EPPM 16.2

March 2014

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editorial editor david gray david.g@rapidnews.com

production

IN THIS ISSUE MACHINERY REGULARS: Latest news

pages 6–18 13–18

ARTICLE: Closed Loop adds third major line for milk bottle regrind

6–7

FEATURE: Recycling Equipment

8–9

FEATURE: Materials Handling MARKETS: Film & Sheet

MATERIALS REGULARS: Latest news

11–12 10

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page 23–25

ARTICLE: Lightening the load beside the road with recycled-content kerbstones

23–24

APPLICATIONS: Construction & Infrastructure

24–25

ARTICLE: Recycling body publishes claim that “biodegradable plastic bags are a myth”

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FEATURE: Masterbatch & Additives

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INDUSTRY NEWS

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pages 19– 22

ARTICLE: New colour masterbatch launched to speed up blow moulding

APPLICATIONS

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pages 26–32

Each issue is distributed in print and digital format to 17,845 buyers and specifiers in the European plastic processing industry.

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ISSN No - 2052-3912 MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 3

“

FROM THE EDITOR

All eyes on Turkey?

As close of year market reports have been hitting our inboxes over the course of the two months just gone, inevitably we see emerging geographical footholds in various industries. In Europe, there has been a noticeable increase in processing activity in Eastern Europe in recent years. And transcontinental Turkey has also shown repeated signs of growth in the global plastics marketplace.

Last year presented challenges for Western Europe’s flexible packaging industry, while Turkey is reported to have continued on a course of expansion. In extruded sheet as well, the country has shown signs of a strong trading environment.

Plaskolite in the US made the announcement that it plans to build a state-of-the-art cell cast acrylic manufacturing facility in Malatya, Turkey, as part of a JV with local firm Işik Plastik.

Depending on which part of the supply chain you sit, sometimes it’s easy to merge the terms “plastics industry” with “packaging industry”. So is Turkey’s plastics industry really growing that fast?

Or is it growth in specific vertical industries? And if the two go hand-inhand, does it matter?

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Billion is just one of a host of names to announce new offices or sales channels in the area recently. Avrasya Polymer will now represent Billion in the country.

Senol Kaya from Avrasya suggests that there is a crucial requirement for more local expertise, as machine technologies are becoming more sophisticated.

Turkey has seen an influx of French brands setting up shop in recent years, largely centred around the country’s strong automotive industry.

And naturally, buyers seems keen too.

PlastEurasia, Turkey’s largest trade show for our industry reported that it broke its own 23-year record in 2013, with more visitors in attendance than ever before.

In terms of its own supply exports, Turkey is now also starting to concentrate heavily on marketing its machinery and materials overseas. The country will have its first pavillion at next year’s NPE in Florida.

Brad Williams, Director of Marketing and Sales at SPI, the organiser of NPE, said: “With 14 months left before NPE2015, more Turkish companies than ever before have already indicated that they plan to exhibit. Turkey plays an increasingly important role in the global marketplace.”

In other news, this issue looks at the use of plastic in infrastructure applications, including some novel and sustainable innovations for roads and pavements.

There’s also a large feature on masterbatch and additives - a market that continues to innovate and surprise.

And in machinery news, this issue looks at equipment for recycling and materials handling. Happy reading!

David Gray, Editor

Cover Story

Palram chooses flexible extrusion system for

PVC SHEET PRODUCTION Palram Israel Ltd. has recently started producing multi-layer PVC sheet with a width of 2030mm for a wide range of applications on a KraussMaffei Berstorff coextrusion line. The company, which is headquartered in Ramat-Yohanan, Israel, is one of the leading manufacturers of thermoplastic semifinished products, as well as polycarbonate and PVC sheets.

The coextrusion system has been designed to process various formulations for flexible applications. It is equipped with a KMD 133-32/PL 32D twin-screw extruder and is used by Palram in conjunction with a KMD 75-26/PL coextruder to produce multi-layer sheets.

“A critical criterion for any investment decision we make is flexibility, because we want this system to work with varying formulations and manufacture a variety of final products,” said Avinoam Gershoni, Group Technical Purchasing Manager of Palram. “Thanks to the coextrusion technology supplied by KraussMaffei Berstorff, we can respond very quickly and flexibly to the wishes of our customers. For example, we manufacture free-foamed and coextruded multi-layer sheets as well as transparent PVC sheets”, Gershoni added. “The ability to manufacture such a wide range of products enables us to stay competitive.”

KraussMaffei Berstorff said: “The key in gaining a competitive edge in the market place lies not only in diversification, but also in perfect end product quality.”

Peter Oswald, Head of Product Management at KraussMaffei Berstorff elaborated: “The centerpiece of our 32D twin-screw extruder, the screw, has a specially adapted geometry for sheet extrusion which ensures exact temperature control.”

“The result is an excellent melt homogeneity which ensures perfect end product quality combined with high output levels – in the case of this system, up to 1200 kg/h.”

Production facilities at Palram in the USA and UK also manufacture products on KraussMaffei Berstorff systems.

Palram has been a KraussMaffei Berstorff customer for several years. In the United Kingdom and USA, the company manufactures a range of products, such as PVC sheets with a width of 2400mm and decking products on multiple production lines.

Founded in 1963, Palram is a well-known manufacturer of thermoplastic semifinished and finished products with a wide product portfolio. The company operates worldwide and caters primarily to the construction and home improvement sectors. Its products are also used in other sectors, such as farming, advertising and architecture.

KraussMaffei Berstorff Web: www.kraussmaffeiberstorff.com Palram Web: www.palram.com

MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 5

MACHINERY: Recycling Equipment

Article

CLOSED LOOP ADDS THIRD MAJOR LINE FOR MILK BOTTLE REGRIND When Closed Loop London began producing food contact grade HDPE from transparent bottle material back in 2008, the recycler used B+B Anlagenbau and Erema for the design and build of the line. The group, which is in a phase of expansion, has now ordered the third of these systems – with a capacity of 7,000 tonnes per year. This takes the existing plant capacity to 4,800 kg/h in total.

The process at Closed Loop involves dry cleaning, air classification, hot wash, sink float separation and mechanical drying from B+B, with subsequent extrusion and upstream decontamination from Erema. The recycler is producing rHDPE pellets from HDPE milk bottles for direct food contact in line with EFSA standards.

The basic principle of B+B’s plant concept is to treat the regrind material in a dry state for as long as possible while it is in the process. This means that water and other resources can be saved, and no elaborate plant engineering is required for processing.

The core component of the washing facility is the hot wash, which removes unwanted elements such as stickers or adhesives from the regrind material.

Crucial to the cleaning process is the removal of milk residues and the associated odours. To support this, the hot wash system works continuously and is fully automatic, keeping maintenance intervals to a minimum.

During extrusion, the food contact grade HDPE regrind is produced on two Vacurema Advanced 1716 TE systems. The regrind is then reused in the production of milk bottles.

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With a market share of 50% in the USA and 30% in Europe, Vacurema technology from Erema is well-known.

Erema claims that the key to its success in such applications is decontamination upstream of the extrusion process. The patented pre-treatment of the HDPE flakes, at raised temperature and in high vacuum before the extrusion process, removes moisture and migration materials from the feedstock in a stable process environment.

The parameters for direct food contact compliance are monitored and archived continuously in the recycling process on all Vacurema systems. The Food Contact Control (FCC) feature supervises the recipe data stored and if levels go beyond defined limits an alarm is triggered automatically and (optionally) material flow is diverted away from current production.

Higher-quality washing processes have posted significant growth in recent years as the cold wash used previously for the processing of polyolefins was not able to completely remove strong odours, says Erema. This can limit applications to outdoor use items.

In the USA, recycled polyolefin pellets are already being used in the washing detergent and cosmetics industries. B+B has commissioned several hot wash systems for such projects in recent times, with annual capacity in the region of 90,000 tonnes globally.

Of course, for Erema, recycled PET is a massive market. Approximately 295,000 tonnes of waste PET in the US are processed to make rPET for direct food contact — half of which is processed using Vacurema. All in all the group states that there are more than 150

Vacurema systems in use around the world, producing high-quality pellets and end products such as films, with an overall annual capacity of around 1 million tonnes.

The vacuum treatment means that stable IV values can be achieved even if moisture levels vary. Input materials with up to 1.5% moisture can be processed, which can mean that additional predrying equipment is unnecessary.

Extruder degassing is not required either, meaning that a short extruder screw can be used and the thermal stress on the material is reduced as a result. The Austrian recycling specialist claims that its patented configuration is comparatively low-maintenance.

The repellets/end products produced with Vacurema technology for direct food

Article contact fulfil the purity requirements of many major brand owners and is certified by the FDA and EFSA (see figure 1). “Some 347,000 tonnes of rPET for direct food contact are produced every year with Vacurema systems. And in doing so, our customers use up to 100% of the recycled pellets for the production of bottles and food contact grade thermoforming sheet in accordance with efsa guidelines,” said Christoph Wöss, Vacurema Product Manager.

Erema says that an independent testing institute has confirmed that Vacurema technology has “the best energy efficiency ratings compared to others” (see figure 2). A total of eight different PET recycling technologies available on the market were tested for electrical and thermal performance.

The Vacurema Inline Sheet system (used to produce food contact grade thermoforming sheet) of a customer in Germany came out on top in an energy comparison with other systems available on the market, recording the lowest specific total energy consumption (including sheet downstream) of 0.29 kWh/kg.

Vacurema also reportedly proved to be 40% more energy efficient than other systems in the bottle-to-bottle field with a rating of 0.295 kWh/kg. This is due in part to the decontamination process before extrusion which only requires a single energy input for processing.

The very large active filter areas of the Erema filter systems also contribute to efficiency performance. The patented partial surface backflush screen changers from the RTF series feature a fully automatic self-cleaning system which, despite extremely fine filtration (32 µm screen mesh), allows low pressure losses, high filter capacity and long filter service life, according to the group, resulting in highly clean pellets.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Erema’s high-performance filters, which can be connected directly to the extruder outlet, are often used for large area ultrafine melt filtration in the production of flat film, with some film plants now using the Erema piston screen changer as standard. These are available in a variety of sizes and output levels, up to a six-piston system with twelve parallel filter screens.

Erema Web: www.erema.at B+B Anlagenbau Web: www.bub-anlagenbau.de MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 7

MACHINERY

Recycling Equipment

Pallmann celebrates 111 years, looks to a ‘rosy future’

Seperator resolves dust removal issues for recyclers

Pallmann, a manufacturer of recycling equipment for the plastics industry is celebrating 111 years in business this year. The significance of 111 is derived from the three main areas of focus for the group in recent times: pulverization, recycling, and agglomeration. “We want to be number one in each of these areas”, said Pallmann’s CEO Hartmut Pallmann.

Founded in Zweibrücken, Germany in 1903 as a flour milling company by Hartmut Pallmann’s great–grandfather, the company soon expanded into designing the mills itself. Now it makes equipment that is used across a wide range of industries, handling materials from foodstuffs to old tyres. The company offers over 1000 machine designs, and it also carries out custom grinding for companies operating in the automotive and construction industries, recycling fibres from textile and the composites sector.

The group is based in Zweibrücken, Germany, which is just a few kilometers from the French border. “Our company has branches around the world, but our roots are deep here,” said Pallmann.

“The town has managed to balance a respect for the environment with a spirit of welcome for industry,” said Pallmann.

Zweibrücken is the tenth largest city for machinery manufacture in Germany, but there is a strong local emphasis on maintaining its environment.

Pallmann’s operations are very close to one of the rivers that flow through

Herbold Meckesheim’s “Fines Separator HS” series has been designed to resolve issues associated with conventional dust separators.

As well as ancillary equipment for granulators and size reduction units, Herbold Meckesheim now supplies a fines separator unit, which, with a simple design, is targeted at both new plants and also retrofits on existing plants.

Chiefly, it is destined for secondary granulators running downstream of injection moulding and blow moulding machines.

For plants with limited ceiling height, the group can supply a special compact cyclone without affecting the original overall height.

The system offers de-dusting of the ground material and of the surrounding Zweibrücken. “We have installed five water turbines there, and we also have a large area of solar panels to harness the power of the sun,” Pallmann says. “We actually produce more energy than we consume across our operations.”

The city is known for its rose garden, which Pallmann has also tried to incorporate into its group culture. At K 2013, the “the Rose Queen of Zweibrücken” (pictured with the team) made an appearance. The group says that after 111 years, “the future is rosy for Pallmann in Zweibrücken”.

Herbold Meckesheim Web: www.herbold.com

NGR acquires majority interest in Dr. Collin

Pallmann Web: www.pallmann.eu

Austrian recycling specialist Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR) has acquired a majority interest in small-scale extrusion specialist Dr. Collin GmbH (Collin).

Compact extrusion equipment such as blown film units, flat film units, extrusion lines and stretching equipment from Collin are often used to develop recycling processes. In addition to laboratory equipment, products developed and manufactured by Collin include high-performance pilot systems for medical technology, materials manufacturers and large portions of the plastics industry.

“If you look at the product lifecycle of plastic scrap, NGR has always been active in supporting the stages of product manufacture (i.e. production waste) and recycling. With the expertise of Collin we are expanding our capabilities in product design – an important stage in exploiting the full potential of plastics – and pointing the way toward effective use of finite resources,” said Josef Hochreiter, CEO of NGR. “Consistent development of recycling processes and materials with the products of Dr. Collin GmbH have made the company a forerunner in technology in the past 40 years. With this know-how, the trust of clients and the reputation of NGR, the organisation will be able to competently address future requirements from and within the plastics industry,” 8 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

area with the degree of separation continuously adjustable due to a mounted butterfly valve. The series works on the free-fall principle; i.e., the inlet and outlet of ground material comes from a direct line.

