Smithers Group. Pira provides strategic
and technical consulting and intelligence,
and organizes events for the packaging,
paper, and print industry supply chains.
Its IntertechPira business prepares and
markets reports for industries including
lighting and displays, clean energy, home
and personal care, industrial biotechnolo-
gy, performance materials, and chemicals.
The Smithers Group includes Smithers
Viscient, Smithers Pharma Services, Smi-
thers Rapra, Smithers Quality Assessments,
iSmithers, and now Pira International and
IntertechPira.
The Smithers Group, Akron, OH, USA
www.smithersgroup.com
MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
New developments
Sabic signs off on
new global application
development center
in Riyadh
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) has
signed a construction contract to build
an 80,000m2 application development
center, including about 43,000m2 of
building space, at the Riyadh Techno
Valley research complex inside the King
Saud University (KSU) campus. The Sabic
Plastics Application Development Center
(SPADC) is part of the company’s 2020
strategy, which it says emphasizes the
importance of scientific research to serve
industries and the process of innovation,
and for the creation of new industries.
Sabic vice chairman and CEO
Mohamed Al-Mady says the center will
support the continued expansion of his
company’s product portfolio, especially
in the areas of packaging, automotive
materials, and compounding. Ultimately,
he says, the new research facility will
encourage growth of downstream indus-
tries, collaborating with customers to
develop new plastic applications and
provide technical support to Sabic’s cus-
tomers, locally and across the world.
Without specifying, Al-Mady notes
that the center would be equipped with
more than 300 pieces of research equip-
ment operated by more than 150 expert
researchers. It will become part of the
company’s Global Technology Center
network, joining centers in Pittsfield,
MA; Bergen op Zoom and Geleen, the
Netherlands; Bangalore, India; Shanghai,
China; Seoul, South Korea; and Moka,
Japan. The center will also house the cur-
rent Polymer Technical Support Center
now located in Riyadh II Industrial
City. Sabic says the center will be a
Leadership in Energy & Environmental
Design (LEED) certified building and is
expected to be operational by the begin-
ning of Q3 2012.
KSU, which is billed as the Kingdom’s
oldest university, was founded in 1957
and for a time called Riyadh University,
before reverting back to KSU in 1982.
Including graduate students, the univer-
sity had more than 36,000 students for
the 2008-2009 academic year, with near-
ly 5000 instructors, one-third of whom
• JANUARY 2011 19
1/3/11 4:04:44 PM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
MATERIAL THOUGHTS
come from outside Saudi Arabia.
Sabic Innovative Plastics, Pittsfield, MA, USA
www.sabic-ip.com
Up from the ashes,
AWS opens larger, more
advanced plastic bottle
recycling plant
AWS Eco Plastics has opened its new plas-
tic bottle sorting facility just over one year
since an August 2009 fire destroyed its
entire sorting and storage area. The new
£17 million ($26.5 million) site will have
an annual capacity to process 100,000
tonnes of waste plastic or 2 million bot-
tles, utilizing Stadler, Titech, and Herbold
equipment. AWS says its 17 polymer and
optical sorters are capable of processing
11 different plastic streams.
One key stream will be food-grade
PET, which has experienced a surge in
demand in the UK as major food and
beverage brands ask their suppliers to
source the material. AWS has built in
expansion plans for the site, purchasing
adjacent land, with the expectation that
it will increase processing capacity at the
site to 140,000 tonnes by mid 2011. The
UK is projected to recycle 300,000 tonnes
of plastic bottles annually by the end of
the year, making AWS’s Hemswell facility
ultimately responsible for nearly 50% of
the national total in 2010. The business
has more than 130 employees, with 110
of those working at the processing site.
According to Recoup (Recycling of
Used Plastics), 45% of plastic bottles in
the UK are currently collected for recy-
cling, up 6% over 2009. Those figures
are courtesy of the group’s 2010 UK
Household Plastics Packaging Collection
Survey, which also found that more than
260,000 tonnes of plastic bottles were
collected in 2009, with the large increase
attributable to curbside collection.
AWS Eco Plastics, North Lincolnshire,
England, www.awsecoplastics.com
Strategic partnership
formed for acrylic in
TFT-LCD and solar
energy industries
Evonik Industries, one of the world’s larg-
est suppliers of acrylic, and AU Optronics
Corp. (AUO), a leading manufacturer of
20 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
MW1101_020
MW1101 020 20
thin-film transistor liquid crystal display
(LCD) panels, have formed a nonexclu-
sive agreement that will focus mainly on
research and development, production
planning, and manufacturing. The two
companies are also working on recycling
of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
Since 2008, the companies have
been working together in their Evonik
Forhouse Optical Polymers (EFOP) joint
venture, which includes the operation
of a plant that produces acrylic for the
TFT-LCD industry. In addition to the
new strategic partnership, the companies
also announced the EFOP joint venture
will double its PMMA capacity to about
85,000 tons.
One key goal of the new joint devel-
opment program in Taiwan with AUO
is to open up new application markets,
says Patrik Wohlhauser, chairman of
the board of management of Evonik
Degussa GmbH. This includes applica-
tions for PMMA in solar engineering and
other alternate energy technologies. AUO
extended its business beyond displays to
the green energy industry in late 2008,
and in October 2010 named its two core
business units Display and Solar.
Evonik Industries, Düsseldorf, Germany
www.evonik.com
Resin offers up to 50%
higher moisture barrier
Nova Chemicals has introduced a new
ultrahigh-barrier, high-density polyeth-
ylene resin for cast film and extrusion
coating, promising up to 50% higher
moisture-barrier improvement over con-
ventional technology. Called Surpass
EX-HPs667-AB, the resin allows pack-
age redesign and improved sustainability
for barrier packaging in markets such as
snacks, beverages, dairy, pet foods, and
lawn and garden applications.
Nova says processors can coextrude
the product and reduce film gauge to
satisfy customers’ performance and sus-
tainability objectives. Alternatively, they
can coextrude or blend the product to
enable lamination consolidation and per-
formance enhancement.
Surpass EX-HPs667-AB gives cast film
and extrusion-coating processors the abil-
ity to custom-tailor solutions in-house to
New developments
meet customer needs in a range of packag-
ing formats, including stand-up pouches,
lidstocks, release liners, and multilayer
foil laminations, with the possibility of
lamination step elimination for three-ply
applications. Nova’s ultrahigh-barrier
resin portfolio for film applications also
includes HPs167-AB resin for blown film.
Nova Chemicals, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
www.novachem.com
ADDITIVES & FILLERS
FDA gives approval to its
first C. I. Pigment Blue 36
Color pigment supplier The Shepherd
Color Co. can claim a first with the
recent announcement that the U.S. Food
& Drug Administration (FDA) has
approved for indirect food contact the
company’s new Blue 10F545 pigment.
Blue 10F545 is insoluble in virtually all
solvents and resins and will not bleed or
migrate, according to Shepherd.
The supplier says the approval cov-
ers the intended use of the pigment in all
polymers, at a maximum loading of 5%
by weight. It also meets other regulatory
requirements such as AP 89.1, AS 2070,
BfR, China GB9685-2008, CONEG, EN
71.3, French Positive List, RoHS, TCLP,
WEEE, and ELV.
So far, Blue 10F545 is the only C. I.
Pigment Blue 36 approved by the U.S.
FDA. A spokesperson for Shepherd says
she is not sure if any other supplier
has ever tried for approval with such a
colorant. Shepherd, though, has had some
customers request that it pursue the FDA
approval, she adds.
The new complex inorganic color pig-
ment (CICP) has the lightfastness needed
for use in extreme applications—those
high in UV exposure, in high-heat sys-
tems, and in contact with harsh chemical
environments. Deep blue-green in color,
sky blue in a white let-down, Blue 10F545
has good hiding power, opacity, and tint-
ing strength, reports the supplier. It is a
strong absorber of UV radiation but not
degraded by UV and therefore resistance
to weather and light are good. Heat sta-
bility is to >800°C (1800°F).
The Shepherd Color Co., Cincinnati, OH,
USA, www.shepherdcolor.com
plasticstoday.com/mpw
1/3/11 4:04:48 PM
 r
"EWFSUJTFNFOU
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CORPORATE PROFILE
Struktol
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Struktol Company of America
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MW1101_021
MW1101 021 21 1/3/11 4:04:51 PM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
PRODUCT WATCH
RECYCLING
A good run for Erema:
12 weeks and €38 million in orders
The Austrian manufacturer of plastics
recycling machinery says the weeks lead-
ing up to and immediately following the
triennial K show (Oct. 27-Nov. 3, 2010)
proved to be some of the best in the com-
pany’s history as it took orders for €38
million worth of equipment in the span
of just three months.
The trend of a rapidly increasing vol-
ume of order intake that began before the
trade fair has continued since, according
to the manufacturer. The expansion of
the company’s infrastructure is also mak-
ing progress with a new customer test
center due to be completed by mid-2011.
The volume of orders was the most the
company has ever recorded in such a
short period of time. Total turnover for
the company in its FY 2009-2010 was
€74 million.
More than a third of the total value
of the orders was made during the K
trade fair, with the number of orders
far exceeding the figure achieved at the
ASSEMBLY
Assembly lines optimized
for multimaterial molding
and extrusion
An increasing number of plastics proces-
sors are taking advantage of multimaterial
processing machinery to help them shave
time and costs off of projects, as well as to
win more business. The resulting parts are
popular with customers, but often also
require automated assembly systems in a
processor’s plant to meet
specific product handling
parameters and customer
needs.
Helping solve the issues
associated with the han-
dling of these parts is The
Arthur G. Russell Co (Bris-
tol, CT), which manufac-
