MacPlas International (May 2021)

Published by Promaplast Srl - Centro Direzionale Milanofiori - Palazzo F/3 - 20057 Assago (Milano, Italia) - ISSN 0394-3453 - Poste Italiane SpA - Spedizione in abbonamento postale - 70% LOM/MI/2363

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE PLASTICS AND RUBBER INDUSTRY

ITALIAN MACHINERY- ORDERS ARE GROWING AGAIN GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND TRENDS www.macplas.it OF BIO-BASED POLYMERS EXTRUSION - FACING OUR TIME WITH OPTIMISM INNOVATIONS IN THE PLASTIC COMPOSITES INDUSTRY www.ultrasystem.ch

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CONTENTS

20

29

12

10

MARKETING 10 12 14 18 18 19

20

PLASTICS AND ENVIRONMENT 20 24 26 26

29

27

FOR THE FIRST TIME, GROWTH RATE OF BIO-BASED POLYMERS HIGHER THAN OVERALL PLASTICS MARKET GROWTH LACK OF COLLECTION INFRASTRUCTURE BLIGHTS EUROPEAN PLASTIC BOTTLE RECYCLING VINYLPLUS MED ACCELERATES SUSTAINABILITY IN HEALTHCARE ISCC PLUS CERTIFICATION FOR PRODUCTION FROM BIONAPHTHA AND CHEMICAL RECYCLING UNITY IS STRENGTH - POLYREC IS BORN

MACHINERY AND ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT 29 33 37 40

6

EDITOR’S LETTER - IT MATTERS WHAT WE SAY, AND WHAT WE DO! ITALIAN MACHINERY MANUFACTURERS - AFTER THE DROP IN REVENUES, ORDERS ARE GROWING AGAIN ONE INDUSTRY THAT MAKES A POSITIVE IMPACT RECYCLING AND HYDROGEN TO KEEP COMPOSITES DEMAND UP CHINA REMAINS LARGEST GLOBAL MARKET FOR POLYETHYLENE PIPES INDIA’S PACKAGING MARKET TO REACH 422.3 BILLION UNITS IN 2024

FACING OUR TIME WITH THE OPTIMISM THAT COMES FROM EXPERIENCE DIGITALISATION, LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION, EFFICIENCY THIRD GENERATION ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE OF EPS TECHNOLOGIES

42 44 46 48 48 49 50 50 51 53 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 70 72 72 73

NEW GENERATION TECHNOLOGY FOR A NEW TEST CENTRE ENHANCED PERFORMANCES IN XPE AND PE-RT MULTILAYER PIPE EXTRUSION A 15.4 MILLION-POUND INVESTMENT TO UPGRADE A RECYCLING PLANT THE CHALLENGE TO TRADITIONAL MOULDING IN THE RUBBER AND SILICONE SECTOR C ​ ONTINUES HIGH-TECH SOLUTIONS FOR THE MACHINING OF TECHNICAL ITEMS TWO SIRIO S PLUS DELIVERED TO SAUDI ARABIA AN ALL-ITALIAN CONVERTING PARTNERSHIP A YEAR OF ANNIVERSARIES DELICATE ON SENSITIVE MATERIALS THE RECIPE FOR MIXING PVC PACKAGING AND AUTOMATION SYSTEM FOR PIPES EXTRUSION HOW TO CHANGE, WHILE REMAINING YOURSELF CARE AND ATTENTION IN R&D AS KEY OF SUCCESS AN ITALIAN BUSINESS STORY MADE OF RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND PASSION INJECTION SYSTEMS TAILORED ON DEMAND FOR SPECIAL APPLICATIONS CORRUGATED PIPES, NOT ONLY ROUND SIMPLICITY IN EDGE TRIM RECOVERY A COMPACT BUT INNOVATIVE AND PERFORMING SCREENCHANGER THE ANSWER FOR GROWTH, COMPETITIVENESS, AND INNOVATION EASY DEMOULDING OF LARGE PARTS NEW DIGITAL PLATFORM FOR INDUSTRY 4.0 HIGH FILTRATING CAPACITY FOR HIGHLY CONTAMINATED HDPE

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

COVER STORY

Published by Promaplast Srl - Centro Direzionale Milanofiori - Palazzo F/3 - 20057 Assago (Milano, Italia) - ISSN 0394-3453 - Poste Italiane SpA - Spedizione in abbonamento postale - 70% LOM/MI/2363

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE PLASTICS AND RUBBER INDUSTRY