The system has no rotating parts, no emission of remaining dust, and quick cleaning capabilities.

An ‘aspiration device’ allows the clean material to be removed from the fines without a build-up of pressure. This removes the necessity for a rotary valve or other types of air exclusion, even if the material is filled into open containers, boxes or forwarded to a downstream metal separator.

said Dr. Heinrich Collin. Dr. Collin will retain a minority interest in the company and will also provide support for the company and to his successor in the CEO role. “The flexibility to meet clients' requests and needs will continue to be a key part of future joint marketing and sales activities,” said Dr. Collin.

Dr. Collin GmbH will continue to operate independently, but a group of companies will be formed with more than 220 employees. The statement from NGR says: “An extended value creation chain will enable the new organisation to target customised system solutions to research institutes, universities, plastics recyclers, polymer manufacturers, makers of industrial plastics recycling facilities, compounders, recycling companies, etc.” The group’s global sales network will continue to operate, as well as service and training procedures for operating equipment and plastics analytics.

Effective March 1, 2014, Dr. Friedrich Kastner, Dipl. Ing., has been named CEO of Dr. Collin GmbH. “The whole is much more than the sum of its parts,” said Dr. Kastner. He will work alongside Corne Verstraten, Sales Director. Both managers have several years of experience in the plastics industry and both hold interests in the company.

Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH Web: www.ngr.at

MACHINERY

Recycling Equipment

Pelletising system claims it can save “€3.2m in annual energy costs” Nordson BKG (formerly Kreyenborg BKG) has released an integrated system that uses the thermal energy of the molten polymer created during PET pelletising for subsequent crystallisation.

The group’s claim is that this “eliminates problems caused by the agglomeration of amorphous material and substantially reduces energy costs for compounding or recycling”.

Called CrystallCut, the patented process avoids the need to cool PET after pelletising and then reheat it for crystallisation. As an integrated network that incorporates underwater pelletising, drying, and crystallising, Nordson says it is designed for precise control of material temperatures throughout the process, preventing production and quality problems caused by insufficient crystallisation and excess levels of amorphous material. The group claims

that the energy efficiency of the CrystallCut system can save more than €3,000,000 in annual energy costs for a typical PET resin plant and nearly €200,000 for an extrusion line recycling PET bottle flakes. These figures are based on examples cited by Nordson BKG from actual commercial installations.

“The CrystallCut system provides substantial relief to the cost pressure on PET polymerisation and recycling, particularly as prices for PET fall,” said Ralf Simon, Managing Director of Nordson BKG. “In addition, because the system utilises residual thermal energy within the material to crystallise pellets from the inside out, it yields an enhanced crystalline structure that results in lower energy costs for re-melting the material.”

In the CrystallCut system, hot PET granulate produced by the face cutter of the underwater pelletiser is transferred rapidly to the pellet dryer in hot water (up to 95°C) through closed conveying pipes, where pellet cooling and solidifying takes place. The system preserves heat from the melt due to a combination of closed conveying pipes and the

relatively short distance between die head and dryer.

Nordson claims that the temperature of the pellets are between 150-160°C when they exit the dryer onto a vibrating conveyor. This keeps the pellets in constant motion, generates a uniform distribution of thermal energy, and prevents pellets from sticking together. At the end of the process, the pellets have a temperature of approximately 180°C, have reportedly achieved up to 40% crystallinity, and may be transferred directly to solid state polycondensation (SSP).

In addition to saving energy costs and preventing amorphous PET clumping, the CrystallCut system yields an almost dust-free product and increases bulk density by 8% in comparison with a conventional process, according to the manufacturer.

Assuming an average energy cost of 12 cents/kWh, Nordson BKG estimates that the CrystallCut system yields energy savings of up to 125 kWh or €15 per tonne of PET in a modern PET polymerisation plant. Based on Nordson’s claim that such a plant can

achieve a production capacity of 600 tonnes per day, these savings amount to €9,000 daily and €3,200,000 per year.

This would be an annual energy saving of more than 26 gigawatt hours, or 26,000 megawatt hours.

Another example cited by Nordson BKG is that of an extrusion line which recycles PET bottle flakes at a rate of 1,500 kg/h.

The savings reported to be achievable with the CrystallCut system exceed 180 kWh, or more than 1.4 cents/kg. In a 365/24 operation this equates to €190,000 per year.

Nordson BKG Web: www.bkg.de

MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 9

MACHINERY

Markets: Film & Sheet

GLOBAL MARKET REPORT:

&

FILMS FLEXIBLE PACKAGING From separate reports written by PCI Films Consulting Ltd and Applied Market Information Ltd According to a recently published study by Applied Market Information Ltd, one of the key factors that will significantly impact the growth of PE film usage as well as the level of global trade in finished film will be the continued shale gas developments in the U.S. AMI’s study says that this will lead to major reduction in the cost of PE resin in addition to reducing the energy cost of subsequent film production. It predicts a high probability that North America will have a polymer cost base on a par with that in the Middle East, leading to PE film exports from North America overtaking those of the Middle East.

Other factors that will have an impact on the growth of PE film production will be the continuing investment in exportoriented regions such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and the growth of middle classes in less developed global regions. A detailed cost comparator is included in the study covering each of the ten global regions.

In 2013 Northeast Asia (including China) was the highest production region with one-third of global production of PE film, followed by NAFTA with a 17% share and Western Europe accounting for 15% of global production. By 2018 it is forecast that Northeast Asia will have increased market share of global production to over 35%, while NAFTA's share will remain unchanged and Western Europe's share will fall significantly, largely as a result of continuing economic difficulties in some of the member states combined with high costs of raw materials, energy, labour and freight. AMI predicts that Western Europe will continue to grow in terms of tonnage however, because it remains one of the cradles of technical development of PE films (the other being NAFTA) and continued success will depend on a shift of business towards higher added value film products.

Meanwhile the Middle East will increase its market share by growing production at over 10% per annum, making it the fastest-growing global region in percentage terms. Inter-regional traded volume has grown significantly over the past few years to reach over three million tonnes per annum, with Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia jointly accounting for over half this traded volume. An additional half million tonnes per year is forecast to be traded by 2018, driven by 10 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

increased volumes of film on the reel rather than bags and sacks, which will decline as a result of environmental initiatives in several global regions.

Looking at market applications, the highest growth rate is forecast for stretch films on the back of increased usage is to be seen in less well-developed countries as the proportion of sales through large retail outlets increases.

Demand for bags and sacks is also forecast to grow appreciably, as is growth of technical films, agricultural films, heavy duty sacks and shrink films.

In terms of individual resin types, AMI predicts that LDPE will continue to decline in market share as processors adopt usage of more sophisticated linear resins in increasingly complex formulations, resulting in market growth of metallocene and higher alpha-olefin LLDPE grades.

Two million tonnes of new BOPET film capacity, but is it enough?

After the supply shortages of commodity bi-oriented polyester (BOPET) thin films in 2010, the global BOPET film industry has done its best to ensure global supplies will not dry up again – or has it?

PCI Films Consulting published a review last year which stated that the commodity BOPET thin film market notes a significant increase in film extrusion capacity in recent years, with more planned for the next three years.

However, PCI claims that two million tonnes won't necessarily guarantee supplies to Western markets.

Since the supply shortages of 2010, demand in the global thin (i.e. less than 50 micron in thickness) BOPET film market has grown by 250,000 tonnes (5% p.a.), awaiting the expected global

recovery. But this growth has been more than matched by the installation of 700,000 tonnes of new film extrusion capacity.

By 2017, PCI states that the global market is expected to use another 900,000 tonnes of thin film and suppliers are gearing up for this with investments in an additional 1.3 million tonnes of new capacity.

PCI believes that westernised regions, such as Europe and North America, continue to be major importers of BOPET thin films because their local industries are not large enough or competitive enough to meet local demand. The report acknowledged new capacities in Turkey and Poland and two new plants in the US, but believes that these will do little to absorb the current volume of imports into these regions, let alone meet future demand.

Europe’s flexible packaging industry More recently, towards the end of 2013, PCI reported weaker demand across a number of national markets and lower raw material inflationary pressures, which it claims were the two main factors slowing value growth in Europe’s flexible packaging market as a whole in 2012.

PCI found that in 2012, annual value growth in flexible packaging slowed to 2.1%, down from over 5% in 2011.

Weaker demand from flexible packaging buyers as they responded to static sales of packaged food by reducing stock levels was one contributory factor.

Another was that the industry was able to avoid a repeat of the inflationary pressures experienced in 2011 when the cost of plastic films, foils and papers,

inks and adhesives rose significantly and in order to maintain margins converters had to pass these increases on to customers.

Report author Paul Gaster said: “While value growth has slowed, European consumption of flexible packaging in volume terms approached 2% in 2012, confirming that flexible packaging continues to perform better than many other industries in the current economic climate”.

The report details some significant regional and national differences in demand trends. While there was modest expansion in Europe’s largest market, Germany, little or no growth was seen in the UK and France and there were real declines across Southern Europe in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal. On the other hand, the market in Turkey, Russia and Poland increased in value at more than twice the European average.

Consolidation continues to be another important factor changing the structure of the industry with Mondi Packaging’s acquisition of Nordenia International and the enlargement of Schur Flexible via a series of medium-sized acquisitions, being significant developments in recent years. As in past years, private equity firms played a prominent role in flexible packaging and one firm, Sun Capital, has made a series of acquisitions in Europe and North America to form Exopack Holdings. This company is now ranked amongst the top 10 players in Europe. Mr Gaster said: “Twenty percent of the flexible packaging industry’s sales in Europe are currently generated by private equity portfolio companies”.

MACHINERY

Materials Handling

Maguire “Sweeper” gets new bespoke options Maguire’s “Sweeper”, a device that completely empties octobins or gaylords of resin has reportedly generated requests from plastics processors for deployment options to meet special requirements.

Re-grind, flake and powder materials can require more torque for efficient material pickup, so Maguire has upgraded the drive motor to include a high-torque clutch and heavy duty drive mechanism.

Options are now also available for specific applications. The “halo” section at the end of the material lance, for example, can be adjusted by the operator to enhance material flow or throughput to accommodate difficult materials such as powder, flake, or long glass fibre compounds. The pickup assembly is now available with a solid wiper blade for powder, flake, and highstatic applications. Various versions of

the elbow are available for abrasive materials.

The Sweeper design lends itself to a cantilever-style wall mount installation.

Maguire says that this is popular because no stand is required, and the elimination of the stand legs simplifies box removal.

Maguire has developed a device that keeps bags open and tensioned to allow efficient removal of resin. Big bags with a liner or “sock” can also be emptied with minor adjustment to the Sweeper material lance.

Key to this feature is a dual control that automatically switches from a Sweeper in an empty box to a second Sweeper in an adjacent full one, allowing the operator to replace the empty box without interruption in the transfer of resin to the processing machine or dryer.

Every Sweeper continuously sweeps the

length and breadth of the top level of resin in a container, reaching into every corner, as it uses vacuum to transfer the resin to a processing machine or dryer.

The device descends along with the level of resin in the Gaylord or octobin until the container is empty. Because The Sweeper removes resin from the box without unwanted interruptions, there is no need for operators to stand by to ensure that the processing machine does not run out of material.

Maguire can supply the Sweeper in a size that accommodates European-style octobins, which hold 1,000 kg of resin.

The company also offers its original model, sized for Gaylord boxes that hold 450-680 kg, in two versions that accommodate vacuum line hoses with 38mm and 64mm diameters, respectively. The larger octobin-sized model accommodates 64mm hoses.

Maguire Web: www.maguire.com

Labotek/battenfeld-cincinnati drying system saves up to 88% energy Together with battenfeld-cincinnati, Labotek has developed a new drying technology platform called EAC - which stands for efficient air cooling. The EAC concept is currently used in battenfeldcincinnati helix VSI-T and VSI-T+ pipe heads to cool the pipe from the inside and outside. The heated air from the pipe cooling process can be used to dry material, thereby saving energy.

A conventional dryer needs 92 kW for a throughput of 1,500 kg/h of HDPE

granulate - the EAC Drying System, using pre-heated air from the pipe head, needs only 11 kW, resulting in an energy saving of 88% claims Labotek.

The EAC Drying System is a patent pending technology. It has been shown at work in the production process at two battenfeld-cincinnati Open House events in February and November 2013.

Labotek claims that due to the immense energy savings that can be achieved, the investment will be offset rapidly.

Labotek is a European supplier of plastics industry ancillary equipment with a portfolio of standard and centralised systems, which the group says are designed to reduce energy consumption to the absolute minimum.

The company also supplies equipment designed for transport, dosage and storage of free flowing plastic granules and the transport of free flowing powder materials.

Labotek A/S Web: www.labotek.com

MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 11

MACHINERY

Materials Handling

New materials handling system installed at major lens manufacturer UK-based materials handling supplier AB Systems has recently announced that a major international soft lens manufacturer has taken delivery of a new materials handling set-up at its UK plant.

The lens manufacturer makes hundreds of thousands of contact lenses each week, a process that involves the injection of a polymerisable feed material into a mould, which is then oven-cured.

It is the manufacture of the plastic mould assembly – which in reality comprises a male convex and female concave mould surface – for which AB Systems designed and installed the material handling system.

The new installation uses equipment from SB Plastics, for whom AB Systems is UK distributor. It includes three material loaders, a desiccant dryer, an insulated drying hopper, a vacuum pump, and a central system vacuum filter to remove debris. AB Systems also designed and installed a bespoke touch screen panel, which, the group says, enables operators to quickly and easily pre-program and control processes such as conveying times and filter cleaning.