tures bulk sorting and feed-
22 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
MW1101_022
MW1101 022 22
previous K show, making K 2010 the
most successful K fair ever in the history
of Erema, reports the company.
“The intensive preparations have
paid off. Over 1600 registered contacts
at the booth and an extremely encourag-
ing all-around trade fair performance
means that we can look back at the show
with a certain feeling of confidence and
satisfaction,” says CEO Manfred Hackl.
The company’s 1310 TVEplus on show
at the Düsseldorf trade fair aroused a
great deal of interest, says Erema, as did
other equipment highlighted there.
The groundbreaking ceremony for
the new customer test center coincided
with the beginning of the show. “This
investment will mean that in the future
it will be possible to have test runs for
customers and other people who are
interested, in a different building from
where we carry out internal development
tests. On the one hand this gives us the
opportunity to raise the quality of the
ing equipment that can operate at a vari-
ety of speeds to facilitate the automated
assembly of multimaterial components.
“From time to time, we have been
asked by existing and new customers to
develop both slow- and high-speed solu-
tions for automating the sorting or assem-
bly of components that are comolded
or coextruded using materials that offer
some benefits to the end user or down-
stream process, but do not lend them-
selves to traditional feeding and assembly
methods. The trick from a
manufacturing angle is to
design adaptive feeding and
handling systems that can
accommodate the unique
physical characteristics and
Multimaterial coextruded and coinjection molded components can present unique
feeding, handling, and assembly challenges. The Arthur G. Russell Co. works
to develop and manufacture automated systems that meet processors’ output
objectives without marring or scratching components.
K 2010 and the weeks following have been the
busiest order season ever at Erema.
numerous test runs to an even higher
level. On the other hand we will also be
intensifying our activities in the field of
research and development as a result.
We still see targeted innovations and
developments as the driving force behind
what we do,” explains Hackl.
Once the customer test center has
been finished—which is planned for the
first half of 2011—seven complete test
facilities will be available. A further five
systems are available for research and
development.
Erema, Ansfelden, Austria, www.erema.at
material properties of the specific coex-
truded or comolded part,” explains Ste-
ven Johnson, applications engineer at the
company.
Advantages for using multiple materi-
als can include performance enhance-
ments such as increasing core strength,
achieving improved sound or vibration
absorbency, reducing product weight;
meeting sustainability objectives by
including regrind material; and achiev-
ing attention-grabbing consumer appeal.
Because the variety of potential multi-
material combinations is great, typically
each automation system manufactured
for these applications is a bespoke one.
Arthur G. Russell Co. Inc., Bristol, CT, USA
www.arthurgrussell.com
plasticstoday.com/mpw
1/3/11 4:08:44 PM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
EXTRUSION
Better product, lower cost
with improved tube line
Auxiliary equipment manufacturer Conair
has made changes to its cooling tank and
other downstream equipment and controls
geared to help processors of plastic tub-
ing improve process stability and provide
stricter control of wall thickness, ovality,
and cut-to-length tolerances. Systems are
available for extrusion of medical tubing
and also for nonmedical products like
aquarium tubing, small-gauge irrigation
tubing, and pneumatic airway tubing.
Within its multipass tank, which sends
the tubing along a back-and-forth path
through cooling water, the company has
integrated a vacuum-sizing chamber. Vac-
uum sizing is inherently more control-
lable than air-pressure sizing, explains Bob
Bessemer, medical downstream extrusion
sales manager for Conair. The manufac-
turer has been promoting vacuum sizing
for almost two decades and has experi-
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plasticstoday.com/mpw
MW1101_023
MW1101 023 23
Innovation & Optimization
Place
ence with lines for processing the potential for tube
of flexible PVC, TPE, TPU, and distortion or flattening,
PE tubing. and because it is driven
“As the industry migrates by a closed-loop vector
from PVC to more expensive drive or digital servo, it
materials, savings of even a few acts as the primary pull-
percent in material use becomes er in the line. Located
very important,” adds Besse- close to the beginning
mer. He also notes that using of line, it minimizes
a vacuum means tubing will Conair’s Medline Multipass the stretching that can
tank helps plastic tubing
be less affected by automated processors save material occur when the primary
downstream functions such as and extrude better product. puller is far down the
cutting to length and coil wind- extrusion line.
ing. “Where processors might have avoid- Glass bearings on non-driven rollers
ed using these techniques because of their reduce drag and stretching as the tub-
impact on overall tube tolerances, they can ing makes subsequent passes through the
now confidently institute these labor-sav- tank at line speeds that now sometimes
ing techniques and cut costs further while approach 800 ft/min. A load cell measures
increasing productivity,” he says. tension on the tubing. This device sends
Also part of the MedLine Multipass a signal to a secondary puller outside
tank is an oversized, driven roller at the the tank to automatically adjust speed to
end of the tank that reverses the direction maintain a consistent and repeatable ten-
of the tube as it exits the vacuum chamber sion and prevent shrinkage issues.
and begins a second pass through the tank. Conair, Cranberry Township, PA, USA
The roller’s large diameter helps minimize www.conairgroup.com
• Reduce Scrap
• Reduce Downtime
• Food Contact Certified
• No Fumes or Odors
Produced by:
MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 23
1/6/11 8:57:42 AM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
PRODUCT WATCH
BLOWMOLDING
New unit marries
blowmolding and filling
for midrange outputs
A new “monobloc” unit from Krones is
marketed toward those processors and
beverage brand owners who do not need
the full output of a large rotary stretch
blowmolding unit and filling line. Called
Synchroblock and made and marketed
by Krones’ Kosme subsidiary, the new
unit is good for blowing and filling up to
8000 containers an hour.
Krones acquired Kosme in 2002. Kro-
nes makes stretch blowmolding machin-
ery and filling equipment, plus other
beverage bottling machinery, for high-
output lines; acquiring Kosme gave it
access to technology for lower-output
blowing and filling lines.
The Synchroblock marries Kosme’s
stretch blowmolding technology to
Krones’ filling technology, without
having to use any air conveyors. As a
result, operating costs are reduced, as
is energy and water consumption, and
the unit’s layout is less complex. Also,
says the manufacturer, the changeover
times are shorter and maintenance costs
in general drop. The Synchroblock can
be used for soft drinks, still water, and
beer alike.
The blowmolding machine used can
process containers sized from 0.1-3.0
liters. There is an option for fitting the
The Synchroblock brings together stretch blowmolding and filling in a unit rated for up to 8000
containers an hour.
24 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
MW1101_024
MW1101 024 24
blowmolder with an air recycling system.
The containers are passed via a transfer
table to the isobaric filler.
Krones, Neutraubling, Germany
www.krones.com
New takeaway system
helps processors handle
machines’ higher outputs
Extrusion blowmolding machinery gets
faster every year, but blowing good parts
is just one part of a processor’s chal-
lenge; safely and successfully removing
them is another. Designed to help with
that latter is the MTM 2001D takeaway
system for use with shuttle blowmolding
systems.
The manufacturer of the MTM
2001D, Lectro Engineering, says that
although the unit was designed with
Bekum’s H series of shuttle machines
in mind, it also works well with other
shuttle-type extrusion blowmolding
machines. It comes with a number of fea-
tures designed to help ensure that both
its uptime and speed are tops, with stable
bottle removal and bottle orientation
from each without nicks or scratches.
Those features include dual servo-
controlled gripper hands, which help
decrease cycle times by reducing overall
motion, traveling just half the distance
of comparable takeaway systems, says
Lectro. The gripper hands come pre-
drilled for water cooling, if needed.
Standard are 14-inch gripper hands but
Place
smaller ones with 10.5- or 7.5-inch grip-
per hands are available.
The takeout system is outfitted with
an Allen Bradley PLC control system
and a servo-motion control system from
that same company. The setup mode
includes a self-teaching module to help
new users get started. The self-diagnostic
screen makes for easy troubleshooting.
Naturally, it is fully guarded to ANSI
(American National Standards Institute)
specifications.
Lectro says it provides the entire lad-
der and PLC programs in a user-friendly
format so any knowledgeable technician
Lectro’s MTM 2001D takeaway system for use
with shuttle blowmolding systems comes with a
number of features designed to help ensure that
both its uptime and speed are tops.
can open and navigate through it. And
because a blowmolding facility can be
a tough one for touch screens, the unit
is designed so that, even when a screen
is damaged, continued operation of the
2001D is not compromised.
The color touch screen is only used
for “Easy Touch” bottle setup (setting
up a new bottle recipe), to change to an
existing recipe on a changeover, or to
use the manufacturer’s self-diagnostic
screens. Daily operation involves push-
ing just two buttons located on the main
control panel to start up the 2001D
takeaway system.
The company also provides an
optional deflash station to remove scrap
flash from handleware or other noncap-
tive blown bottles. The deflash station
uses programming and wiring that are
already included in the takeaway system.
In some cases, the 2001D deflash station
can utilize existing deflash punch tooling
packages from other manufacturers.
Lectro Engineering Co. Inc., St. Louis, MO,
USA, www.lectrotreat.com
plasticstoday.com/mpw
1/3/11 4:08:50 PM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
Innovation & Optimization
Place