ITALIAN MACHINERY- ORDERS ARE GROWING AGAIN GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND TRENDS www.macplas.it OF BIO-BASED POLYMERS EXTRUSION - FACING OUR TIME WITH OPTIMISM INNOVATIONS

IN THE PLASTIC COMPOSITES INDUSTRY www.ultrasystem.ch

74

82

74

MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS 74 76 77 77 78 78 80 80 81 81

82

INNOVATIONS IN THE PLASTIC COMPOSITES INDUSTRY - AWARD CEREMONY ON THE INTERNET FOR THE FIRST TIME TECHNICAL QUESTIONS JOINT DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW CASING FOR MEAT PRODUCTS FROM POST-CONSUMER P ​ LASTICS LIGHT AND THERMAL STABILIZERS FOR PLASTICULTURE APPLICATIONS NEW RELEASE AGENT FOR THE MOULDING OF ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS THE FIRST CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED SMARTPHONE IS ON THE MARKET COMPOUNDS BASED ON VIRGIN AND REGENERATED PVC A REGENERATED-RUBBER MOUSSE FOR MOUNTAIN BIKES BLACK POLYAMIDES FOR LASER WELDING CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED ABS FOR 3D PRINTERS

TRADE FAIRS AND CONFERENCES 82 82 83 83

MYIPACKIMA - AN INNOVATIVE DIGITAL PLATFORM EXHIBITIONS & TRADE FAIRS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FATIGUE OF COMPOSITES MEETINGS & CONGRESSES

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

ALWAYS FASTER AND MORE EFFICIENT WITH ULTRA PLAST Today, any plastic item produced requires a perfect top quality. The latest just in time purchase policy, the small quantities of different items, the increasingly strong pigments have caused a high waste of raw materials and loss of time in the sector of plastics processing.

Every colour change in moulding a closure may cause from 20 to 500 kg of non-compliant products, which consequently will be regrind and, in the best solution, be re-used for a second choice production.

There is the same problem in the production of consumer goods.

Each defect, even the smallest, stripes of the previous colour or black specks on a piece will lead to its destruction.

This frenetic acceleration of colour changes in production as well as the high labour cost and, last but not least, the tremendous lack of materials in the whole world, have brought to a high use of electronic control systems for the production where skilled operator’s supervision is less and less needed.

What can happen if a production lot ends during the night and the colour change must be carried out as quick as possible? Usually during night shifts there are no skilled workers, prepared and able to use a purging compound or even not authorized to change moulding parameters, such as pressure, temperature or screw speed.

The main types of purging compounds require these small changes in order to be efficient. Furthermore, in the case of hot runner systems in the mould, things are becoming even more complicated - one product for the screw/barrel and another product for the mould are needed. Most companies do not use purging compounds at all to avoid the risk of mistakes, with a consequent loss of production and possible damages. So, they continue waste production as long as the product can be accepted by the quality management.

In order to solve these problems, we need “all round” solutions - one only product for screw and mould and, above all, very easy to handle.

SP Plus, one of the latest products by Ultra System, is the answer. A highly performing product, suitable for both mould and screw. No parameters change is required and it offers the best possible cleaning.

According to Ultra System’s statistics, a colour change can be made in half time, even with colours with highly concentrated pigments; in some cases there has been a time and cost saving even up to 90%; furthermore, we have to consider the fact that the material can be completely recycled.

Of course, Ultra System has kept unchanged all safety features which have made its range of products one of the most appreciated by technicians and operators in the entire plastics sector. www.ultrasystem.ch

7

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL

ADVERTISERS’ LIST

79 ​AMAPLAST​

www.amaplast.org

Supplement of MacPlas April/May 2021

11​ ARBURG​​

www.arburg.com

Editor in chief Riccardo Ampollini

Editorial staff Luca Mei, Girolamo Dagostino, Stefania Arioli

Sales office Roberta Pagan Editorial assistant Giampiero Zazzaro Editorial committee Dario Previero, Gabriele Caccia, Massimo Margaglione Contributors to this issue Amaplast, AVK, Cesap, Freedonia, GlobalData, Icis, Ipack-Ima, JEC Group, nova-Institute, Plastics Industry Association, PolyRec, University of Padua, VinylPlus Published by Promaplast Srl Centro Direzionale Milanofiori - Palazzo F/3 20057 Assago (Milano, Italy) Tel.: +39 02 82283735 Fax: +39 02 57512490 e-mail: macplas@macplas.it www.macplas.it Registration at the Court of Milan n. 68, 13/02/1976 Registration at the National Press Office n. 4620, 24/05/1994 Managing director Mario Maggiani Administration Alessandro Cerizza Layout and prepress Nicoletta Albiero Printed by LOGO Postal delivery: IFS Italy ISSUE PRICE: 8 euro if not sent with mother magazine The managing direction of the magazine declines any responsibility for possible unreliability of editorial articles and notes coming from various sources