During the production of lenses, formation of surface voids can render the cast object unsuitable as a lens. “We have installed several materials handling

systems at this particular UK facility and continue to be counted as a trusted supplier. It is fantastic to work with a client that is so active in ensuring that the highest standards of manufacturing are

achieved,” said Jeff Day, Managing Director of AB Systems.

AB Systems Web: www.ab-ltd.co.uk

Small-size dryers launched for micro and medical jobs

Materials handling specialist motancolortronic has launched its new Luxor CA S range of dryers, which have been designed for small and micro applications with low throughput requirements. The manufacturer says it is also suited for cleanroom applications.

The range, which features hopper volumes of 0.75/1.5/3 and 5 litres, is comprised of a modular line of dryers which enable small throughputs without waste or contamination. On account of their light and compact construction, motan claims that the dryers can be mounted on all processing machines, even when space is highly restricted.

The Luxor CA S compressed air dryers take factory-supplied compressed air which is expanded to atmospheric pressure. This produces dry process air – with a very low dew point – which is then heated to the required drying temperature. No desiccant is necessary, making the dryer suitable for cleanroom conditions. All models are equipped with a thermostat and low air flow safety switch to prevent overheating of the material in the event of insufficient air throughput.

Due to the wide temperature range (30180°C) the Luxor CA S micro dryers can be used for a wide variety of materials.

A pre-filter cleans the compressed air.

The group says that this prevents contamination of high-quality materials and provides optimum drying conditions.

The complete drying bin body is made from a single piece of glass – designed with contamination-critical process applications in mind.

A more obvious benefit of the all-glass construction is transparency. The operator can always see the actual status of material in the bin. motan-colortronic Web: www.motan-colortronic.de 12 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

MACHINERY

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Starlinger explains waste nonwovens recovery

Starlinger, a specialist in recycling equipment, will exhibit at the Index14 trade show this year with equipment and processes to turn nonwoven production scrap into a valuable secondary resource.

During the nonwoven fabric production process, waste occurs along the entire production chain – from start-up waste and off-spec material all the way to conversion scrap. Nonwovens consist of different polymers and polymer mixtures, have different viscosities, and type and amount of contamination and required filtration fineness can vary a lot.

Starlinger says that due to the fact that nonwoven production waste comes in different shapes, it is necessary to recycle it into pellets to make it suitable for reuse. The group reports that its systems are suitable for converting nonwoven production scrap into “first quality regranulate.”

In-house recycling, Starlinger claims, can help nonwoven manufacturers to control the quality of the regranulate through their own materials management processes.

For high quality regranulate, the group suggests a thorough analysis of the input material. Its recycling systems are equipped with an extruder vacuum unit.

This extracts volatile contaminants – spin finish, for example – and reduces viscosity loss in the melt. A variety of melt filtration systems are available to offer clean, high-grade melt: melt filters with and without backflushing, power backflush filters and continuous rotation filters are the most common options. The

choice of filter type and size depends on the type and amount of contaminants. A specially designed cascade filtration system enables very fine filtration down to 25m.

Starlinger says that it can supply a range of pelletising equipment depending on viscosity, preferred shape of regranulate, and required grade of automatisation. For PET/PES, crystallisation equipment and solid-stating reactors for increasing IV are available.

All the recycling equipment is permanently set up for trial runs at the Starlinger Technical Center in Weissenbach near Vienna, Austria. Interested parties can compare technologies, process their own materials, and obtain regranulate to test in their production units.

Starlinger & Co. GmbH Web: www.recycling.starlinger.com

Borealis upgrades polymer testing facilities Borealis is using two two table-top testing machines from Zwick which it says are enabling the automated quality control of the plastics produced at its facility in Schwechat, Austria, one of the biggest production sites in Europe.

The facility, which has an annual capacity for polyolefin production, including both polypropylene and polyethylene, of around one million tonnes, uses two Zwick Allround-Line table-top testing machines for automated quality control of its plastics.

Automated tensile tests with nominal forces of 5 and 10kN are carried out in accordance with standards including ISO 527, with automated flexure tests to ISO 178, with specimens tested covering a wide range of dimensions.

One of the testing machines is equipped with a makroXtens extensometer. Zwick explains this contacttype extensometer is designed for tensile, compression, flexure and cyclic tests in manual and automated testing systems. Fine-strain measurement for determination of Young’s modulus is also possible, involving a strain range between 0.05 and 0.25 percent. Pneumatic grips developed by Zwick are used to hold the specimens, with the required gripping force generated via a pneumatic actuator, which, depending on size, acts either directly on the jaws or via a lever-system.

The second testing machine is fitted with a motorised flexure table for three and four-point flexure loads, plus a digital flexure transducer. This measures deflection

directly under the specimen in accordance with ISO 178, ASTM D 790 and ISO 14125.

To obtain a higher magazine capacity (> 400 specimens), the specimens are stacked, handled via a Kuka KR5 robot. A special feature of this system, says Zwick, is the combined vacuum and pincer gripper; the vacuum function is used to remove specimens from the stack and the pincer function to provide a force-locked grip on the specimen (remains). The entire system is controlled via an industrial controller using Zwick’s autoEdition2 automation software for plastics.

As well as those at its Schwechat site, Borealis employs additional Zwick testing machines for its research activities in Lintz, including an identical second automated testing system.

Zwick Web: www.zwick.co.uk Borealis Web: www.borealisgroup.com MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 13

MACHINERY

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Victorinox adds moisture analysis to moulding operation Victorinox has started using a Mettler Toledo moisture analyzer in its quality control process to check the plastic used to mould components in its Swiss Army range of pocket knives. Victorinox, a traditional brand steeped in history, has been making the headlines in the world of plastics innovation, with the recent announcement that its Hunter Pro Swiss Army Knife will now use ‘self-healing’ PP from Polykemi AB. Now the firm has started operating a moisture analyzer as part of its injection moulding QC process. The unit is equipped with a ‘OneClick’ user interface, which means that only one non-specialist operator is required to run the entire operation. Victorinox quality control staff have pre-programmed the equipment with six shortcut keys; one for each of the plastic granulates in use. The operator is only required to load a sample and press its clearly labelled shortcut key; the assigned drying

method then starts automatically.

Measurement results, displayed by an instrument on the factory floor, can be sent directly to a regular A4/letter printer anywhere on the company network. The same data can also be transferred to a file server as a PDF for on-screen viewing and electronic archiving, as well as in standard CSV or XLS format for interchange with laboratory and office software.

Professional moisture analyzers are tested with SmartCal to verify the performance of the instrument’s overall functionality. After following instructions, normalisation for ambient conditions takes place automatically, due to the inclusion of a new plug-in humidity and temperature sensor.

“Whether the new Mettler-Toledo Professional moisture analyzer instrument is being used in a laboratory or on the factory floor, it achieves highly reproducible results while full network

support and USB connectivity simplifies data transfer and ensures convenient and secure reporting,” said Kathrin Annaheim, Product Manager, MettlerToledo Laboratory Weighing. “With OneClick graphical user interface also SmartCal tests can be started with one click.

Once the test has started, the user is guided step by step through the test.”

Since the moisture analyzer was introduced at Victorinox, Mettler Toledo claims that the company has been able to eliminate product errors and speed up the moulding process by as much as 510%.

Mettler Toledo Web: uk.mt.com Victorinox Web: www.victorinox.com

Boy to show most compact machine at Chinaplas Injection moulding machine manufacturer Boy will present two injection moulding machines at Chinaplas: a Boy 35 E (350 kN clamping force) equipped with a servo-motor pump drive and the patented Procan ALPHA 2 control, and a Boy XS, the most compact machine on offer from the group.

The Boy 35 E features a space-saving cantilevered clamping unit design. The four-tie bars, Boy says, are “generously spaced” and the machine features a footprint of 1.9m². With a torsion resistant

clamping system and efficient injection unit, the machine is suited to precision moulded parts with close tolerance requirements.

E-Series Boy machines starting from a 24mm screw diameter can be equipped with the group’s new EconPlast units.

Boy claims that this development permits an energy reduction of 50% during the melting phase, more precise and faster barrel heating as well as shorter start-up and heating times. The high wearresistant plasticising units have already received a positive response from the market, which Boy says is due to the material savings and the reduced friction displayed when running certain materials.

The Boy XS features a footprint of 0.74m² and with stroke volumes from 0.1cm³ up to 8.0cm³, parts can be produced with consistency and precision, says the group.

Boy also supplies compact conveying and pigment mixing units for the Boy XS, which

apparently don’t impact on space requirements. The Boy 2C XS – an enhancement of the Boy XS without the clamping unit – is designed as an introduction into multi-component moulding (up to 76.5cm³ injection volume) in tandem with a conventional injection moulding machine.

“Like we already demonstrated during K 2013, we also offer complex automation equipment for our Boy injection moulding machines as per customer requirements. We are now able to respond even better to customer requirements through the addition of these devices. Besides feeding and removal devices, for example the Boy picker which is shown on the Boy XS, we now also offer Boy handling units

equipped with servo motors. Everything from a single source including the CEcompliant safety housing”, said Wolfgang Schmidt, Boy Export Manager.

Boy’s Chinese distributors Andeli Co., Ltd., and Trillion Machinery will be available on the group’s stand (Hall E1, Stand J41) at Chinaplas.

Dr. Boy GmbH & Co. KG Web: www.dr-boy.de

DME and Mold-Masters launch new hot runner concept DME and Mold-Masters have combined research and technology to launch what they describe as a “the industry’s most thermally precise and reliable nozzle platform”. The new hot runner nozzle technology has been named ‘Velocity’.

The design and manufacture of the Velocity platform uses proprietary inhouse heating elements, patented multimaterial tip geometries as well as heater

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brazing technology.

The nozzles themselves come in four standard sizes — Femto, Pico, Centi and Deci — in lengths from 27mm to 220mm and in six standard gate configurations including hot tip, valve gate and sprue gate. The two firms claim that Velocity enables the user to place the gate in ‘difficult-to-mould’ situations while still offering optimal steel and cooling conditions.

The nozzles can be combined with seven different manifold configurations with standard pitch ranges, which can reportedly offer benefits including high speed system deliveries, rapid assembly drawings and cost savings.

According to DME and MoldMasters, every manifold is analysed to ensure that the

heating is uniform over its entire surface. This aids fill balance and prevents any degradation of the material.

Integrated heaters are incorporated to provide energyefficient and longlasting heater performance.

DME also offers the Intelligent or Smart Series II Temperature Control systems with the Velocity system.

The Intelligent Control System, which can be installed or retrofitted on a variety of machines, features a plug-andplay set-up, and therefore does not require any external service.

DME Web: www.dmeeu.com Mold-Masters Web: www.moldmasters.com

MACHINERY

News

Illig to launch new packaging line Thermoforming machinery group Illig will launch its FSL 48 form-fill-seal line at this year’s Interpack show in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Specifically aimed at the food and dairy industry, the line incorporates an inmould labelling station for decoration during the thermoforming process. Most conventional cup geometries can be formed on the line, says Illig. The FSL 48 can also be equipped to meet a variety of different hygiene requirements by the food industry through to hygiene class IV according to VDMA (hygienic filling machines). The thermoformer’s format area, 480mm x 320mm, is designed in such a way that, for example, 12 standard dairy packs can be manufactured at once, with a working speed of up to 30 cycles per minute.

The FSL 48 can run conventional materials including PS, PP, multilayer materials (e.g. PS/EVOH/PE), APET as well as foils made of PLA (polylactic acid). The IML unit integrated in the forming station works with printed blanks

from the magazine. Numerous decoration options, such as one-, two- three-, four-, and five-sided (including bottom decoration, with integrated barcode) labelling are possible on the machine.

As contours do not affect the IML process on the machine, Illig says that a variety of different cup shapes can be labelled.

A multi-lane filler means that several flavours can be filled in one run using the same or different labels. Manual re-sorting of flavours is not required.

Illig Web: www.illig.de

Twist-close feature added to thermoformed food tub

RPC Bebo Plastik of Germany has developed a re-closable food packaging concept for a variety of potential applications, including soups, sauces and ready meals.

The new Bebo Twist container can be thermoformed in either mono or multilayer polypropylene with various decoration options.

The tub incorporates thread segments in the seal flange which securely lock with the inner thread flights on the injection moulded PP lids, allowing opening and closing.

The high-barrier version features an EVOH layer that provides an effective barrier against oxygen ingress for an extended ambient shelf life. It also delivers the necessary strength to allow hot fill, pasteurisation, sterilisation and aseptic filling.

The tub can be decorated by in-mould label thermoforming or by printing, labelling or sleeving after manufacture.

The complementary cap, which is injection moulded by RPC Bramlage Food, can also be labelled.

“Our new Bebo Twist tub combines consumer convenience with effective product protection and promotion,” said Robert Steinmeijer, RPC Bebo Sales and Marketing Manager.

“Initial customer reaction has been extremely positive with the first two product launches already in the pipeline for 2014.”

RPC Bebo Plastik GmbH Web: www.rpc-beboplastik.de MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 15

MACHINERY

News

Paccor International expands with high-tech multi-layer co-extrusion Germany-based Paccor International, which is now a member of the Coveris group, has expanded its production capacity for PET sheet with the purchase of a complete 3-layer coextrusion line, including an in-line lamination station, for its Polish factory in Skierniewice.

The line, which comes from battenfeldcincinnati has an output of 1.1 tonnes per hour. Due to the inclusion of an inline lamination station, multi-layer sheet can be produced as easily as barrier sheet, says battenfeld-cincinnati.

Since the end of August 2013 the 3-layer co-extrusion line has been operating at

the Polish Coveris plant in Skierniewice.

“We have once again chosen a line from our long-standing machine supplier in Bad Oeynhausen, as we are absolutely satisfied with the energy-efficient operation and the options of manufacturing a variety of different sheet products with one extrusion line only.