Eye on Auxiliary Equipment: Dryers

Down with degradation Easy access
Motan’s “ETA plus” air regulation provides a temperature- Motan has re-engineered the drying bins on its Luxor dry-
adjustment feature, airflow control, and the ETA waste heat ers, making the cleanout doors twice as large and replac-
recovery system. Motan says ETA plus avoids material deg- ing a 300-liter unit with 250- and 400-liter versions. The
radation by automatically managing dry airflow relative to larger doors not only improve access, but also allow the
actual demand, and then adjusting the drying temperature. By hopper loader discharge flap to be cleaned easily and
sensing fluctuations simply from inside
in material through- the bin. Since the
put and material tem- doors are designed
perature, the system specifically for the
automatically adjusts bin, Motan says
airflow to the drying bridging is pre-
bin’s energy require- vented and opti-
ments. In the event of mized materials
downtime, the temperature can be reduced to a standby set- flow allowed.
ting (especially important for heat-sensitive materials). Addi- By replacing
tionally, if throughput is too high, a visual warning is given. the 300-liter unit
In a centralized drying layout, Motan pays particular atten- with 250- and
tion to energy management, using a heat exchanger during 400-liter versions,
regeneration of desiccant beds so that energy from hot, humid Motan says that
outgoing air can be recovered and used to heat the incom- both the system dryer and small dryer lines offer custom-
ing air. Additionally, its closed-loop cooling system, used in ers the same choice of bin sizes. All Motan drying bins up
regeneration’s cooling phase, conserves energy by preventing to 2400 liters are fully insulated and made from stainless
moisture absorption before the bed switches to drying. steel.
Motan, Derbyshire, UK, www.motan.co.uk Motan, Derbyshire, UK, www.motan.co.uk

Energy miser Little batches

Wittmann Battenfeld says its Drymax Aton wheel dryer
provides a consistent dewpoint and maximum energy effi-
ciency. The dryer segments desiccant beads into multiple
chambers of a rotating wheel, optimizing energy efficien-
cy and allowing for easier
desiccant bead replacement,
compared to a more costly
wheel replacement.
The unit’s point sensor
has an integrated dewpoint
display with alarm function,
and the return air cooling
coil is integrated within the
filter housing, for easier
in-the-field retrofits. The
microparticle process filter
has dust-separation efficiency
up to 99.9% for optical qual-
ity material processing, and
the high-temperature option
allows process temperatures
up to 180°C (356°F) for materials that require a higher
drying temperature.
Wittmann Battenfeld, Torrington, CT, USA, www.wittmann-ct.com
Targeting small jobs with big accuracy requirements, the
Drymax Micro F2 series of dry-air dryers are equipped
with two desiccant beds to supply continuous, dry pro-
cess air and consistent quality for
small flow rates with precise con-
trol. Depending on the compressed
air system, dewpoints to -60°C can
be achieved.
Drymax Micro F2 options
include a dewpoint sensor; com-
pressed-air conveying for automatic
feeding, with distance of up to 3m;
and a “3-save process” for ther-
mal energy recovery. The EcoMode
allows sequential regeneration during lower water load,
and in addition to a visual status display, the unit has a
material protection function and dewpoint management.
Wittmann Batttenfeld officials noted that when proces-
sors get into small-tonnage molding, and even micromold-
ing, they’re obviously running very low throughputs that
don’t require a 10- or 30-liter hopper. The Drymax Micro
F2 allows much smaller amounts of material to be dried,
down to 1 cup.
Wittmann Battenfeld, Torrington, CT, USA, www.wittmann-ct.com

plasticstoday.com/mpw MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 25

MW1101_025
MW1101 025 25 1/3/11 4:08:59 PM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

PRODUCT WATCH Place

Eye on Auxiliary Equipment: Dryers continued

Boosted throughput Smart controls

After various joint studies with Italian universities, includ- Critical process settings and actual data are vividly displayed
ing tests with a transparent hopper and nearly 13 years of on the TouchView controls available on larger Carousel
research, Moretto has arrived at an internal geometry for Plus dryers from The Conair Group. The 7-inch-diagonal
the drying hopper that it says has a tremendous impact on screen has touch-activated full-color graphics and status
throughput. The company’s OTX drying hopper concept indicators and
from Renato Moretto has altered the internal shape of the is available on
hopper to optimize material flow. either an Allen-
Moretto says as a result, material Bradley or Sie-
exiting the hopper does so with uni- mens platform.
form temperatures of 185°C (365°F) The basic con-
and consistent moisture levels. The trol package can
hopper’s design cuts material resi- be upgraded
dence time by 30%, with an airflow with an optional
reduction of 40%. Accounting for dewpoint con-
the energy savings, Moretto put the trol and the
return on investment in a system at patented Conair
one-and-a-half to two years. Drying Monitor, which measures temperatures at multiple
Combining the X Max dryer and locations in the material bed. The Optimizer Mode is an
the Flowmatik control with the new OTX hopper, the com- adaptive system that combines dewpoint monitoring and
pany says it enables a throughput of up to 8000 kg/hr, in com- the Drying Monitor with a variable-frequency drive on the
bination with a modular generator of 20,000 m3/hr. Three to air blower to maintain temperature regardless of changing
10 modular-design dryer units can support one to 32 drying conditions.
hoppers, without requiring compressed air or cooling water. The Conair Group, Cranberry Township, PA, USA
Moretto SpA, Massanzago, Italy, www.moretto.com www.conairgroup.com