49 ​BARUFFALDI​

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8

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

EDITOR’S LETTER

LUCA MEI

“

IT MATTERS WHAT WE SAY, AND WHAT WE DO! After enjoying something of a reprieve over recent months on account of its role in the production of the medical devices, personal protective equipment, sterile packaging and disposable items that have been crucial in saving lives in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, recent environmental awareness days have seen plastic back “in the dock”, once again accused of being the world’s public enemy number 1!

TV news channels, newspapers and online news sources are once again pointing the finger at plastic, portraying it as the enemy of the environment that inexorably ends up in the world’s seas and oceans, and beyond. But, alluding to an expression used by the Italian film director Nanni Moretti in his movie “Red Wood Pigeon” (Palombella rossa), if words matter, then so do actions, perhaps even more so. This is particularly true in an era in which written and visual communication has assumed the power of a veritable weapon of “mass destruction” as opposed to “mass instruction”. And we might go even further, and say that it has become a weapon of “mass distraction” from the real causes of the problems.

The tendency to mystify misleading information, nowadays encouraged by its practically uncontrolled circulation on the many media platforms to which we all now have access, can determine the rise or fall of absolutely anyone, or anything. And even though it doesn’t take much to see that reality is different from how it is painted, this becomes impossible to do unless one is willing to make the effort.

Plastic, as some have already pointed out, is not a living thing with the power to move about and choose where to accumulate. In truth, the blame for turning it into a pollutant, thus overshadowing its qualities and the many advantages it provides (which, in many cases, allow us to live our lives the way we do) lies solely with people!

It is people, through their behaviours - uncivilised, indifferent and uncaring - that are the real polluting agents. Similarly, it is people who, despite celebrating the Earth Day, try to disown such behaviours and to absolve themselves, through inappropriate, ineffective and often misinformed communication.

It really wouldn’t take much. Instead of simply stating that plastic ends up in the seas and oceans of the world, all that needs to be made clear is that it ends up everywhere because we, with impunity, allow all this to happen.

So, headline writers, take note!

10

”

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

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09.03.2021 15:24:20

Plast 2018

MARKETING

ITALIAN PLASTICS AND RUBBER PROCESSING MACHINERY MANUFACTURERS

AFTER THE DROP IN REVENUES, ORDERS ARE GROWING AGAIN IN 2020 REVENUES FOR ITALIAN PLASTICS AND RUBBER EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS RECORDED A DROP OF 11.4% TO A TOTAL VALUE OF 3.9 BILLION EUROS, MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC. OVERALL, THE YEAR 2021 BEGAN IN AN ENCOURAGING MANNER, THOUGH OVERALL FORECASTS REMAIN CAUTIOUS: A RETURN TO PRE-CRISIS LEVELS WILL BE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO OCCUR IN 2022

BY STEFANIA ARIOLI

A

fter the record peak in 2017, substantially continuing into 2018, then followed by a cyclical setback in 2019, last year revenues for Italian plastics and rubber equipment manufacturers recorded a drop of 11.4% to a total value of 3.9 billion euros.

According to data from the MECS - Amaplast (national trade association and member of Confindustria) Statistical Studies Centre, which were analysed accounting for Istat data, the result

was caused by a contraction in the domestic market (-12.5%) to 1.96 billion euros and by a drop in sales on foreign markets (-11.2%) to 2.72 billion euros. A final factor was a 14.3% reduction in imports to 780 million euros.

An examination of the geography of exports in 2020 reveals a rise in sales in Europe, which represents 58.3% of the total (with good performance particularly in extra-EU markets), while Asia (falling to 16.7% from 17.5% in 2019) and

TABLE 1 - ITALIAN MARKET OF MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT AND MOULDS FOR PLASTICS AND RUBBER (MILLION EUROS) Production Export Import Domestic market Trade balance (positive)

12

2019

2020

4,400 3,070 910 2,240 2,160

3,900 2,720 780 1,960 1,940

∆% 2020/2019 -11.4 -11.2 -14.3 -12.5 -10.2

North America (to 14.6% from 15.2%) lost some ground. Many of the top 10 export countries recorded double-digit drops, significant exceptions being +42% to Russia and +14% to Turkey.