Another decisive argument in favour of the purchase was the high output of 1.1 tonnes per hour with a net sheet width of 900mm, which enables us to optimally cater to the growth market of food packaging”, said Marcin Antos, Managing Director of Coveris,

Skierniewice.

The complete line includes components ranging from material dosing through to the sheet winder and lamination unit. The co-extrusion line is capable of producing 3-layer PET sheet in thicknesses ranging from 200m to 1.2mm. With an optional rotating infrared tube (or heater) for precrystallisation of the material, regrind can also be used for the middle layer.

Also included is the lamination unit, which means that barrier layer can be incorporated to extend shelf life of the packaging, or with a PE sealing layer for subsequent peelability and/or weldability.

The extruder used for the system is a BC 1-120-40 D WT 170, equipped with a processing unit in which a single screw is combined with a planetary roller extruder section. The machine’s design is similar to that of a standard single screw extruder, but equipped with a planetary roller zone in the degassing area. The operating principle in this area causes the melt to be spread out in very thin layers. In this way, an extremely large surface is generated, which produces excellent degassing results, says battenfeld-cincinnati. This can allow for the use of undried regrind material and also offers a boost to efficiency. battenfeld-cincinnati Web: www.battenfeld-cincinnati.com

Recycling initiative gives brand owners a new option European group Avery Dennison has teamed up with a UK firm to expand its PET liner recycling program. The move sees the addition of a new collection facility for brand owners in the UK and Ireland. As a result, waste PET liners can be sold direct to PET Processors UK in Dumfries, Scotland.

“This program reflects our longstanding commitment to facilitate easy and effective recycling of PET release liners,” said Stephan Reis, responsible for the Liner Recycling program at Avery Dennison Materials Group Europe. “We are proud to have found a recycling partner serving the UK and Ireland who can turn waste into a valuable new product.”

PET Processors UK uses the recycled liner to manufacture thermal forming sheets for food containers and compounds for industrial use in the automotive and construction markets.

Brand owners can access the program with quantities as low as two tonnes, says Avery Dennison.

The group claims that one million square meters of release liner waste is currently worth anything from £5,000-£8,000. Reis said: “Our goal is to link brand owners to local recycling facilities and make it as easy as possible for them to realise these returns.”

Avery Dennison Web: www.averydennison.com 16 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

MACHINERY

News

Old machines can be efficient too, says Engel Engel has launched a new retrofit platform for use on older manufacturing systems that it says reduces the energy required by exisiting hydraulic injection moulding machines by up to 50 percent.

In response to the industry’s need for cost-efficiency and sustainability, as well as addressing rising energy prices, Engel says it has developed the new ecodriveR as a retrofit solution that is “reasonably priced” and “can be fitted with little hassle” to significantly increase the saving potential of older injection moulding machines to bring them inline with the efficiency capabilities of newer, more modern models. ecodriveR is the next generation of Engel’s servo-hydraulic drive system, ecodrive. Consisting of a servomotor and a fixed displacement pump, ecodrive saves lost energy among other things. Without an energy saving option, lost energy builds up when a machine is idle and traditionally accounts for a large proportion of its total energy consumption.

Engel says its ecodriveR platform means that hydraulic injection moulding machines with an asynchronous motor and electric-hydraulic variable capacity pumps (EHVs) can now be controlled according to demand as well. This is

achieved through the installation of a frequency converter that adjusts the speed of the pump drive to the amount of energy required. ecodriveR is set using a simple interface of the machine control unit, Wolfgang Degwerth, Head of Engel Austria's customer service division, explained.

“Since a machine's hydraulic system remains the same when it is retrofitted, ecodriveR allows us to adapt older injection moulding machines to the requirements of modern production companies quite quickly and at a relatively low cost,” he commented.

“The first few uses have shown that, depending on the application, it can reduce the energy required by machines by up to 50 percent without affecting the cycle time, part quality or reproducibility standards.”

As with the original ecodrive principle, Engel says the drives of an injection moulding machine with the retrofitted ecodriveR are only active when the machine is in movement, such as during mould opening and closing, plasticising and injecting. During the post injection pressure and plasticising phases, the speed is reduced, and during cooling, the drives come to a complete standstill and do not use any energy at all.

Engel says the saving potential depends on different factors. Machine size and cycle time play a crucial role among other things. If, for example, POM technical parts with a shot weight of 109 g and a cycle time of 78.3 seconds are made on an Engel victory 330/125 injection moulding machine that has been energetically optimised with the ecodriveR system, 3.7 kWh of energy will be saved every hour, which Engel explained means 46 percent less will be consumed compared to a machine that has not been updated. The 3.2 kWh/h drive energy reduction and the fact that

the cooling/filter motor uses 0.5 kWh/h less energy make a major contribution here, it said. If the machine is in operation for 6000 hours per year, the amount of electricity it uses will be cut by 22,200 kWh overall, which equates to six tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The retrofit option ecodriveR can be added to any Engel hydraulic injection moulding machine with three or fewer asynchronous motors and electrohydraulic variable capacity pumps.

Engel Web: www.engelglobal.com

Stewart Group now offering carbon fibre injection moulding Stewart Group Holdings, a UK manufacturer and supplier of plastic moulded products for technical, packaging, professional catering, gardening and home sectors, has announced that after extensive research and development, it will now offer services for injection-moulded carbon fibre.

The group was recently certified to the ISO/TS16949 standard, positioning the company for future projects with automotive, aeronautical and mechanical design OEMs. Manufacturing with carbon filled plastics opens up possibilities for several metalreplacement projects, including

components with thermal and electrical insulation properties.

Carbon fibre is used extensively in the aerospace, automotive, sports equipment, and medical equipment industries, for its light-weight combined with versatility, strength, impact resistance and durability. The material is 70% lighter than steel and 40% lighter than aluminium, has a high strength to weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance. It has a low mass and also has the ability to replace complex post-casting assemblies through injection mould tooling design; a significant cost reduction benefit in labour and process.

Stewart Group claims that its carbonfibre mouldings will be stable, heat resistant and robust. Clients will also reportedly benefit from greater design flexibility.

Jim Metcalf, Technical Sales Manager at Stewart Group Holdings, said: “Our carbon fibre moulding capability improves our offering to all types of businesses, especially automotive and Engineering OEMs. As well as the expertise to manufacture in carbon fibre, Stewart Group Holdings provides full design, FEA and development support.”

Stewart Group Holdings Web: www.stewartcompany.co.uk

Zahoransky claims ‘world’s first’ seven-component mould Zahoransky has delivered a sevencomponent injection mould to Schiffer, a German moulder of toothbrushes and dental care products. The mould-maker claims that this is “the first 7-component mould ever built worldwide”.

The 16-fold injection mould has two injection stations and one loading and removal station located on the outside.

Two different materials in the same colour are processed in the first station, while two different TPEs are used in the second station. One of these is injected in four different colours. This design feature has been implemented due to the fact that toothbrushes are retailed in four different colours. The use of the 7component mould means that Schiffer does not need to perform colour changes. Zahoransky even claims that toothbrushes produced during the day could be in supermarket storerooms by the evening.

The system links the mould in-line with the downstream production process and through to Seven injection units had to be connected to the mould in an extremely tight space. The availability of several material feeds, the different processing temperatures of the various materials and the close spacing between the different nozzles at the same cavity needed to be taken into account. The

moulding was performed by a sixcomponent machine from Engel, while a seventh injection unit from Boy was integrated into the production process.

Mold-Masters supplied the hot runner technology for the application. The system features a two-part soldered runner. Instead of having just straight channels, these runners have as many as three melt levels with curves and turns incorporated. This design uses the principle of natural balancing, as well as a uniform thermal profile and a relatively low construction height.

Zahoransky says that this technology allows two or more melt flow channels to be integrated into a single runner. The design also allows six or more materials and colours in a single runner.

The group states that though complex, multi-component moulds are the most cost-effective solution for applications where identical products are to be moulded in different colours.

Zahoransky Web: www.zahoransky.com MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 17

MACHINERY

News

Jonesco boosts QC with colour management process Jonesco, a UK manufacturer of storage boxes, fire equipment cabinets and commercial vehicle mudguards has recently started using a RM200QC spectrocolorimeter from X-Rite as part of its quality control process.

“It was clear that we needed to invest in the right technology to raise the bar on our colour quality, rather than rely on the old method of squinting our eyes at samples under different lighting and hope for the best,” said Rob Mayor, Quality Manager for Jonesco. “Now we use CIELAB values to demonstrate exactly how ‘more red or less red’ a product is compared to our standard sample.”

“Before we implemented use of the RM200QC, we effectively had no method of understanding whether the colour of our products were correct during production,” Mayor said.

Most of Jonesco’s products are made via rotational moulding. Typical applications

tend to be large, lightweight plastic parts designed to function in harsh environmental conditions.

A major product line for Jonesco is intermediate bulk containers with a capacity of up to 1,000 litres, as well as drum carts, boxes holding salt and sand to be used on icy pavements, fire extinguisher and tool boxes, and pallets.

With about 130 employees in the United Kingdom and its distribution facility in Lille, France, Jonesco is a major supplier of mudguards for commercial vehicles.

Without quality control, the product may not always match the custom colour specified by the customer or the standardised palette of more than 40 colours offered by Jonesco that the company is using to build its brand presence.

Another problem can arise when a product has two components, such as a moulded box and moulded lid. “What we find is we have to make the box and lid at different times, using different equipment, yet the two parts have to match in colour,” Mayor said.

“So we are standardising our production controls,” he added. “The RM200QC helps us to verify quickly and accurately that the output of the process is acceptable. If a recipe is incorrect, due to a whole host of reasons, we can make a change to the process much earlier than running 30 or 40 pieces before we discover the error. We can test the parts and then say that if they are in a certain dE range that they are okay to continue manufacturing.”

While the company has only been using the instrument for a few months, Mayor expects that it should help to reduce

wasted, plastic and fuel associated with parts being produced out of specification.

The instrument is also reportedly helping to bring new products to market. When a customer or Jonesco designer provides a premoulded sample for quote, the quality control department can measure its colour and determine how close it is to the branded colours offered by Jonesco or whether a standard recipe needs to be modified.

“In the past, I would not have been able to quantify in any way whether a sample was the same as what we currently offer in our standard colours,” Mayor said. “But with the RM200QC, I can now quantify if we should use the new polymer mix.”

With a measurement time of about two seconds, the instrument gives results in the form of pass/fail messages, or standard colour difference equations and tolerances, such as delta E, CIELAB, CMC, CIE 94, and CIE 2000.

The RM200QC memory holds 20 standards and up to 350 measurements automatically stamped with time and date and saved as PDF and CSV files that can be downloaded via USB cable so the information can be shared with other stakeholders in a supply chain. Any measurement can be linked with images of test surfaces, text notes, or voice messages and the reports can be output in multiple languages.

X-Rite employs a proprietary camera technology in the RM200QC that illuminates the surface being measured from three different directions while simultaneously recording 27 colouraccurate images in 1.8 seconds,

Test phases complete on major line for multi-layer PP cups In November 2013, Swiss group WM Wrapping Machinery completed the testing phase of a full production line for manufacturing two-colour disposable cups in multi-layer polypropylene.

The plant, WM says, is destined to be installed at the site of a major manufacturer (outside of Europe) of disposable items, which is also currently taking delivery of another WM complete in-line system for the production of plates made of co-extruded polystyrene HIPS. The multi-layer PP line, which is called INTEC FT 900/3, consists of a unit for the automatic dosing and feeding of the raw material in granules, including a system for management and recycling of the ground line waste.

The flat die head of the extrusion feeds a vertical laminating calender with three rolls, creating a sheet with a width of 930 mm and a thickness ranging from 0.2 to 2mm.

The extruded sheet is then sent in-line to the transport system with toothed chains of the model FT 900 thermoforming machine, with a tilting lower platen and a

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servo-assisted plugging unit. The forming tool can accommodate moulds with a maximum size of 880 x 520mm and has a clamping force of 75,000 DaN. The tilting system of the movable lower platen is based on a double ‘Desmodromic’ system of cams and levers operated by a servomotor.

The mould has 51 cavities for the production of cups with a finished border diameter of 73 mm and a height of 95 mm.

Once thermoformed and cut (an operation that occurs simultaneously in the same mould) the cups are removed from the bottom half-mould which tilts at 75 degrees by a plate with spindles, and are automatically transported to a collection cage, which unloads the various rows of stacked cups on a conveyor belt and continuously feeds a rimming unit with three rotating screws. This turns the upper edge of the cups upwards and then sends the stacks to the counting and packing units.

eliminating the shadows and interference inherent to patterned and textured materials and surfaces. With eight different visible illuminations and one ultraviolet illumination, the RM200QC is able to more accurately define the location of a colour in colour space than traditional colourimeters that typically have only three illuminations of red, green and blue light, says X-Rite.

The colour specialist also claims that quality control or quality assurance personnel can be trained “in a matter of minutes” on the operation of the RM200QC. Operators can select between 4mm and 8mm apertures and preview the sample area on the fullcolour display, then take a measurement in less than two seconds with the press of a button.

X-Rite Web: www.xrite.com

Pelletiser cutting chamber designed for low downtime

The waste or the residual perforated polypropylene sheet from which the cups are made is sent in-line to a soundproof grinding mill, which reduces the scrap to flakes and, by means of a blower group, sends it to the dosing/mixing unit located above the extrusion unit. This creates a closed loop from the raw material to the finished product, with the direct in-line recycling of waste materials.

WM says that the INTEC 900/3 system can produce up to 120,000 units of 200 cc cups per hour, minimising energy consumption and significantly increasing automation.

Reduction Engineering Scheer has launched a new cutting chamber for large strand pelletisers. The company states that it has designed the chamber in such a way that allows for fast removal with less downtime.