INJECTION MOLDING ager of Arburg Ltda. in Brazil. Del- Arburg are in use. Arburg manufac-
phi singled out the German company’s tures all of its machines at its HQ plant
Delphi presents award aftersales service for special praise. in Lossburg.
to Arburg Brazil as top Delphi presented supplier awards Arburg also cooperates with Del-
supplier for each of its seven locations in South phi at other locations throughout the
The automotive systems supplier made America. At Delphi EEA (Electrical/ world.
the presentation to injection molding Electronic Architecture) in São Paulo, Arburg, Lossburg, Germany
machine manufacturer Arburg as part several dozen electric and hydrau- www.arburg.com
of Delphi’s awards convention, held lic injection molding machines from
in São Paulo. The leading PUR PROCESSING
global supplier of mobile
electronics and transport PUR plastic demand
systems for the automotive prompts new tooling
sector bestowed the award capacity
on the Arburg subsidiary Plastics processing machinery manufac-
in Brazil for its role as turer KraussMaffei says “soaring cus-
an outstanding supplier in tomer demand” led it to double the pro-
South America. duction area at its plant in Harderberg,
“We are extremely Germany where it manufactures molds
proud to have been hon- and tooling for processing of polyure-
ored for our many years thane. The company also makes and
of excellent cooperation by Honored as an exceptional supplier: Arburg Brazil subsidiary markets reaction process machinery to
this leading global auto- manager Kai Wender (left) and his sales manager Leandro Goulart process the material.
(right) accept the award from Sidney Johnson (second from left),
motive supplier,” said Kai Delphi VP for global supply management, and Sergio Costa, The facility now has a total produc-
Wender, subsidiary man- Delphi supply management Brazil. tion area of 2700m2 (29,000 ft2). Frank

26 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

MW1101_026
MW1101 026 26 1/3/11 4:09:11 PM
 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
Cutting the ribbon for the expansion at the Harderberg facility are (from left) KraussMaffei CEO Dietmar
Straub; Frank Peters; the local mayor, Heinrich Lunte; county commissioner Manfred Hugo; and Rainer
Janotta.
Peters, a member of the managing board
of the company and leader of its PUR
machinery business, credits the manufac-
turer’s Automotive Component Systems
(ACS) business unit with driving much
of the new demand. Sales generated by
ACS in Harderberg have grown by more
than a factor of 10 since the end of 2005,
as has the customer base, according to
KraussMaffei.
“The decision to go ahead with the
expansion was taken in the middle of
Germany’s most serious economic crisis
in recent years, but it was an easy deci-
sion in view of the very good growth
rates achieved by ACS and escalating
customer demand. I’m very optimistic
about the future,” Peters commented in
a company statement.
The KraussMaffei plant in Harderberg
opened in August 2005 with just three
employees but now 63 are employed
there. “A key reason for the startup deci-
sion was the local availability of a pool
of highly skilled people with know-how
in tooling and moldmaking, especially
for polyurethane processing. Time has
shown that this was the right decision,”
explains Rainer Janotta, KraussMaffei’s
plant manager in Harderberg.
The new building and the extra capac-
ity provide two new completely separate,
secure zones in its technical center for
confidential project development.
KraussMaffei, Munich, Germany
www.kraussmaffei.com
plasticstoday.com/mpw
MW1101_027
MW1101 027 27
Innovation & Optimization
TRANSDUCERS
Replace analog transduc-
ers with industry’s first
configurable digital ones
A company out of Cincinnati claims it is
the first to develop and market configu-
rable digital transducers, with owners of
injection molding machines one of the
most important groups of customers for
the company. In comparison to analog
ones, these digital transducers are said
to improve accuracy and reliability, and
reduce power consumption.
The developer and marketer of these
digital transducers, Transducers Direct,
says its TD1000/1004 Series Transduc-
ers can be a direct replacement for any
currently used analog unit, but use time-
to-digital technology to enable the above
cited improvements. Built-in functional-
ity eliminates the need for separate ana-
log temperature and pressure switches.
According to Rob Matthes, president
of Transducers Direct LLC, “This is a
digital transducer that will very quickly
obsolete other units. It is more accu-
rate within a wider operating tempera-
ture range and has
redundant sensor
elements for added
Transducers Direct says
its digital transducers
are more accurate and
reliable than analog
ones.
MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE
Place
reliability. And our design enables it to be
affordable without sacrificing features.”
The transducers are direct plug-and-
play replacement for analog units, and
have the same pin-to-pin configuration.
A TD1000/1004 Series transducer turns a
digital signal into an analog output that is
fed directly into an industrial control.
“Our tests have shown these digital
units to be far less noisy than analog
ones, which makes them less susceptible
to electromagnetic interference (EMI),”
added Matthes. Matthes said the current
consumption is low enough that, depend-
ing upon application and operating time,
a four- to eight-year use life is projected
using a coin cell battery as a power source
for wireless transducer solutions.
Transducers Direct, Cincinnati, OH, USA
www.transducersdirect.com
EXTRUSION
Infrared gauge measures
thickness down to 2 μm
NDC Infrared Engineering has debuted a
thickness gauge specifically for measuring
polyolefin-based films across a wide range
of different product thicknesses, from less
than a 2-μm nominal thickness to 80 μm.
The TFG710ER (Extended Range)
non-nuclear sensor serves CPE and stretch-
film producers that are downgauging their
products; some processors are reporting
success in manufacturing films as thin as
6 μm. But most infrared thickness gaug-
es suffer from inaccuracy due to optical
interference effects when measuring films
thinner than 10 μm. The TFG710ER film
gauge incorporates a unique optical engine
that negates the effect of optical interfer-
ence to achieve good online measurement
speed, accuracy, and performance.
Unlike nucleonic or x-ray sensors that
require complex measurement compensa-
tion, the easy-to-install, -calibrate, and
-maintain TFG710ER is unaffected by
humidity, barometric pressure, x/y/z dis-
placement, temperature, and airborne
dust. It requires no periodic off-sheet
standardization routines, resulting in
greater measurement time, tighter control
to target, and superior product quality.
NDC Infrared Engineering, Irwindale, CA,
USA; www.ndcinfrared.com
• JANUARY 2011 27
1/3/11 4:09:25 PM
 Baby steps in bioplastics

Much ado about bioplastics

By Matt Defosse

Is their bark bigger than their bite?
Yes, many bioplastics suppliers
mastered PR before they actually
honed their process, but that doesn’t
mean they won’t continue making a
big impact on this industry.
growth—not just because [a product is More capacity from more
made of] bioplastic, but also because of efficient plants
the properties of these products.” PLA remains the 800-lb gorilla in the
In many applications, a package with bioplastics realm, and this appears likely
water vapor permeability would be a to remain the case for at least the next
no-go, but for produce packaging, this few years, judging from expansion plans
attribute only adds to brand owners’ rea- and investments in technology. Plant
sons to specify polylactic acid, a starch-engineering company Uhde Inventa-Fis-
based plastic, for this packaging, Haug cher, which is among market leaders
explained. Demand is especially strong for design and construction of plastics
in Europe, she added, with both rigid polymerization plants, started its own
and flexible products almost equally 500-tonne/year pilot plant for produc-

