Some expert advice

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British Plastics & Rubber is published monthly (8 times/ year) by Rapid Plastics Media Ltd, Carlton House, Sandpiper Way, Chester Business Park, CH4 9QE

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ISSN 0307-6164

Incorporating Polymer Age and Rubber and Plastics Age.

It’s with great pleasure that I’m able to open this edition of British Plastics & Rubber with the news that we have launched a dedicated editorial advisory board for both the magazine, and its sister website, InterplasInsights.com.

So why now, and why these particular individuals? Earlier this year, we launched our first reader survey – you may have received it in your inbox. I wanted to learn more about what you want from the UK’s only dedicated plastics industry magazine. The response rate was really encouraging, it’s a privilege to have such an engaged audience for the work we do. You told us that while most of you feel the level of technical expertise featured in our news outlets is about right, you’d still like to see more engineeringfocussed content. In particular, comments showed an appetite for more on R&D into material and processing developments. Technical guides to common processing problems seem to be the most appreciated article types – and so we’ll strive to bring you more of those.

That’s why I’ve approached a select group of individuals, who between them are experts in either R&D, or plastics processing. The hope is that they themselves will be able to contribute occasional works, but also that they will help uncover potentially common challenges the industry is facing – and suggest authors and experts who can work with the magazine to provide useful, problem-solving content.

This kind of knowledge sharing is where this industry really shines. As competitive as it clearly is, the UK has a great network of process engineers looking to share their experiences and help one another out. My hope is that the introduction of the board will help BP&R, and InterplasInsights.com become an even more useful sounding board for these minds. See page 12.

Elsewhere in the news, Lidl have now followed Co-Op and Sainsbury’s’ lead in switching to vacuum packing its mince. However, consumer response has been mixed. While many see the benefits of the longer shelf life and reduced transport emissions, others have been concerned that the product quality is suffering – simply because it doesn’t look the same. This response threatens to stymie progress for brand owners hoping to re-design their plastic products for environmental benefit. And of course, the fact remains that although the all-flexible packaging is recyclable in stores (Tesco and Sainsbury’s offer it for free), most consumer behaviour is still geared towards disposal at home –which for most flexibles is of course not an option. It’s something of a quandary for an industry doing its best to keep up with public and legislative demand for greener packaging, when large swathes of the public are reluctant to depart from aesthetics and behaviours they know and are used to.

Head of Content

DAVE GRAY

Interplas 2023

Who are you and what do you do?

As a multinational company, Plasmatreat is facing up to its responsibility to protect the environment through its atmospheric Openair-Plasma technology.

Our customers benefit from our high degree of technical expertise, extensive experience, and global network of international partners. Preventing greenhouse gas emissions, cutting energy consumption during pre-treatment, reducing CO2 emissions, and avoiding effluent discharge and hazardous waste during industrial cleaning processes: these are some of the many benefits that make Openair plasma a key future technology.

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Hall 4, Stand H14