The quick change cutting chamber features a gearbox which positively drives the upper and lower feed rolls and helps to maintain machine performance and dependability, claims the group. It is designed specifically for continuous polymerisation systems that can’t be shut down.

Tom Kernstock, Product Manager at Reduction Engineering Scheer said: “Our next-generation design was developed in response to customer demand and is differentiated in the market by our unique gearbox which ensures high performance and durability.”

The system features quick couplings which detach all connections between the stationary structure and the cutting chamber. Other design elements include universal joints which connect the gearbox to the cutter and feed rolls, along with a quick tension belt release.

Connections to the air lines, gearbox, and belt can reportedly be removed in 15 minutes, claims the group.

WM Wrapping Machinery Web: www.wm-thermoforming.com

Reduction Engineering Scheer Web: www.reductionengineering.com

MATERIALS: Masterbatch & Additives

Article

NEW COLOUR MASTERBATCH

LAUNCHED TO SPEED UP BLOW MOULDING

Silvergate Plastics has launched ‘Optiblo’, a range of colour masterbatch which it says has been designed to “significantly reduce” cycle times and improve the surface finish of blow moulded parts.

The main function of the additive is to eliminate common processing problems by removing die build up, improving pigment dispersion, as well as wall thickness uniformity and dimensional stability. Silvergate says that using Optiblo can increase output and lower energy requirements, thereby saving on operating costs.

It works by reducing friction against metal surfaces, which enables melt to smoothly flow at a faster rate. By improving pigment dispersion and eliminating die build up, this new colour masterbatch is suited to applications such as bottles, drums, oil containers, etcetera. It also reduces warp on large parts, and reduces energy consumption by allowing the processor to operate at lower temperatures.

The company says it is responding to the increasing demand from processors wanting raw materials that enhance operating efficiencies. This trend is rising not only in the UK but across the Continent. Giuseppe Chiacchio, Silvergate’s recently-appointed Export Sales Manager said: “Our customers want quality products quickly, that hasn’t changed. What has changed is a need to improve their own operating practices by introducing high performing raw materials to their manufacturing processes. As a supply chain partner keen to support our customers’ goals, we have responded to their needs by

introducing Optiblo to our vast range of products. We have listened and understood the challenges many processors face when moulding at high temperatures. Many of the inherent problems include flow lines, poor surface finish and die build up.

“Optiblo is a colour masterbatch that helps to prevent these factors from occurring. What is really exciting is the fact that Optiblo enables the polymer to flow far faster and much smoother, even at low temperatures. This reduces energy demands, eliminates die lines in 15 minutes and increases output. We believe Optiblo will become the preferred choice in colour masterbatch for many blow moulding producers.”

Silvergate’s new Optiblo range is available in any colour.

Expansion into Europe The appointment of Mr Chiacchio to serve the European market is a key development for the UK firm. EPPM spoke exclusively with MD Tony Bestall, who Tony Bestall, elaborated on the Managing Director move, and strategy for of Silvergate continued growth. The Plastics group recently made changes at its manufacturing site in the UK which optimised several procedures.

This, says Bestall, was key to being able to grow overseas.

“We have ambitious plans to grow a global brand for Silvergate Plastics and, having recently reconfigured our manufacturing facility, we are now able to

rapidly and flexibly accommodate orders from anywhere in the world regardless of its size or complexity”, said Bestall.

“We deliver orders at an exceptionally fast pace and it was evident we could offer an extremely competitive service across the continent and beyond. Our ability to respond quickly with high quality products to changing market demands shows distance isn’t a barrier for us: our service offering really does travel well! This solid foundation has enabled us to enter global markets, specifically within Europe, Asia and Northern Africa.

The development of Optiblo came as a result of increasing European demand, whereby cost-conscious processors have been asking for raw materials to enhance output and reduce energy costs. More specifically, they required a product that would overcome inherent problems with die lines and die build up. With our growth in these markets, we have been able to respond to these requests by delivering a cost-effective solution that provides maximum benefits for the processor.”

The launch of Optiblo has seen the company grow in the area of processing additives. But additives for end-use enhancements are still a major focus for the firm, which supplies masterbatch to

Giuseppe Chiacchio, Silvergate’s recentlyappointed Export Sales Manager major brands including Charles Worthington, with whom Silvergate worked on a recent product range.

Bestall continued: “Optiblo has been developed specifically to support blow moulding applications, such as bottles and drums. On a larger scale, we can offer further innovations to other plastics processors using various additive formulations to enhance both processes and final product performance.

“The trend is continuing for better raw materials that improve and enhance output, and final component quality, whilst providing long-term cost benefits.

Our additives support this demand and as such the response we are having is extremely encouraging. Being able to offer technically advanced additives alongside exact colour matches is Continued on page 20

MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 19

MATERIALS

Masterbatch & Additives

Continued from page 19

The group’s UK headquarters

PolyOne launches anti-counterfeiting portfolio PolyOne has launched a new masterbatch and accompanying service package to allow processors to protect their products from counterfeiting. Percept Authentication Technologies is the group’s portfolio of brand protection additives.

PolyOne says that the product “draws from covert, overt and forensic techniques, enabling manufacturers to efficiently protect their products from counterfeiting or unauthorised distribution.” Services that come as part of the portfolio include an in-depth consultation and formulation process.

John Van Hulle, President of Global Color, Additives and Inks at PolyOne, said: “Percept technologies are the latest example of our commitment to our solutions-based approach focused on helping customers enhance their brand and grow their business. This highly customisable set of technologies was developed to help our customers protect market share and reduce risk.”

PolyOne sells its package with various services to inform choice, design, usage, process, product, and specification development. The group says that this can help shorten product development times and maintain quality levels for products that require positive identification.

Liability costs, customer complaints, legal action and other disruptive consequences can be avoided with the use of anti-counterfeiting additives.

The group lists a series of applications that could potentially benefit from investing in the Percept range, including: medical devices, prescription drug packaging, consumer electronics, apparel and footwear, aircraft parts, after-market automotive parts, consumer goods and toys.

This portfolio is commercially available in North America, Europe, and can be made available as part of a global program for manufacturing in Asia, says PolyOne. PolyOne Web: www.polyone.com

BMW, Johnson & Johnson to speak at Masterbatch 2014

proving to be a winning combination. We have developed strong relationships with processors in mainland Europe and this additional uptake is helping to drive our ongoing growth on a global scale.”

For customers outside the UK, the appointment of Mr Chiacchio will represent a significant support mechanism when purchasing and using Silvergate products.

“We appointed Giuseppe Chiacchio as Export Sales Manager to drive our growth strategy across Europe and into Asia and North Africa. He brings with him a wealth of expertise and experience that not only benefit Silvergate but the performance of the businesses within our growing international client base. He is able to offer support and guidance at all levels. Having a base in mainland Europe enables us to respond rapidly to the needs of customers operating throughout the continent and beyond. Of course, no matter where our customers are located globally, they will always have the continued support of our entire team here in the UK. This comprehensive support ensures we fulfil our customers’ needs effectively and efficiently.”

A key focus for the group, and one which aims to see continued growth 20 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

overseas and in the UK is the speed of delivery, as a result of the recently optimised manufacturing operation.

Further expansion will go hand-in-hand with further innovation. Bestall explains his long-term approach: “Our new infrastructure enables us to operate as a major force in the plastics supply chain.

Processors throughout Europe and beyond should recognise Silvergate as a responsive, dynamic and progressive organisation, and one that will go the extra mile to satisfy its customers’ exact requirements. Products like Optiblo, and other new ranges currently in development, continue to strengthen our competitive advantage and geographical spread, giving confidence to existing and prospective customers that we are a major player at the forefront of the masterbatch market. As a company committed to delivering performance enhancing products and orders regardless of size, customers can be assured Silvergate is passionate about supporting their needs no matter how complex or demanding.

Silvergate Plastics Web: www.silvergate.co.uk

Plastic industry research and publishing group AMI has announced details of its Masterbatch 2014 conference, which has attracted high profile speakers from major suppliers and OEMs. Confirmed speakers include Ms. Sophie Richter, Designer at BMW Group, Mr. Ahmed Habiba, Senior Marketing Manager at Johnson & Johnson, Mrs. Carola Seybold, Sales Director Pantone EMEA at X-Rite Pantone and Mr. David Hilton, Design Director at Motorcity Europe.

Other presentations will look at the latest trends in pigments and materials with a focus on adding value. The conference will also include updates on machinery with papers from Coperion, Leistritz Extrusionstechnick, F.LLI Maris and Gala Kunststoff und Kautschukmaschinen.

Additionally, a detailed analysis of the current European masterbatch market will come from AMI’s Research Director, Andrew Reynolds, who will be discussing the role and future of the masterbatch industry.

Furthermore, the conference will provide a networking opportunity with a table top exhibition area.

The event is sponsored by Columbian Chemicals Europa GmbH, Nubiola Inorganic Pigments, MCA Technologies GmbH and Gala Kunststoff- und Kautschukmaschinen GmbH. The full programme can be viewed on AMI's website.

AMI Conferences Web: www.amiconferences.com

EPPM 16_2_Layout 1 11/03/2014 10:26 Page 21

MATERIALS

Masterbatch & Additives

New additives launched for fibre optic cables Masterbatch manufacturer Colloids has released a new additive for use in blown fibre optic cables, which it has named ‘M PE ADDITIVE 15808’.

The techniques for blowing fibre optic cables have been evolving for over 30 years, given the commercial and technical advantages over older techniques of hauling or rodding (pulling or pushing).

During the early stages of an infrastructure project, bundled microducts (containing no optical fibres) are installed to all potential endcustomer premises. Later, fibre optic cables are blown along the microducts as appropriate for rapid connection at the customer end.

The lower the frictional behaviour of the ducting materials, the further the “single blow distance” — up to 1.5km is now common (in favourable conditions).

HDPE is mostly chosen for these ducts because of its relatively low coefficient of friction; when developing the new additive, Colloids examined systems to reduce the coefficient of friction even further. Co-extruded multi-layer tubes are preferred, since additives to modify frictional behaviour can be incorporated in the core layer and other additives in the outer layers. Among the additives evaluated by Colloids were: molybdenum disulphide, graphite, erucamide (a surface active polymer slip agent) and a high molecular weight polydimethylsiloxane.

The star diagram summarises

comparative data for these materials in terms of co-efficient of friction, cost, thermal stability and loss of material from surface abrasion.

Both molybdenum disulphide and graphite have the disadvantage of being dark coloured, particulate materials which under prolonged abrasion can liberate particles of additive from the polymer matrix. In practice both these candidates did prove to give a higher abrasive loss from the surface of moulded plaques than either the unmodified HDPE or the other two additives.

Whilst erucamide has the most beneficial effect on coefficient of friction, it is a migratory material and can therefore migrate both to the desired location on the inner wall of a microduct, but also in the opposite direction into other layers or components. Its migratory nature also means that it may become depleted from the polymer matrix after a period of some months.

The most promising candidate in Colloids’ studies was assessed to be the high molecular weight silicone additive, and Colloids’ product M PE ADDITIVE 15808 has been developed as a

consequence of this study. M PE ADDITIVE 15808 is a concentrated predispersion in PE carrier system and is designed to be diluted during the duct extrusion process using an addition level of 3-5%.

Colloids will also use the system in custom formulated compounds where ducting customers may have their own particular preference for a HDPE base resin or require a ready-to-use pelletised material.

Colloids Web: www.colloids.co.uk

Optiblo

™

Optiblo™ brings dynamic improvement to blow moulding processes • • • • • •

Enhances pigment dispersion Improves uniformity and dimensional stability Increases output and operates at lower temperatures Improves surface finish Significant reduction to cycle times Eliminates die lines

For more information, please contact us: t: +44 (0)1978 661496 e: info@silvergate.co.uk

MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 21

MATERIALS

News

Lexan makes laboratory flask “virtually unbreakable”

Bio-based polyamide range gets extrusion grade

TriForest Labware, a moulder of laboratory equipment, has developed a polycarbonate 3L Fernbach flask that the company says is “virtually unbreakable” as a result of SABIC’s Lexan HP grade.

The flask is said to be the first of its size to be made via injection blow moulding.

For the end-user, the flask is being marketed for improved productivity during the culture sampling process.

Other plastic flasks of this size are extrusion blow moulded, however, using Lexan HP allowed for thicker walls and enhanced optical clarity, enabling realtime sample measurement similar to glass.

“Developing innovative solutions that can improve safety and efficiency in laboratory environments is increasingly important to the healthcare industry, enabling reduced costs and faster results. Working with TriForest Labware, we were able to develop a solution that helps answer these challenges, offering a meaningful alternative to traditional materials, which helps lab technicians culture samples with reduced risk of injury and enhanced ability to achieve real-time results. SABIC is committed to collaborating with OEMs to develop innovative technologies aimed at solving pertinent industry challenges,” said Cathleen Hess, Director of Healthcare Marketing for SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business.

“We’ve had a long and successful

DSM has added a higher viscosity extrusion grade to its portfolio of EcoPaXX polyamide 410 for the film, fibre and monofilament markets. The polymer is already available as an injection moulding grade.

Kees Tintel, Business Manager EcoPaXX said: “The successful development of EcoPaXX is a clear example of DSM’s commitment to sustainability. Following its market introduction and subsequent development and commercialisation of applications, DSM has now increased its polymer production to full industrial scale.

Moreover, the production can be expanded further, allowing DSM to fully meet customer demands.”

DSM started to develop EcoPaXX, a biobased polyamide 410 product range, in 2009 — it first came to market in 2010.