T
he reasons for this impact are clear, popular. An executive at a leading U.S.- tion of PLA in Guben, Germany in
and they stem from the world’s based bioplastics supplier told MPW that October 2010.
largest brand owners and OEMs. demand for the materials remains highest “There have been three problems
These multinational companies truly do in the United States, but that much of slowing the growth of the PLA indus-
care about carbon footprints and try,” explained Rainer Hagen,
sustainability, as soon these will product manager at the com-
be yardsticks against which they pany. “There’s been a lack of
will be measured and even finan- PLA polymerization technology.
cially penalized if they fall short. There’s been a lack of lactic acid,
Bioplastics likely will remain a and there’s been a lack of enough
niche within the plastics industry PLA as a consequence of those
for many years to come, but it’s a first two.” The company hopes to
niche with a bright future. solve all three with its new PLA
Processors and suppliers inter- plant technology, he said.
viewed at the European Bioplastics The pilot plant will offer inter-
conference in Germany last month Better have your sustainability facts straight, recom- ested customers samples up to
made clear they see a bright future mends Innovia’s Andy Sweetman. 1000 kg or larger, with the com-
for applications made from the pany intending to scale up the
various bioplastics commercially avail- this stems from its use in paper-coating production technology to plants with
able or in late-stage development. Which applications, rather than in typical plas- capacity of 60,000-tonnes/year. These
OEMs and brand owners are driving tics processing. customers are likely large plastics suppli-
this? Just in the past four weeks in Increasingly, said Haug, Huhtamaki ers, but also could be processors or new-
our daily e-newsletter NewsFeed, we’ve is being asked by consumer products comers to the industry out of the food
reported on sustainability plans, all with and E/E OEMs to develop PLA-based processing sector (Cargill is the muscle
a heavy emphasis on increased use of packaging for them; the processor uses behind NatureWorks).
bioplastics, recycled plastics, or both, at additives to improve the moisture bar- The pilot plant is being used to dem-
Ford, Unilever, and Nestlé. rier of the material for these. One of onstrate production of at least three
Some processors see the demand the applications she highlighted at her distinct types of PLA, which Hagen
already. Interviewed at the European Bio- company’s stand during the conference described as “quick” crystallizing mate-
plastics event, Sonja Haug, market manag- in Düsseldorf was a thermoformed cover rial, “slow” crystallizing material, and
er for sustainable products at plastic pack- for a toothbrush’s blister pack, using a an amorphous grade. The first will find
aging giant Huhtamaki, told MPW that polylactic acid (PLA) film to replace PVC use in fibers and filaments, the second
her company is seeing “strong demand in the application. in thermoformed and bioriented films

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MW1101_028
MW1101 028 28 1/3/11 4:20:07 PM
 ment manager in Europe for the ing continues to determine the materi-
supplier, said his company has als’ stress-cracking behavior, he said. Its
worked closely with extrusion sys- transparency is close to PMMA’s and
tems manufacturer Reifenhäuser better than PC’s, he said, with its impact
to validate its GS Pla grades on resistance better than PMMA’s and also
that manufacturer’s extruders— approaching that of PC. Light transmis-
for instance, in extrusion of ther- sion is to 92%.
moformable sheet. Last year Mitsubishi built a 300-
Not to be confused with PLA, tonne/year pilot plant for the Durabio
GS Pla is a biodegradable poly- material, and starting this year it offers
olefin-like polybutylene succinate. samples for customer testing. “We’re
“It can be thermoformed in a stan- launching two grades in Q1 2011,” he
The European Bioplastics conference last
month drew a large multinational crowd. Not all dard PP [polypropylene] tool,” he said. “Both have a bit higher density than
are convinced yet of the materials’ worth. said. The material’s heat deflec- both PMMA and PC. Flexural strength
tion temperature is up to 95°C.
plus injection moldings, and the third, The supplier anticipates applications in
the amorphous grade, in heat-shrinkable produce packaging and catering trays,
films, foamed applications, and other among others. It already has European
specialties. With residual monomer con- Union food contact approval.
tent less than 0.2% in the chips, Hagen Beginning early this year, Mitsubishi
said there will be no fumes released at will bring two new bioplastics to market,
the extruder die. Chips are spherical and but with these targeted at a very differ-
free-flowing, sized from 2-4 mm. ent set of applications. Called Dura-
Introducing new bioplastics aimed bio (DURable BIOplastics), these will
at packaging as well as durable goods be positioned to compete with acrylic
Not just in press releases: The author
is Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. Dietrich (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC) in grabbed one last month when he needed
Albrecht, strategy and business develop- optical/transparent applications. Test- a bag to pack his groceries.

Bottler plans major expansion for bioplastics bottles

Captive extrusion blowmolding capacity at Italian acidity, and other challenges made the transition a dif-
lemon juice bottler Polenghi Group is about to be ficult one. This is the first extrusion-blowmolded PLA
expanded as the company, which now runs six EBM product seeing commercial use in Europe, according
lines, plans to process about 10 million of its lemon- to NatureWorks.
shaped bottles per year by 2015. The company takes its sustainable manufacturing
Marco Polenghi, whose father founded the com- even further than just bio-grown lemons and plant-
pany in 1976 with a lemon juice bottling service run starch-based packaging, noted Polenghi. Even before
out of his garage, said yearly turnover at the firm has it switched to PLA bottles, the company began using
reached about €40 million. The company’s captive PLA stretch sleeves over its PE bottles. This year
processing capacity is sufficient for all of its cur- the closures for the bottles also will be molded of
rent requirements, but he expects demand to grow PLA, making for a 100% biodegradable, compostable
Polenghi has big
even further as the company rolls out its lemon juice plans for its bioplastic package. Its factory and energy for its processing is
squeezed from 100% sustainably grown fruit. bottles. derived from solar energy.
“We want to help a customer lead a sustainable The bio-grown lemon juice packed in PLA bottles,
life without changing his habits,” Polenghi explained. That mission sleeved with PLA labels, went on sale in France in September 2010
also led the company this year to begin blowmolding bottles made and sales start in its domestic market this year. The eco-juice is
from polylactic acid (PLA), with it sourcing the material from Nature- priced 30% higher than the company’s standard juice, he said, but
Works LLC. The brand owner sources the Ingeo-brand PLA from added that sales so far and consumer polls have confirmed this is
NatureWorks but has developed its own compound, said Polenghi. a price the market will bear. The shelf life of the bio-juice is nine
“We replaced polyethylene but it was not an easy task,” he months, three less than the standard-packed juice, but Polenghi
added, saying processing issues as well as the need to develop said retailers accepted the reduction. “We trust this bio-bottle,” he
a PLA-based compound able to withstand the sun’s rays, lemons’ concluded.

plasticstoday.com/mpw MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 29

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 Baby steps in bioplastics

[of Durabio] is better than both.”

Have your sustainable ducks in order
With so many materials entering the
market amid so much hype, it’s easy for
a processor to be confused. For some
processors and others, the solution has
been a “greenwashing” strategy of fake
or undocumented sustainability claims.
Smart customers have caught on to
these, noted Andy Sweetman, global
marketing manager of sustainable tech-
nologies at Innovia Films, a €400 mil-
lion/year films processor.
“As a processor of both standard
materials and bioplastics, I see the dou-
ble standard,” he said. “For our OPP
[oriented polypropylene], customers ask
about properties and cost. For our biom-
aterial [cellulose-based films] they ask us
about properties and cost, compostabil-
ity, biodegradability, and every standard
there is.” MPW
Nestlé using Cardia Bioplastics for rigid
packaging applications
Nestlé, the world’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, plans to work
with Cardia Bioplastics and that company’s bioplastics to reduce the environmental impact
of as-yet unidentified packaging. The scale of the agreement also is not being made public.
Cardia recently announced plans to expand its production site in China.
Anne Roulin, Nestlé’s global director of packaging, told MPW that her company is
testing the materials in a range of applications but mainly in rigid plastics packaging. She
would not offer further details on the scale of the agreement except to confirm that there
is a signed contract between the companies.
Once Nestlé completes its tests, the packaging made from Cardia’s materials will be
processed for the main part by the brand owner’s packaging suppliers and not via captive
processing, Roulin said.
The plastics supplier’s managing director, Frank Glatz, said, “Collaborating with
Nestlé presents an exciting opportunity to develop high-performance packaging with
lower environmental impact. . . . Our proprietary multilayer flexible film and rigid packag-
ing developments are important offerings in meeting demanding packaging performance
requirements.”
Cardia supplies compounds called Cardia Biohybrid that are based on a blend of
thermoplastic starch with standard thermoplastics, as well as offering a compostable
plastic.