Currently, EcoPaXX is used in covers for turbo engines by Daimler, BMW and Bentley, due to its high temperature resistance, dimensional stability and high quality surface properties. VW selected EcoPaXX for use in one of its latest engines for a crankshaft cover, where heat- and chemical–resistance, together with dimensional stability are key requirements. Because of the good fuel

Velox to offer ‘Leona’ polyamide grades in Europe Materials distributor Velox has added a new line to its offering from Asahi Kasei Plastics. Leona 90G & 91G Series (polyamide 6/6+6i) resins are based on partially aromatic polyamide copolymers.

The grades are designed for visual stability, high modulus (>19 GPa) and minimal isotropic shrinkage whilst maintaining dimensional accuracy and low post-mould warpage. They are also said to display strong weatherability and vibration-dampening characteristics.

The 90G Series is a glass fibre-reinforced material, whereas the 91G Series is glass fibre and mineral-reinforced. The 90G Series allows processing at low mould temperatures (90°C) while enabling quality finishes, easy colourability and good flow characteristics even when manufacturing thin-walled, complex parts, claims Velox.

The group says that Leona 90G compounds are UV-stable and provide mechanical stability even in a conditioned state.

For potable water applications, Leona has the KTW, WRAS, ACS and W 270 approvals. For hot water applications it is approved to WRAS. Asahi Kasei Plastics developed Leona resin with 60% glass-fibre reinforcement specifically for the Ford Motor Company in 2012, when it was designing longer register vanes. Velox says that the grade met the firm’s requirements for high strength and high modulus, while at the same time providing the finished part with strong aesthetics, despite the considerable glass-fibre content.

Velox Web: www.velox.com 22 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

relationship with SABIC, and through our collaborative development process, we were able to identify a technology that would bring significant advantages to the healthcare industry and meet the rigorous needs of our customers,” said Syed Rehan, VicePresident, TriForest Labware. “Without the exceptional properties provided by Lexan HP resin – optical clarity, impact resistance and the ability to be injection blow moulded – we would not have been able to make this 3L Fernbach flask.”

SABIC www.sabic.com

resistance of EcoPaXX, it is used in a number of fuel contact applications.

DSM says that EcoPaXX is also extremely resistant to polar media, such as cooling liquids.

In building and construction, EcoPaXX has been used in insulating profiles for aluminium windows. Its bio-based characteristics combined with its high temperature resistance makes it suitable for in-line powder coating at 200˚C. In the sports and leisure industry, where stiffness combined with toughness and/or bend recovery are often key requirements, EcoPaXX has been used in ski- and/or snowboard–bindings and other winter sports applications.

DSM Web: www.dsm.com

New rubber grades designed with ‘microstructure’ Styron has launched two new grades in its Sprintan portfolio for tyre manufacture.

Sprintan SLR 3402 and SLR 4502 are aimed at improved performance at lowtemperatures, and feature a ‘microstructure’.

The products are said to display the same features as other Sprintan grades, namely low rolling resistance, as well as reduced stiffness at low temperatures, boosting snow grip potential in winter tread applications. Both can be blended with other polymers.

For Ultra High Performance (UHP) car tread, Sprintan SLR 4502 and 3402 can be applied to partially replace high-Tg SSBR and BR, claims Styron. They offer reductions in rolling resistance due to a ‘functionalisation technology’ which

works with silica as well as with carbon black fillers.

Olivier Veron, Marketing Manager of Styron’s Rubber Business said: “The microstructure of these new grades clearly differentiates them from our existing rubber portfolio and can be positioned as best-in-class among our products of non-oil extended grades. Styron is committed to innovate and develop tyre solutions by working closely with our customers who are a source of inspiration on a daily basis. Forging ahead, we will continue to partner with customers to design next generation rubber products and technology that will help them upgrade their tyre line to address future trends and global regulatory standards.”

Styron Web: www.styron.com

Distributor adds Coathylene masterbatch powders to portfolio Axalta Polymer Powders and Velox GmbH have extended their distribution agreement of powders for composite to include powders for masterbatch production and rubber and plastic compounding. Demand across Europe for Coathylene products continues to grow, says Velox.

Axalta’s Coathylene range offers thermoplastic powders in different particle sizes from various types of polymer: LDPE, HDPE, PP, EVA, PS, EEAMA and EVA. These materials are mainly used as a carrier resin for masterbatch applications, as well in compounding as processing aids for tacky polymers.

The fine particle size, surface-area ratio and surface structure of Coathylene thermoplastic powders result in even

dispersion of additives and pigments, leading to efficiency of resources and lower mechanical abrasion on extruders and film lines.

In addition, Coathylene thermoplastics display non-sticking properties when the powders are used to make anticaking additives, and are compatible with an extensive range of polymers including EPDM. Velox says that other benefits include the anti-bloom effect and outstanding transparency of the final product.

The majority of Coathylene products are approved for food use and specific types are homologated for potable water contact. Coathylene is Axalta Polymer Powders’ trade name for its range of fine thermoplastic powders and specialty additives.

Velox GmbH Web: www.velox.com Axalta Polymer Powders Web: www.axaltacoatingsystems.com

APPLICATIONS

Construction & Infrastructure

Lightening the load beside the road

with recycled-content

KERBSTONES Case Study Econpro Ltd was established in 2007 to focus on the development of environmentally sustainable construction products to help tackle the problem of plastics waste destined for landfill. It was founded by entrepreneur and inventor Phil Sutton, who had identified that there was an opportunity to manufacture a kerbstone system from reprocessed polymers that would have the potential to replace concrete kerbstones.

His idea lead to the development of Durakerb, a lightweight and environmentally friendly kerbstone that is also compliant with Health and Safety guidelines for the manual handling of kerbstones.

Manufactured from a blend of recycled polymers, the kerbstone has been designed to be extremely lightweight yet it is still able to withstand extreme compressive loads. It weighs less than 6kg, compared to the 67kg of its concrete equivalent.

Sourcing raw materials To take his design from a research project to a finished product, Phil Sutton needed to find a technical compounder that could not only engineer sustainable compounds to his design specifications, but could also could be relied on to guarantee continuity of supply.

He approached UK-based Luxus, as it was able to offer the product testing and analysis required to engineer the reprocessed polyolefins needed for the development of his highly sustainable design, via the use of Luxus’ in-house Technical Centre.

Testing and analysis The reprocessed thermoplastics specified would need to ensure that the final product can withstand not only heavy truck loads but extremes in temperature too. Up to 260 degrees for example, would be experienced during the laying of bituminous materials and very low winter temperatures once the kerbstone is in-situ without becoming brittle on impact. The materials used would also need to be UV stable to guarantee a consistent appearance for the product’s lifespan.

Luxus technicians began by analysing the critical parameters for the product; for example they used standard Izod tests to assess the strength of the thermoplastic polyolefin alloys being

“

Manufactured from a blend of recycled polymers, the kerbstone has been designed to be extremely lightweight yet it is still able to withstand extreme compressive loads.

”

used. This allowed the team to test the material’s critical impact qualities.

They were also required to agree the material specification for the initial moulding stage. The team used melt flow index (MFI) testing to check the sample’s viscosity while still retaining sufficient mechanical strength needed for the product in use. In this instance there were four points of injection into the kerb mould, so the polymer would need to flow through the mould tool to prevent weld lines (weak points) in the material appearing.

It took a total of 12 months for Luxus technicians together with EconPro’s design team to develop the specific compound needed to produce this product. As a result, Durakerb is made from a blend of 88% HDPE and PP recyclate with chalk filler, so it is fully recyclable and, most importantly, it is carbon neutral too.

Overall product design Durakerb’s stability is ensured thanks to a flange integrated into the bottom face of the kerbstone. So the natural ingress

Continued on page 24

MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 23

APPLICATIONS

Construction & Infrastructure

Continued from page 23

of concrete up into the cellular chambers of the Durakerb during installation means it is extremely stable when laid.

Econpro conducted tests where HGVs were driven at speed at the Durakerb to simulate worst case impact conditions.

Despite repeated impacts, it always remained intact.

of a British or European standard for plastic kerbs, fitness-for-purpose testing was undertaken by the British Board of Agrément, (BBA) with approval from the HITAC panel to allow the Durakerb to gain the coveted Highways Authority Product Approval Scheme, (HAPAS) certification.

Industry approval Having developed the product, it then required certification and in the absence

Product benefits of Durakerb Its lightweight design offers a broad range of benefits: • The kerbs are easy to store and transport without the use of heavy goods vehicles. While for operatives, it’s possible to quickly position and lay the kerbs without mechanical handling.

• Durakerb is therefore a good solution where the health and safety risk assessment does not permit the use of handling equipment: for example, where there is an uneven surface or where the risk of traffic accidents is too high.

• Its use prevents repetitive strain injury, complying with the guidelines laid out in the Health and Safety Executive’s manual handling assessment charts.

• Durakerb removes the ever present temptation of installers to

eco conscious developers and local authorities with over 300,000 units installed since its launch. breach the manual handling guidelines, thereby removing the potential open ended exposure to expensive and time consuming litigation and prosecution.

Durakerb today The product is manufactured by Econpro in Kings Lynn, Norfolk and distributed under licence by Aggregate Industries Plc in the UK. It is also distributed under licence in Ireland by Durakerb Ireland, a wholly owned Irish company. Since 2009, the range of Durakerb products has expanded to include low kerbs for entranceways and a range of radi.

Durakerb has found its own market with

Future With the construction industry returning to a period of growth once again this year, Econpro has completed work on a new combined kerb and drainage system called Duradrain. This enables Econpro to provide specifiers with the complete product offering for its kerb system.

Luxus Web: www.luxus.co.uk Econpro Ltd Web: www.econpro.co.uk

Dow Styrofoam to switch to HBCD FR alternative Following the announcement that Dow Building Solutions has completed the conversion of its three Styrofoam extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam plants in Japan to new Polymeric Flame Retardant (PolyFR) technology, the group has announced that other regions around the world will follow suit.

“The new product has been extensively tested and has proven to maintain its flame retardant performance while having a more sustainable profile,” said Takahiro Sugiyama, President of Dow Kakoh, a joint venture of Dow Building Solutions.

“We have made the new PolyFR containing product available to customers in commercial quantities in order for the construction industry to meet the Japanese regulations banning the use of the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) as of May 2014.”

Dow Building Solutions will convert all of its Styrofoam XPS foam plants in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Japan to the new PolyFR technology.

The phased process is part of Dow’s strategy to make the global change whilst not impacting on availability.

“This allows for a controlled conversion process that meets our quality requirements in every region and at the same time ensures product availability meeting global regulatory demands,” said Inken Beulich, Research & Development Director for Dow Building Solutions Europe and Project Leader for the new PolyFR. In September 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) released a draft report on alternatives for the flame retardant HBCD. The agency presented the findings in the report to help manufacturers identify safer alternatives to the use of HBCD in polystyrene building insulation. In the report, the EPA states that “the butadiene styrene brominated copolymer is anticipated to be safer than HBCD.” Dow introduced PolyFR back in 2011.

The group claims that the substance is

“stable, high molecular weight, non-PBT (persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic)”.

It was developed as a more sustainable fire safety additive for XPS and EPS foams.

The new PolyFR technology has received a number of business innovation awards including the 2012 R&D 100 Award, the 4th Annual Michigan Green Chemistry Governor’s Award, and the 2012 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Runners-up Award in the ‘Materials and Other Base Technologies’ category.

Dow has made the PolyFR technology available to the global extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam insulation industry through three manufacturing and marketing licensees. The

international licensees, Chemtura (Emerald Innovation 3000), ICL (FR122P) and Albemarle (GreenCrest), have built commercial production capacity for the new polymeric flame retardant amounting to more than 14,000 MT at the end of 2013 which will be expanded to more than 25,000 MT by the end of 2014.

Dow Web: www.dow.com

Custom PA6 developed for reflective motorway studs UK-based manufacturer Thomas Dudley Ltd recently developed the “Click Stud” – a reflective road stud for use on highways. Albis UK has announced that it worked with the group to develop the bespoke glass fibre-filled PA6 used in the application.

The Click Stud incorporates a special patented fixing system, which allows for rapid removal and replacement of the reflector in-situ in the road surface with minimum cost to the road operator and disruption to traffic, providing a low cost solution to maintenance of road stud reflectors.

Albis has developed a thermoplastic compound which it claims meets the demanding requirements for this 24 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

application. The distributor and compounder also provided assistance in the design of the Click Stud cassette, to help ensure its easy removal in-situ. The compound needed to retain required impact at low temperatures and maintain performance in all weathers, have long term UV resistance and withstand the rigours of heavy traffic use. A specially formulated Altech glass fibre-filled polyamide 6 was developed and this was moulded and placed on long term test on a section of the M4 motorway in the UK. These tests were recently completed and Albis has announced that the product passed, meeting with Highway Agency and TSRGD Regulations.

Tony Evans, Product Manager for Altech at ALBIS UK, said: “This was a very challenging brief and working in close cooperation with Thomas Dudley we were able to provide an excellent solution with Altech enabling the many benefits of the Click Stud product to be realised.”

Albis UK Ltd. Web: www.albis.com

APPLICATIONS

Construction & Infrastructure

Smarter, lighter photovoltaics given green light in Europe A European consortium led by Tulipps B.V. (the parent group of photovoltaic specialist Tulipps Solar B.V.) has been approved for €4m in funding from the European Commission to build and validate smart, lightweight PV modules.

These modules are designed to tackle long-standing issues with conventional modules, which can be extremely heavy and with limited options for dimensions, are often difficult to install in certain positions.

To tackle the issues, the consortium has launched a project named ‘Summit’, the aim of which is to develop a more durable, energy efficient, lighter weight, lower cost PV module platform that can be used for sloped or flat roofs and as building cladding.

As one of several projects backed by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the consortium says it has agreed on three key goals to achieve. These are: “Innovative designs for large, lightweight PV modules with back-contact cells for flat roofs, as well as dimensionally adaptable modules (available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes) for use as cladding or on pitched roofs for building-integrated PV (BIPV) and

building-applied PV (BAPV) applications.”

“Utilisation of durable, 2-mm thin-glass PV laminate with greater break resistance as well as improved transmission efficiency.”

“Smart-module power management for higher energy generation that is less prone to power drop off even under nonideal local conditions (e.g. shading).”

During the next three years, Summit consortium members will aim to demonstrate plausability for manufacturing the PV-module concepts, and applicability to various types of PV applications.

Paul Stassen, Consortium Leader and Tulipps B.V. Founder and CEO, said: “The really exciting thing about this project is that we have brought together the best partners representing the most innovative PV module technologies currently available. This consortium represents the entire module supply chain, from upstream equipment suppliers, to downstream engineering/procurement/construction (EPC) firms, and even testing/certification organisations. Working together, we will

integrate all these leading-edge technologies into a single multifunctional module platform that provides a remarkable combination of value-added features that have never been packaged together before. We are going to demonstrate just how valuable and powerful that combination is in a number of public demonstration projects over the next few years.”

Key members of the consortium include: Eurotron B.V., Femtogrid Energy Solutions, Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology, IBC-Solar B.V., Kiwa Italy S.p.A., Rimas Technology Group B.V., TE Connectivity Nederland B.V., Uniresearch B.V. and Yparex B.V..

Tulipps B.V. Web: www.tulipps.com

“Fully-compostable” WPCs enter the market German composites specialist Jelu claims to have developed a fully compostable biocomposite for industrial processing. The new material, which is made from polylactides (PLA) and wood fibres is a wood plastic composite (WPC), which can be recycled in composting plants. The group says that it is suitable for injection moulding and extrusion on conventional plastics processing machines.

Jelu says that it compounds PLA with wood fibres to form a homogeneous material that consists of 100% renewable resources. In its basic blend, the compound contains 40% PLA and 60%

wood fibres. The material is granulated, as the processing of granulates makes it possible to create extremely homogeneous end products. The WPC granulate reportedly demonstrates consistent running properties on the machine, facilitating a higher output.

Compounding also gives the biocomposite a higher density, improving the properties of the material. As a result, products have greater strength and stiffness.

Jelu only uses fibres obtained from selected woods that have specifically defined properties. Only processed fibres that meet certain criteria, such as having

a fixed grain size and being of the same type of wood, are used. This is supposed to allow the group to set the biocomposite’s physical and mechanical properties to specific values. By using additives, the characteristics can be varied and adjusted to individual applications. Jelu biocomposites meet with German standards for use in foods and toys. Wood-plastic composites are typically used in construction applications such as extruded profile decking.

Jelu Web: www.jeluplast.com

Spanish collaboration develops durable asphalt from recycled plastic of Cantabria. The asphalt is made using end-of-use tyres, polypropylene caps, polyethylene packaging and polystyrene hangers. The mix has been used to pave a 2km long M-300 section road at access points to Alcalá de Henares, Madrid.

After studying the performance of the asphalted section road over the last 18 months, the partners of the project, which has been named ‘Polymix’ have concluded that new asphalt mixes comply with the requirements established in the technical specifications to build roads. The findings also reportedly indicate that mixes which use polymer waste in their compositions are more resistant to plastic deformation than traditional mixes. This The results of the rolling test show that Polymix mixes allows mixes to perform significantly increase resistance to plastic deformation, in much better when cracks contrast to the reference mix. In the case of PP, Polymix appear, especially with mixes almost doubled the result.

AIMPLAS (Technological Institute of Plastics), in collaboration with the construction firm Acciona Infraestructuras, the Road General Directorate of Madrid Community, has developed a new, durable and sustainable asphalt mix which incorporates plastic waste, as the result of a project coordinated by the University

high temperatures and slow moving traffic.

According to AIMPLAS, increased rigidity without compromising the fatigue behavior of the mixes was another result of the trials. These mechanical properties convert Polymix mixes in a rolling layer which carries a higher traffic load and improves the structural capacity of pavement, states the group.

AIMPLAS highlights that in the case of end-of-use tyres and polypropylene, the mixes can be manufactured with lower

thicknesses due to their improved properties, lowering the cost of production.

The results of the Polymix project, financed by European Funds through the Life+ Program, have been confirmed via a series of monitoring tests carried out by the CEDEX (Centro de Experimentación de Obras Públicas), of Ministerio de Fomento.

AIMPLAS Web: www.aimplas.es MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 25

INDUSTRY

Article

RECYCLING BODY PUBLISHES CLAIM THAT “BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC BAGS ARE A MYTH”

Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE), a representative body for Europe’s recyclers, has published on its website a recent claim that “biodegradable plastic bags are a myth”. The original claim was made during a public hearing on plastic carrier bags organised by the by The Greens/European Free Alliance Group in the European Parliament on February 19th. The claim was made by Professor Richard Thomson, who works for the School of Marine Science and Engineering at Plymouth University in the UK. However, the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association (OPA), has since issued an objection to the public hearing, stating that: “Advocates of biobased plastics had ample opportunity to speak, but neither the OPA nor any member of the oxo-biodegradable plastics industry had been invited to provide a speaker.”

During the workshop Ton Emans, PRE President, claimed that as little as 2% degradable material in the recycling stream is enough to create quality problems for recyclers.

26 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

Reference was made to a study commissioned last year by European Plastics Converters (EuPC), where industrial scale tests were performed on PE films produced with recyclates. This independent study is said to demonstrate “problems caused by degradable materials in the actual recycling streams”.

Professor Richard Thomson made the claim that biodegradable bags are a myth, and discussed the importance of re-use and recycling in order to reduce littering. Other panel speakers expressed concerns that degradable material has to degrade in a defined period of time, which they say means that the material poses “a large threat for this period and this is environmentally unacceptable and creates confusion amongst consumers.”

The opposing statement from the OPA includes a copy of a letter sent to MEP Margarete Auken, by Michael Stephen, Chairman of the OPA itself. Mr Stephen is also Deputy Chairman of Symphony Environmental Technologies, a firm which specialises in oxo-biodegradable

additive technologies, amongst others.

The letter expresses concern that the OPA was not invited to contribute to the discussion. It highlights what the group describes as a degree of “ignorance, misinformation, irrelevance and emotional argument”, particularly with regards to distinguishing between compostable plastics and oxobiodegradable plastics.

The letter continues: “Professor Thompson is not a polymer scientist, and is in no position to make statements on the composition and characteristics of polymers. The plastic fragments found in the oceans, and ingested by birds and fish, are fragments of old-fashioned plastics. They are not fragments of oxobiodegradable plastics which have degraded.”

On the subject of the above-mentioned EuPC study, the letter refers to findings from an earlier study, which has since been reviewed by the original laboratory in the wake of the EuPC report. “We were aware of concerns expressed by recyclers, so the oxo-bio industry identified an expert laboratory and asked

them for a report. Extensive tests were carried out by Roediger Laboratories who reported on 21st May 2012 that ‘Plastic products made with oxobiodegradable technology may be recycled without any significant detriment to the newly formed recycled product.’ Roediger Laboratories examined the TCKT report [commissioned by the EuPC] and reported on 5th December 2013 that biobased could not be recycled but they had no reason to change their opinion on oxo-bio.”

Plastics Recyclers Europe says that its members constitute 80% of the European recycling capacity.

The OPA says it has 1,258 members worldwide, comprised of manufacturers, distributors, importers, exporters and commercial end-users.

Plastic Recyclers Europe Web: www.plasticsrecyclers.eu Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association Web: www.biodeg.org

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British Plastics & Rubber named headline media partner for Interplas Interplas 2014, the UK's largest plastics exhibition has announced that British Plastics and Rubber (BP&R) will be the headline media partner for the trade show.

BP&R is the leading publication for polymer processors in the UK. The magazine is a long-running, highly respected title, which covers all aspects of the plastics and rubber industries. It publishes a broad mix of highly technical articles and features, as well as important industry news and updates through both print and digital media.

Organised by Rapid News Communications Group, which took over Interplas in 2011, this year's show will be hosted once again by the NEC, Birmingham, UK, and will run from September 30th to October 2nd. Visitor numbers are set to exceed 12,000, with more than 400 exhibitors taking their place among some of the biggest names in the industry for the triennial event.

Leanne Taylor, Editor of BP&R said: “As the headline magazine and media partner for Interplas, BP&R will be covering the event in its entirety, from pre-show build-up to last day stand break-downs, making sure we capture the buzz that surrounds the revitalised event. Integration with the UK’s largest plastics industry exhibition means BP&R

is seamlessly involved with the only event to cover all of the manufacturing processes, technologies and services within the plastics industry and, accordingly, will be reporting on the impressive line-up of major companies who are set to exhibit the very latest technology, machinery and innovation to a voracious audience.”

2014's outing will see some of the industry’s top figures lined up to present on some of the most thought-provoking

and relevant topics in the seminar sessions, meaning the show will be a hive of business activity on the stands as well as in the auditoriums. This platform will be complemented by a range of invaluable technology sessions for both newcomers and experienced attendees.

Taylor continued: “Interplas 2014 is set to play host to some renowned industry thought leaders and influencers who will present the latest thinking, as well as stimulate lively discussion, on some of

the most pressing and current topics relevant to the plastics industry. BP&R will be extending this coverage as a vehicle to carry interviews and articles to give audiences a taste of what is to come at the show.”

British Plastics & Rubber Web: www.britishplastics.co.uk Interplas 2014 Web: www.interplasuk.com

SPE ANTEC Dubai inspires further conference plans The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) ANTEC Dubai 2014 technical conference concluded on a note of optimism for SPE’s strategy of taking its plastics educational program global.

Co-organised by SPE’s Middle East Section and supported by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), ANTEC Dubai attracted 170 attendees to a program that included more than 60 original peerreviewed technical presentations as well as workshops on injection moulding and thermoforming. Keynote speakers delivering plenary addresses included Dr. Hoshiar Molod of Tasnee Petrochemicals; Dr. Abdulwahab AlSadoun, Secretary General of the GPCA; Mr. Geert Haentjens, Director at Mattex

Dubai, LLC; and William R. (Bill) Carteaux, President and CEO of USbased SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association.

The event was the first SPE ANTEC to take place in the region, noted Dr. Raed Al-Zu’bi, Chairman of the Conference and President of SPE’s Middle East Section. “Holding this inaugural conference in Dubai underscores not only the importance of the Gulf States region for our industry but also SPE’s commitment to bring qualified knowledge and networking opportunities to the plastics community around the globe.”

SPE will continue to expand its conference brand internationally, according to SPE CEO Willem (Wim) De

Vos. “In December we will hold our second ANTEC Mumbai in India, extending it to three days after our successful 2012 event there and anticipating more than 500 attendees,” said Mr. De Vos. “And there are plans to take the ANTEC conference to Latin America and China in subsequent years.”

SPE will also continue to produce its annual ANTEC conference in the US — the largest plastics technical conference in the world. The next conference takes place April 28-30, 2014 in Las Vegas, with 600 confirmed

Husky announces global medical and packaging units Husky Injection Molding Systems has announced structural and organisational changes to spin out dedicated business units for the medical and packaging markets. Following the recent acquisition of Schöttli, a medical and closure mould maker, the group has made the decision to concentrate more closely on the two key markets.

Steve Lawrynuik, formerly Vice President, Customer Support, will lead this new area of the business as Vice President, Medical and Packaging Systems. This new business unit will align Schöttli with Husky’s speciality mould making facilities in Austria and the Czech Republic, as well as aftermarket tooling and services, and the ‘Hylectric’ platform.

Michael Urquhart, Husky’s Vice President Global Sales retired at the end of February. Michael joined Husky in 1980 28 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

and has held a number of senior positions in operations, marketing and sales with the group.

“I would like to thank Michael for his dedication and numerous contributions to Husky over these many years. He has helped to grow and shape the company and the legacy of his contributions will be felt long after his departure,” said John Galt, Husky’s President and CEO. “I wish Michael well in his retirement, while also congratulating Steve on his new role. The creation of a dedicated medical and specialty packaging business will allow Husky to provide greater focus on these core markets and offer customers a complete solution, including mould, machine, hot runners, controllers and aftermarket services.”

Husky Web: www.husky.co

speakers and 2,000 anticipated attendees.

SPE www.4spe.org

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How to rotomould a lampshade by riding a bike Mark Colliass a UK student at Nottingham Trent University, has developed a sustainable rotational moulding rig — which allows people to create their own lampshades by riding a bicycle. The project was developed to make a statement about throwaway culture.

The 23-year-old’s invention — which rotates a lampshade mould when fitted to the front wheel of an ordinary bicycle – involves people in the manufacturing process, the idea being that the item should be more meaningful to the owner.

The design will go on show at Nottingham Trent University’s exhibition ‘Magic Light’, which is being launched for Nottingham Light Night on 28 February.

For Mark’s invention to work, users pour jesmonite, a bio resin, into the lampshade mould and add a colourant of their choice. The mould is then placed into the rig and when the user starts to cycle the mould rotates.

The centrifugal force which is produced creates a hollow cylinder out of the jesmonite. And after 40 minutes of cycling, the jesmonite sets in the shape of a lampshade.

“The feeling of taking the lampshade out of the mould is the best experience, when you realise it has worked,” said Mark.

“You definitely have this kind of personal attachment to it which you don’t get with other objects.

“It also alters the experience of the bike ride, as you connect the bike ride and the product together.”

Users can add different layers of colour to the lampshade by repeating the process once the previous mould has set.

“People can tailor it to how they want it to look,” added Mark, who is now looking to take the project further as part of his studies.

“It’s about trying to tackle the idea of a disposable generation. We’ve become very materialistic as it’s easy to dispose of things and replace them.