Horizontal Injection Molding Machines

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(2) 660 Ton, 22.8 oz/38.1 oz. Husky LX 600 RS70/60 RS85/70 (1997)
(3) 400 Ton, 60 oz. Van Dorn 400RS-60F-HS-HT (1991)
210 Ton, 13.5 oz. Nissei FS210-S50ASE (1986)
160 Ton, 14.8 oz. Nissei FS160-S36ASE (1987)
500 Ton, 112 oz. Bucher Thermoset (1995)
500 Ton, 54 oz. Cincinnati Milacron VH500-54 (1994)
500 Ton, 41 oz. Cincinnati Milacron VH500-41 (1993)
330 Ton, 21 oz. Cincinnati Milacron ROBOSHOT 330-R-604 (1999)
220 Ton Arburg 520-CD200-675 (1998)
110 Ton Van Dorn Demag Ergotec 110-310 (1997)
90 Ton, 6.7 oz. Husky S90 (1999)

Rotational Molding Machine

FSP Rotoflow M-120 ~ 3-Arm, 5-Position (1995)

Vertical Injection Molding Machines

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 Eye on Your Markets
MEDICAL

DFMA helps medical OEM save plenty

By Matt Defosse Don’t just demand lower prices from your suppliers; learn where their costs

are created and then help them reduce those. That’s the moral of this story, in

which a mechanical engineer at a veterinary device manufacturer used DFMA

software and worked with his injection molding supplier, PTA Corp., to turn 43

parts into a single injection molding, and consolidated 30 other parts into just

four plastic ones, all courtesy of a mammoth metal-to-plastic conversion.

ustin Griffin, an R&D mechanical increasing reliability and lowering the the design. It asked us to analyze every
J engineer at Idexx Laboratories of cost,” says Griffin. “I suspected that piece. In the end, we came up with three
Westbrook, ME, began his design for plastic parts were going to play a huge alternates and decided to go for the most
manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) role in our new approach, but I needed ambitious change.”
journey when he was tasked to rede- to back that up with some hard facts.” To facilitate product development,
sign his company’s Catalyst Dx DFMA provides a two-pronged
blood chemistry analyzer for the approach. The Design for Assem-
veterinary market. Each product bly (DFA) module leads an engi-
redesign offers engineers a fresh neer down a quantifiable path of
opportunity to break with con- parts consolidation and assem-
vention. But with deadlines loom- bly simplification. “The software
ing, they can often feel pushed methodically guides you toward
to repurpose an existing bill of designs that have fewer parts and
materials (BOM) and just tweak lower costs,” says Griffin. “It
critical features. forces you to answer questions
Griffin took the road less trav- that you might not have otherwise
eled. Tearing apart the analyzer, asked, like, ‘Does this part move
he found a subassembly with a relative to this neighboring part?’
main sheet-metal panel, 183 parts, or ‘Why don’t you use a snap fea-
The Maintenance Access Door (MAD; here in the open
and 63 fasteners—each with its position) allows veterinarians to insert sample slides and ture instead of a screw?’“
own torque-spec and an assembly self-service the instrument. The Design for Manufacture
process that required a worker to (DFM) module complements
both tighten and mark it. “This very tra- DFMA “should-cost” approach DFA by examining manufacturing pro-
ditional and now outdated system was just guides the redesign cesses and material choices, again using a
ripe for improvement,” says Griffin. To provide data about design changes series of queries and reports. “It asks you
The instrument being scrutinized by and material choices, Griffin employed about every detail,” says Griffin, “gener-
Griffin was the company’s flagship prod- Design for Manufacture & Assembly ating questions such as, ‘Could this part
uct. The redesign goals included upgraded (DFMA) software from Boothroyd Dew- be manufactured from a different mate-
functionality as well as a 20% cost cut, hurst (Wakefield, RI). He had never rial?’ or ‘Should this part be stamped,
decreased weight and assembly time, and used the tool, but the recently hired VP molded, or machined?’”
improvements in service and warranty. of R&D at Idexx, familiar with the soft- As a result of this methodology, cost
To hit these targets, Griffin identified ware, insisted on its adoption throughout estimates and comparisons are available
the maintenance access door (MAD) as the entire engineering organization. early in product development. “DFMA
the top redesign candidate (this subas- “When we began, we brought an does an excellent job of providing a struc-
sembly provides customers with access engineer in from Boothroyd Dewhurst tured and measurable approach to scor-
for both loading slide samples and self- and meticulously went through the old ing designs,” says Griffin. “It forces you
service). “We chose the MAD because MAD assembly,” says Griffin. “The soft- to think differently about your product.”
it had a lot of low-hanging fruit for ware asked a lot of questions about DFMA also pushes a user to repeat-

32 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

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 Eye on Your Markets

edly reexamine his design paring it with the original

during the analysis process. design, the results were dra-
“The software gave me infor- matic: Parts were reduced
mation such as which parts 83%; time to assemble was
could be consolidated or cut 75%; weight was low-
which ones were candidates ered 40%; and the cost of
for elimination,” Griffin says. assembly was reduced 38%.
“So I would go back to the From a service and warranty
design and revise it.” After standpoint, out-of-box fail-
six or seven iterations and ures caused by hardware not
incremental improvements at having proper torque (which
each stage, Griffin settled on were rare to begin with) were
a new subassembly. The original MAD subassembly with 63 fasteners and 183 parts completely eliminated now
(shown here) was redesigned using DFMA software. that all the hardware was
Two-pronged approach removed.
leads to one answer: “We designed out all of the
injection molding fasteners that you had to put
As Griffin had predicted, the a wrench or screwdriver on,”
DFMA redesign identified says Griffin. “Some of the
injection molding as the best nontechnical members of the
substitute for sheet metal and team couldn’t understand how
assorted fasteners. “Plastics the unit could stay together
give you the flexibility to mold without screws and nuts.”
in a lot of features at relatively
low cost,” says Griffin. “Snap Talking to suppliers, such
and slip fits, for example, as plastics processors,
eliminate fasteners and reduce just got easier
the weight of the assembly. Parts consolidation and material substitution in the redesigned Important in the manufacture
Plastics can also provide excel- subassembly . . . of the new MAD subassembly
lent durability and can even were relationships with two
eliminate lubrication in moving parts if injection molded piece that included suppliers: CBM Industries, a contract
the correct material is chosen.” snapfits for the circuit board, a snapfit- assembler in Taunton, MA; and PTA
Griffin chose one of compounder ted motor mount, and a molded-in rack Corp., an injection molder in Oxford,
LNP’s Lubriloy self-lubricating com- for a damper gear. For another compo- CT. And while DFMA had given Grif-
pounds as the basis for the subassembly’s nent (two identical moving doors), he fin a window into cost-saving design
operational system. This material was was able to consolidate 30 parts into features, it also gave the Idexx team an
picked because certain parts needed to be four, also by switching to plastic. inside view of the suppliers’ challenges
dimensionally stable while able to with- Benchmarking the redesign and com- and costs.
stand years of use with sliding doors and Designers of molded parts, accord-
movable fits that contacted the remain- ing to Griffin, often look at designs and
ing sheet metal parts. do calculations in their heads based
Next, he selected polycarbonate (PC) on experience about shot size, cooling
for its hard, opaque attributes and used times, energy expenditure, moldmaking,
it as a light block for a photosensi- tooling, and other factors. “They do it
tive detector; its resistance to chipping intuitively,” he adds. “Very few quantify
or deformation was important, since their thinking.”
nicks or edges could generate false opti- But DFMA quantified all of those
cal signals. A third plastic, acrylonitrile factors. So when the purchasing team
butadiene styrene (ABS), was used for approached the molder, they were pre-
structural parts because of its stability pared with specific information about
and low cost. materials, processes, and tooling.
Working with these materials, Griffin “DFMA told us things like how big the
was able to redesign the 43-part main . . . resulted in a total part count of 31 shot size is, how much time it’s going to
panel of the subassembly into a single and the elimination of all fasteners. take to cool, and how much it’s going to

plasticstoday.com/mpw MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 33

MW1101_033
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 Eye on Your Markets

cost to build a mold,” says Griffin. “Our numbers were pretty
close to theirs, so the molder knew that we understood.”
With the assembler the story was the same. And rather than
being protective of their intellectual property, the two suppliers
were receptive to having these sorts of conversations.
With both the molder and the assembler, DFMA served as
a catalyst for collaboration. The result was targeted discussions
about materials, processes, setup, labor, and volume. By focus-
ing supplier conversations on topics other than margins and
profits, negotiations became much more productive.
“Demanding lower prices from suppliers just isn’t as effec-
tive as demonstrating that you understand their costs,” Griffin
says. “Purchasing now has the ability to ask pointed questions
of suppliers and knows where the costs are coming from.
DFMA has fundamentally changed the way we communicate
with our outside partners.”
Adding up all the DFMA positives
Beyond the instant gratification of achieving all of the specific
redesign goals for the Catalyst Dx—parts consolidation, assem-
bly simplification, cost reduction, and warranty and service
improvement—other benefits for the OEM also have been
realized. For one, it says its relations with its suppliers now are
focused on win-win. Also, MRP/ERP for the Catalyst has been
® EP TYPE II
SHAFT SEALS
for Polymer Dryers
streamlined because there are now significantly fewer parts to
track and control.
Looking forward, the most significant benefit might be a
shift in the engineering culture of the company. “DFMA drives
us to go back to the drawing board to find opportunities to
improve our designs,” says Griffin. “We’ve adopted it into our
process flow. A DFMA review is now required for every design
project.”
RIGID PACKAGING
Plastic bottle recycling rises even
as plastic bottle usage drops
By Tony Deligio
A convergence of complementary trends means
fewer bottles in the landfill.
orth Americans recycled more plastic bottles in 2009 for
N the 20th straight year, although the overall recycling rate
remains at just 28%. The amount of bottles recycled rose 46
million lb (2%) in 2009, hitting a record 2.5 billion lb, accord-
ing to figures released by the American Chemistry Council
(ACC) and the Assn. of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR).
Total amounts remain below the pre-recession and pre-thin-
walling levels, but some materials did see significant increases
over 2008 totals.
Polypropylene (PP) bottle recycling rose 27% to 27 million
lb, although PP bottles only account for 2.2% of the market,
compared to 96.3% for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and
high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles.
Greater collection of bottles also meant greater use of
recycled material in the cases of PET and PP, although HDPE
use fell. Processing of domestic and imported recycled PET
rose by 22 million lb in 2009, with PP up 9 million lb. Use of

Growth in postconsumer plastic bottle recycling

3000

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Source: Napcor, all years, for PET. For other bottle resins, R.W. Beck Inc., 1990-2006;
Moore Recycling Assoc. Inc., 2007-2009
The growth in total pounds of postconsumer bottles collected
for recycling continued in 2009, with a total of 2.456 million
lb of plastic bottles reported as collected for recycling, for an
increase of 46 million lb over 2008.

34 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

MW1101_034
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 Eye on Your Markets

recycled HDPE, however, dropped by 76
million lb.
Overall, plastic bottle recycling has
risen approximately 60% since 2000,
when 1.5 billion lb were collected, and is
up nearly 400% since the survey began
in 1990.
The confluence of a depressed econo-
my, lightweighting, and a shift to concen-
trates in items like detergents continued
the reduction in bottle resin that began
in 2008. The total amount of resin used
recycling stream, and particularly when
there is such a shortage of good, clean,
postconsumer plastic for recycling.
As I’ve heard recently in several
industry presentations, until people see
the real value in plastic, they won’t see
any reason to do anything but throw it
away as useless trash. Hence the need
for biodegradability, which many now
consider the least viable option for the
disposal of plastics.
While OEMs are looking to put
more recycled content in their products,
and molders and thermoformers try to
accommodate that need, the availability
of postconsumer recyclate (PCR) isn’t
enough to meet demand.
At the SPE Thermoforming Confer-

LEARN. )))
to make plastic bottles fell by 1%, or 85
million lb. HDPE fell by 130 million lb,
or 4.0%, while PET shrank 217 million
lb, or 4.0%.
)))
Per capita bottle consumption also fell
for the second consecutive year, a prod-
uct of plastic bottle backlash and the
economic recession. Peaking at around
32 lb in 2007, U.S. per capita bottle con- Whitepapers from
sumption now sits at about 27 lb. PlasticsToday.com can help.

FLEXIBLE PACKAGING Become the knowledge maven at

your company. Whitepapers keep
Opinion: Starving you on top of the latest in plastics
an industry technology. You and your team
By Clare Goldsberry can access FREE technology
updates on automation,
The recycling industry is slowly processing techniques,
being starved to death by a public machinery, materials, and more.
that marches to the beat of a Here’s a sampling of a few current
misguided drummer.
whitepapers on our site:
l Optimizing better mold temperature control for
ack on Aug. 31, lawmakers in Califor- better products
B nia rejected a bill to ban plastic bags
in that state. In fact, the bill received only
l Using bar coding to improve efficiency
l Design guidelines for thermoplastic vulcanizates
14 votes, seven votes short of the majority l Industrial energy optimization: Managing energy consumption for
it needed. According to one report, sup- higher profitability
porters of the statewide ban said that the l Twisting and bending: A user’s guide to robotic cables
19 billion plastic bags residents use every l And more!
year harm the environment and cost the
state $25 million each year to collect and Join the conversation at
transport them to landfills.
While a statewide ban didn’t make it,
PlasticsToday.com/whitepapers.
San Francisco, Palo Alto, Malibu, Fair-
fax (Marin County), and, most recently,
Los Angeles County have all banned
plastic bags.
I find it hard to believe that the
environmentally conscious population
of California actually collects and trans-
ports plastic bags to landfills when bags
are such a valuable commodity in the

plasticstoday.com/mpw MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 35

MW1101_035
MW1101 035 35 1/6/11 9:04:31 AM
 Eye on Your Markets
ence in September, many of the formers I
spoke with about availability of RPET—
particularly PCR—said that it was diffi-
cult to get in quantity. When they can get
the supply of PCR, cleanliness is an issue.
Much of the PET that is recycled is baled
and sent to China for reprocessing, and
then shipped back to the United States,
which adds cost and makes the RPET
about as expensive as virgin PET.
What this says is that municipalities—
even those in the “green” state of Califor-
nia—aren’t really interested in recycling
programs, as evidenced by a report issued
in 2008 (the most recent available) by the
Environmental Protection Agency. The
report said that curbside recycling pro-
grams for municipal waste fell to 8660 in
2008 from 8875 in 2002. Out of 250 mil-
lion tons of municipal solid waste (MSW)
generated annually, only 12% is plastics
vs. 31% paper. Plastics represent 30.5
million tons of MSW, and have a recovery
rate of only 7.1%.
MW1101_036
MW1101 036 36
Given the plastics recycling infra-
structure that has been built over the
past two decades, a recycling rate like
that can’t keep all these recyclers in busi-
ness. The American Chemistry Council
reported that 1677 postconsumer plas-
tics recycling plants and 207 postindus-
trial reprocessing plants were in business
in 2005. As we know, many of those are
no longer operating—in part due to lack
of postconsumer feedstock.
Banning plastics is not the answer.
When all is taken into consideration,
plastics are among the cleanest materi-
als available, both to produce as a raw
material and to process into millions
of products. Paper production, between
forest clear-cutting and the chemicals
required to process pulp, is hardly a
pretty process.
Perhaps asking for a paper bag makes
Californians feel good, but asking for
plastics—and then recycling them prop-
erly—would actually have some impact
See us at Plastec West, Booth 4021
on both businesses and the environment.
And if you’re going to promote using
cloth bags for groceries, and really are
environmentally conscious, then you’d
better check the label to see if the bag
was made in China. (A recent report
noted that a mountaintop sensor near
Steamboat Springs, CO found that 70%
of the pollution in the western United
States comes from the type of coal used
in China’s coal-fired power plants!) A
“Made in the USA” bag might be the
optimum choice.
Plastics aren’t the problem, and ban-
ning plastics isn’t the solution. People—
and the lack of concern for the environ-
ment—are the problem. Teach people
the real value in plastics, what can be
done to provide jobs, meet the demand
for recycled plastics materials, and show
how we can work together—the industry
and the consumer—and there will be
more good uses for plastics and far less
waste in the environment.
plasticstoday.com/mpw
1/3/11 4:23:27 PM
 Eye on Your Markets