“The hope is that by enabling people to make their own lampshades, and by making that process fun and easy to do, they’ll grow more attached to it and be less likely to want to throw it away.”

Magic Light will showcase up to 40 lamps with a DH Lawrence theme that

have been made by students from the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment.

The exhibition is one of a number of activities which celebrate the 170years since the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design, the origin of art and design education in Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University.

Alan Crisp, head of product design in the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, said: “We’re really excited by our students’ work and think Magic Light will make for a fantastic exhibition.

“We’re very keen for members of the public to come along and see just how creative our students are, and to learn

more about the magnificent creative heritage that this city and our university has.”

Nottingham Trent University Web: www.ntu.ac.uk

German machinery exports approaching record levels Germany’s plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers ended 2013 with sales down by 1%. As a result, turnover in the plastics machinery sector fell slightly short of the most recent record of €6.5 billion. However, in the period to November 2013, German exports were 4.1% above the previous year’s level, taking them close to a new record of around €4.6 billion euro. This pushes the export ratio above 70%, says VDMA, the German Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association, the group behind the market survey.

“Our top sales markets are proving very

strong. China is more than making up for last year’s dip in growth and the US is also growing faster than average. The major South Asian markets – India, Indonesia and Thailand – are experiencing a pause in growth. Within the EU, our members’ reports confirm the rates of growth in exports to Italy, Spain and Portugal,” said Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chairman of the VDMA. “For the year as a whole, incoming orders exactly matched the previous year’s total, albeit with a rising trend.

As far as domestic orders were concerned, there was ground to be

made up throughout the year,” said Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of the Association. “Demand from abroad on the other hand stabilised, especially in the second half of the year. It is pleasing to note in this context that the rate of growth in orders from euro area countries accelerated sharply,” he added.

“The result for the year is largely in line with our forecast,” said Ulrich Reifenhäuser. “At K 2013 we predicted that the industry’s sales would be marginally below the 2012 level.”

The half-yearly survey of economic trends conducted among the

Association’s members shows a great deal of optimism going in to 2014.

Demand for plastics and rubber machinery picked up in the second half of 2013, and early demand from Europe and North America since the start of 2014 is “very favourable” said the VDMA. There is confidence in the German market and renewed growth is also expected for Latin America. “Based on Association forecasts, sales are set to grow by 6% to 6.9 billion euro in 2014,” said Reifenhäuser.

company’s corporate identity have been brought in line with the new machine design. “This brand refresh is having a positive impact on our bottom line: we’re seeing a strong uptick in interest in our

products,” said Gerold Schley, Managing Director, Ferromatik Milacron.

VDMA Web: www.vdma.org/en

Ferromatik Milacron machines receive design accolade Ferromatik Milacron’s F-Series and Elektron injection moulding machines have won Germany’s presitigious iF Product Design Award in the industry/skilled trades category, from a field of 3,249 entries. The criteria for selecting the winner included innovation, environmental impact, functionality, and brand-value.

In collaboration with defortec, a leading industrial design house in Germany, Ferromatik developed the distinctive visual concept for its new machines three years ago. New models feature red ‘fins’ on the clamping and injection units, which Ferromatik says “communicate dynamics and performance”. The bold 30 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

horizontal grey band wrapping the machines has also become synonymous with Ferromatik designs.

“The new design creates strong brand recognition for our products and has contributed to the renewal of our image and a new phase of growth for the company,” said Thorsten Thümen, Director of Research and Development, Ferromatik Milacron.

Over the course of the past three years, tradeshow appearances and the

Ferromatik Milacron Web: www.ferromatik.com

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New man at the top for Engel Scandinavia Engel has appointed a new Managing Director for Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Having previously held the position of Managing Director at a plastic processing company specialising in cleanroom production, Jens Thor Hansen has gained extensive experience in his field over the last six years.

Hansen, 49, has worked in management positions for medical technology and raw material companies for 25 years.

“Medical technology is one of our important growth markets in Scandinavia, and we will benefit hugely from Mr Hansen's experience”, said Dr Christoph Steger, CSO Engel Holding GmbH, Austria. “In addition to this, our continued growth in Scandinavia depends to a great extent on providing efficient solutions for innovative applications. And this is precisely Engel's strength, as well as that of the Scandinavian industry.”

Ralf Godbey, former Managing Director of Engel in Scandinavia left the group at the end of 2013. “We thank Mr Godbey

for his great commitment in the past few years”, said Steger.

“Under his leadership, Engel gained a strong foothold in Northern Europe.

Based on Jens Thor Hansen, the new where we are Managing Director for already, I am Engel Scandinavia convinced that we will be able to solidify our market presence in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.”

Engel is represented by subsidiaries in Solrød Strand, Denmark, and Jönköping, Sweden, as well as a sales and service office in Hobøl near Oslo, Norway.

Engel Web: www.engelglobal.com

UK Announcement: Biesterfeld Petroplas polymer stolen from warehouse On the weekend of 22-23 February 2014 approximately 500 tonnes of Marlex branded high density polyethylene (HDPE) packed in 25 kg bags was stolen from one of Biesterfeld Petroplas' third party contractor’s warehouses in the North West of England. The targeted grades were 5502BN, 50100 and TR131. These resins are used to manufacture bottles, film, pipe and sheet. The producer is CPChem. The material is fully traceable via batch numbers and analysis.

Any company or individual found handling this stolen resin will be prosecuted, states the distributor.

Biesterfeld Petroplas is the only authorised distributor for this material in Great Britain. Anyone offered Marlex product from an unauthorised source or who has knowledge about the theft or whereabouts of the stolen Marlex should report the matter immediately to the Police.

A reward of up to £50,000.00 is being offered entirely without prejudice and

subject to the usual conditions payable for information given leading to recovery of the stolen polymer. All information should be provided directly to the police on the telephone number below.

Biesterfeld Petroplas says that no disruption to its customers is anticipated at this stage as supplies will be available from the group's other warehouses.

Anyone with any information is urged to call Cheshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 104 of 24 February.

Information can also be left anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.

If you need to broadcast important announcements, EPPM in print and online (eppm.com) can help. Please contact the editor, David Gray, on david.g@rapidnews.com, or call +44 (0)1244 680222.

Biesterfeld Petroplas Web: www.biesterfeld-plastic.com

Elasto expands medical business in German-speaking countries Elasto Sweden, a medical TPE specialist, has opened an office in Belgium to “support growing demand for its Mediprene TPE compounds”. Elasto Sweden is part of the Hexpol TPE family and operates the group’s centre of excellence for thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) for medical applications.

“High quality materials, produced under consistent conditions with a strict raw material selection policy, all backed by specialist technical support, this is what we’ve built our medical strategy on,” said Niklas Ottosson, Medical Technical Manager at Elasto.

“We have a team of development engineers, production operators, quality assurance and account managers dedicated to our medical customers.

Our strong heritage in this sector gives us a comprehensive understanding of medical device regulations and requirements, such as; traceability, reproducibility and formulation stability” said Dr Kjell Fagerström, Managing Director at Elasto Sweden.

“We have now added to this resource with the appointment of Guido Heinen as Key Account Manager – medical. Guido comes to us with nine years’ experience

in the polymer industry. He speaks German, French, English, Dutch and Spanish. Our new office and team in Belgium will give our medical customers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Benelux local support when and where they need it” said Fagerström.

Elasto Sweden began working with a number of international OEMs on TPEs for medical applications over 20 years ago. Since then the group has seen year on year growth of its medical sales under the Mediprene product brand. It was the first European TPE compounder to achieve ISO 13485 accreditation in

2007. Mediprene thermoplastic elastomers for medical device applications are sterilizable with gamma, EtO and steam and representative grades have passed cytotoxicity tests according to ISO 10993-5 and biocompatibility tests according to USP Class VI. Mediprene thermoplastic elastomers are PVC, silicone and latex free, making them allergen free and a viable alternative to PVC based compounds.

Elasto Sweden Web: www.hexpoltpe.com

Styron doubles SSBR output with JSR acquisition Styron has announced that it will be doubling its Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SSBR) production capacity, after reaching an agreement with material supplier JSR to acquire its current production capacity rights at Styron’s world-scale rubber production hub in Schkopau, Germany. SSBR is used in the production of high performance tyres and green tyres with lower rolling resistance.

Styron’s Schkopau production site

currently hosts eight world-scale rubber trains. Prior to this agreement, JSR held the capacity rights to 50% of one of Styron’s three SSBR production trains in Schkopau. As a result, as of April 1, 2014 Styron will have full capacity rights to the train. Styron says that the move forms part of its plan to expand on its current rubber offering.

“This agreement allows us to further grow our rubber business in a very economical and timely manner. The

investment builds on the success of the third SSBR train in Schkopau which we brought on-line in 2012.

Styron invests continuously in R&D and production capacity to ensure customer success,” said Marco Levi, Senior Vice President and Business President of Emulsion Polymers, Styron.

“We are a clear technology leader in functionalised SSBR, continually putting forward breakthrough

products that allow our tire customers to meet their goals. With this additional capacity we will be able to react faster to our customer’s needs, and at the same time the production line can be leveraged to produce our next generation grades,” said Francesca Reverberi, Business Director for Rubber, Styron.

Styron Web: www.styron.com

Croda to show new WPC lubricants at Chinaplas Croda Polymer Additives, with its Chinese partner Croda Sipo, will exhibit at Chinaplas with a new line of speciality additives for wood plastic composites.

Croda, which is known as a major fatty acid amide producer, has increased its market presence in Asia Pacific through Croda Sipo, a newly acquired manufacturing facility in China. The production facility, which was custombuilt in 2011, provides additional capacity across Croda’s range of speciality Crodamide additives.

32 • WWW.EPPM.COM • MARCH 2014

“In this year’s Chinaplas exhibition, we are excited to introduce to you Croda Sipo, our new amide manufacturing facility in China. Croda Sipo certainly strengthens our presence and position in Asia Pacific, and we are looking forward to working more closely with our customers in fulfilling their needs” said James Lawrence, Sales Director Polymer Additives. Croda has been selling fatty acid amides under the Crodamide brand for more than 45 years.

Croda has announced a new line of

specialty additives for wood plastic composites (WPC). The Incroflo range is designed for the purpose of developing materials in the wood plastic composites area. Where plastic and wood need to be processed together quickly and efficiently, Incroflo, Croda claims, acts as a lubricant to allow increased throughput of WPC during processing by increasing flow rate and dispersion. This allows for lower processing temperatures and pressures during manufacture. In addition, the Incroflo additive acts as a

barrier between the WPC and the extruder to reduce wear, especially on screws. The group also states that it optimises mechanical performance as measured by MOR, MOE and Charpy impact resistance, improves surface finish, and reduces water absorption, which can lead to warping.

Croda will exhibit on stand N1M01 in hall N1 at Chinaplas 2014.

Croda Polymer Additives Web: www.croda.com/pa

Injection Moulding Rotational Moulding Extrusion Blow Moulding Thermoforming Vacuum Forming Film Extrusion Recycling Materials Design

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Fakuma spots growing trends, exhibitors rush to sign up More than 1,166 companies have signed up to exhibit at Fakuma 2014, which this year will cover 915,000 square feet of overall floor space. Exhibitors include manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, and will come from thirty different countries. As usual, the largest proportion will come from Germany, followed by Switzerland, Italy, Austria and

China.

Once known as an injection moulding show, Fakuma, now in its 23rd year, has grown to incorporate thermoforming and extrusion, as well as placing an emphasis on materials.

The show’s organiser, P. E. Schall, speculates that provided 2014 proves to be a year of relative stability, manufacturers and distributors will be prepared to invest – especially against a backdrop of rising pressure to reduce energy consumption and use fewer resources.

On the topic of new trends, the trade fair organiser said: “Conventional rapid prototyping is a thing of the past – universal

3D printing is up-to-date, in most cases with original materials that generate usable end-products on the basis of virtually conceptualised models.” At K 2013, Arburg launched its first machine based on the principle of additive manufacturing — the Freeformer.

Inline production processes are also set to feature at Fakuma. Schall states that quality assurance, advancing the miniaturisation of parts, assemblies and devices, together with increasing degrees of functional integration are driving this trend. The emerging preference is for the incorporation of inline inspection systems in order to boost quality and avoid the expense of surplus scrap.

An earlier trend, which nevertheless continues to develop, is consistent

process automation, taking the form of robots, material flow and handling technology.

Finally, Schall identifies the ever-growing prominence of recycling technologies, which will also have a platform at this year’s show.

Fakuma Web: www.fakuma-messe.de

BASF divests another plastics business BASF has released a statement saying that it has signed an agreement to divest PolyAd Services, which comes under the group’s Plastic Additives business unit, to Edgewater Capital Partners, L.P., a private equity firm based in Ohio, USA. The announcement comes on the heels of the news that the chemicals giant will divest its liquid masterbatch operations to Audia International, in France.

The closing of the PolyAd transaction is expected to take place in the second

quarter of 2014. The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details.

PolyAd Services is a stand-alone global business specialised in tackling additive incorporation problems for the plastics compounding and converting industries.

The firm’s target markets include automotive, building and construction, packaging and electronics.

PolyAd Services has seen growth in recent years, but nevertheless BASF states that “the company’s services business model is a niche business that

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Company Abbey Masterbatch ACS/Cumberland Amut Birmingham Granulators EPPM Erema FiP Solution Plastique HB-Therm Herbold Meckesheim GmbH Interplas Krauss Maffei Lanxess Luxus Maguire Maschinenhandel Borowski Motan Colortronic Plastic Investments Plastrep PMH GmbH Process Control Rapid Granulator Rawmec RUD Chaines Silvergate Plastics TransXL Unicor

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MARCH 2014 • WWW.EPPM.COM • 35