AUTOMOTIVE
Trelleborg becomes
first-time WIT user for
new plastic brake pedal
By Matt Defosse
A single, stamped-metal insert,
overmolded, replaces an
all-metal construction as
automotive systems suppli-
er Trelleborg Automotive uses
the water injection technique (WIT)
for the first time at the company in
the molding of a new thermoplastic
brake pedal it has developed.
n response to questions from MPW, a
I spokesperson for the company told us
that the injection molding is being car-
ried out at the Trelleborg Automotive
facility in Witry les Reims, France. The
new brake pedal is a fully tested and
validated prototype that is ready for
commercial use, she added.
The new hybrid brake pedal
blends glass-fiber-reinforced
polyamide and metal,
Trelleborg uses WIT
to form its plastic
brake pedals.
a combination that
the company says
delivers a weight
savings of 30%-50% compared to
traditional metal brake pedals. The new
pedal also enables cost savings as a
result of more efficient production. Loic
Lefebvre, product engineer, Trelleborg
Automotive, says, “Our
new hybrid brake
pedal delivers a
win-win situation
for car manufac-
turers who are seek-
ing to reduce over-
all part costs, as well
as reducing their carbon
footprint.”
The hybrid brake
pedal comprises a sin-
gle, stamped-metal insert that
is overmolded with thermoplas-
tic using water injection technol-
ogy, delivering the complete and final
assembly in a one-step process. “The
use of water injection technology to
create a complete hollow part along
the pedal arm enables us to greatly
improve the mechanical behavior of the
hybrid brake pedal, which is another
added benefit of the product,” adds
Lefebvre. MPW

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plasticstoday.com/mpw MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JANUARY 2011 37

MW1101_037
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 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
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38 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

MD1101_038
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 Your Project Acceleration Resource
For Suppliers, Technologies, and Inspiration

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February 8–10, 2011 March 16–17, 2011

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 CALENDAR OF EVENTS ADVERTISER INDEX
JANUARY COMPANY PAGE
20-24 Plastivision India 2011, Mumbai, India
All India Plastics Manufacturers’ Assn. (AIPMA)
Absolute Haitian 30
www.plastivision.org Arburg GmbH + Co. KG/Arburg Inc. BC
31-2 2011 AHR Expo (International Air-Conditioning, Heating,
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www.ahrexpo.com
Exair Corp. 3, 8
FEBRUARY ExxonMobil Chemical IBC
1-3 AMI’s Thermoplastic Concentrates 2011, Phoenix, AZ
Applied Market Information LLC (AMI) Forward Technology 7
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1-3 Bioplastics: Reshaping an Industry, Las Vegas, NV
Foster Printing 4
InnoPlast Solutions Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. 31
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7-9 2011 Packaging Conference, Las Vegas, NV Moulds Plus International (Ultra Purge) 23
The Packaging Conference LLC Struktol Co. of America 21
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8-10 Plastec West, MD&M West, Electronics West, ATX West, Tempco Electric Heater Corp. IFC
Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show, WestPack,
Green Manufacturing Expo, Aerocon, Anaheim, CA
Thermal Wire & Cable Corp. 30
UBM Canon UBM Canon Trade Events 39, 41
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15-17 Asiatec Conference, Tokyo, Japan Woodex Bearing Co. 34
The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE)
www.4spe.org/conferences/asiatec
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MW1101_040
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 Faster. Better. Cheaper.
North America’s Automation & Assembly
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February 8–10, 2011 iÜÊœV>

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For information on attending or exhibiting please visit us online.

MW1101_041D
MW1101 041D 41D 1/6/11 9:50:59 AM
 SPOTLIGHT Rain am Lech, Germany
ON PROPPER AND PROGANIC molder

Raim am Lech
Munich

What does a well-established injection

molder with 62 years of history, whose
business is driven by the sale of consumer
goods with chic designs, do for an encore?
For Germany’s Propper, the answer was to
create a proprietary bioplastic, establish a
subsidiary and brand around this material,
and then market the heck out of it.

Old-school molder composites] but

we never got to a
commercial ducks in a row. “We invited
market leaders in various product cat-
making big splash 100% WPC prod- egories to become partners. We also

with new material uct,” he recalls.

The marketing proof will be on store
shelves around the world in the next
months as the company completes
its multiyear development project and
begins widespread sale of commercial
applications. Even before it realized
any revenue with the new bioplastic
projects, it already had reaped a host
of awards, including the 2010 Bioma-
terial of the Year prize at the Hannover
trade fair earlier this year—the world’s
largest industrial trade fair—and the
Home Style Award 2010 at a recent
consumer goods fair in Shanghai.
Handling the manufacturing and mar-
keting of the firm’s bioplastic compound is
Proganic (Rain am Lech, Germany), a sub-
sidiary founded last year for the purpose
and sharing the name given the material.
Oliver Schmid (pictured), CEO of Progan-
ic, says the company’s intent is simple but
profound: Offer a 100% carbon-neutral
(natural) alternative for plastic consumer
goods, and be profitable at it.
“Consumers will be willing to pay 20%-
25% more for such products, we think,
especially for nonfood products,” he pre-
dicts. Proganic’s proprietary compounds
consist of bioplastics PLA and PHA, plus
natural waxes and minerals. “We started
The company shift-
ed gears and began
development of its own compound after
it recognized that most “bioplastic com-
pounds” have some degree of petrochemi-
cal-based content.
Proganic runs on standard injection
molding and extrusion machinery and
molds/tooling, adds Schmid. Heat resis-
tance is to 110°C, and it is food safe and
UV resistant. It is durable as well, with a
modulus of 4300 N/mm2, higher than that
of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or
polystyrene (PS), and a Charpy impact
strength that falls between the two.
The material is certified to DIN
14851/2 for home composting, so this
is not another “biodegradable” product
that needs to land in one of the few indus-
trial composting facilities to truly degrade.
Only natural fillers and colorants or other
additives are used, says Schmid. Colors
available so far are white, gray, blue, and a
single shade of red (without cadmium). “It
degrades similar to wood,” he continues,
with full biodegradation in less than 12
months at 20°C, “faster than spruce” at
a temperature where most bioplastics do
not even begin to degrade. Composting
is CO2-neutral with no residue, and the
material also can be burned CO2-neutral.
Plenty of companies are developing
approached retailers and convinced them
of the material,” explains Schmid. Since
March 2010 the molder has tested its
domestic market with a limited number
of products molded from the material,
but during 2011 Schmid expects “200-
300 products will be commercially avail-
able,” with a global reach.
These applications will be marketed
with the Proganic brand name and a
label that emphasizes the 100% natural
recipe. “All of our partners will deliver
the same message to the consumers,” he
adds. These partners include DIY sup-
plier Obi, food retailer Rewe, lawn and
garden products supplier Scotts, Japanese
housewares supplier ExtreX, and Marks
& Spencer. Toys, brushes, brooms, gar-
den tools/accessories, flower pots, water-
ing cans, and more will be molded and
marketed using the material, he says.
Acknowledging the higher cost of the
products, Schmid allows, “The last deci-
sion will be made by the consumer.” Criti-
cal is the 100% natural content claim, he
adds: “That’s why so many big retailers are
working with us.” Some in the bioplastics
community question Proganic’s decision
to create its own label, but Schmid argues,
“In our opinion, we used a much higher
standard; most of the DINs [regarding
biodegradability] allow for some petro-
chemical content. We do not.” MPW

out working with WPCs [wood-plastic bioplastics, but Proganic also has its Matt Defosse • matt.defosse@ubm.com

42 JANUARY 2011 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw

MW1101_042
MW1101 042 42 1/3/11 4:27:58 PM
 No matter what
you do with
polypropylene Recline it
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ehe
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ak it.
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That’s called reliability. And in today’s world, you need a
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Corporation, but collectively to all of the companies affiliated with Exxon Mobil Corporation or to any one or more of them or their employees. Photos used in this ad may be representative of potential product applications only.

MW1101_043
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MW1101_044
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