Analysing exports by goods category, the industry has recorded significant and widespread slumps in sales of almost all technologies, the only exceptions being plants for mono- and multi-filament and thermoforming machines, used to produce trays, cups, and other food packaging, which have witnessed rising demand as a result of new consumption patterns induced by the pandemic.

The expectations for a positive inversion of trend in 2020 after the downturn in 2019 were dashed by the Covid-19 emergency, which required the implementation of extraordinary containment measures - involving shutdowns of numerous production segments that were considered non-essential, including the plastics and rubber processing machinery industry, as well as travel MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

TABLE 2 - TOP TEN DESTINATION COUNTRIES OF THE ITALIAN PLASTICS AND RUBBER MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT AND MOULDS EXPORTS (000 EURO) restrictions - which effectively blocked operations for a number of weeks. In parallel, the progressive spread of the epidemic in various countries generated a high level of uncertainty as regards the international macroeconomic outlook.

The main impact on the system was especially strong between the first and second quarter, followed by a recovery that accelerated in the last quarter, mitigating the overall negative result.

It also bears emphasizing that Amaplast members fared relatively well with respect to the overall sector. A comparison with 2019 reveals a drop in their revenues of 2.8%, which is quite minor considering the global context. As regards employment, on the other hand, we may actually speak of gains, with an impressive increase of 3.3%.

CAUTIOUS FORECASTS FOR 2021 Overall, the year 2021 began in an encouraging manner: a rebound in production and exports is foreseen, although it might be overly optimistic to expect a return to pre-crisis levels within the space of a few months. This will be much more likely to occur in 2022.

Confirmation of the Transition 4.0 Plan, i.e. governmental incentives to replace machinery and equipment, will pump needed fuel into the domestic market, the one hardest hit in the past months. Significant recoveries in progress in certain key markets, such as China and the United States, will boost exports for the sector.

However, overall forecasts remain cautious

% out of the total

Countries

2020

% out of the total

360,542

11.8

Germany

352,580

12.9

-2.2

313,702

10.2

United States

270,159

9.9

-13.9

154,476

5.0

Poland

149,869

5.5

-3.0

Countries

2019

Germany United States Poland

∆% 2020/2019

France

146,711

4.8

France

149,039

5.5

1.6

China

148,291

4.8

China

144,571

5.3

-2.5

Spain

171,164

5.6

Spain

137,367

5.0

-19.7

Mexico

122,629

4.0

Mexico

97,708

3.6

-20.3

United Kingdom

96,856

3.2

United Kingdom

95,508

3.5

-14.0

Russia

67,160

2.2

Russia

95,285

3.5

41.9

Turkey

68,219

2.2

Turkey

77,496

2.8

13.6

Total “top 10”

1,649,750

53.8

Total “top 10”

1,569,582

57.6

-4.9

Other countries

1,419,392

46.2

Altri paesi

1,154,397

42.4

-18.7

World

3,069,142

100.0

World

2,723,979

100.0

-11.2

TABLE 3 - DESTINATION AREAS OF THE ITALIAN PLASTICS AND RUBBER MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT AND MOULDS EXPORTS (%) 2019

2020

Europe (EU)

57.0 (49.3)

58.3 (48.6)

Asia/Oceania

17.5

16.7

North America/USMCA

15.2

14.6

Central/South America

5.2

5.0

Africa

5.1

5.5

because there is still strong uncertainty in many markets, influenced by the prolonged pandemic, the slow pace of vaccination campaigns, and the difficult process of resuming travel, especially internationally. We must also not forget that price increases have accelerated in the recent period for polymers, other raw materials, components, and maritime shipping costs. In any case, affirming a countertrend with respect to 2020, half of the member companies that took part in a recent Amaplast survey reported growth in orders in the first half of 2021 with respect to the second half of 2020, albeit to varying degrees. www.amaplast.org

Italian companies at the Chinaplas exhibition

spect to 2019. As for 2021, over 90% of those surveyed have a positive outlook and many have already implemented investment plans, mainly in advanced technology and automation.

The strong participation of Italian manufacturers of plastics and rubber The Italian pavilion at the thirty-fourth edition of Chinaplas (Shenzhen, processing machinery at Chinaplas 2021 - although their stands will be April 13-16, 2021), organized in Hall 10 by the Amaplast trade associa- manned by local representatives, given the continuing restrictions on intion, included some forty companies in a space of 1,100 square metres. ternational travel - reaffirms the great strategic importance of the Chinese The Chinese tradeshow - which was inaugurated in the Shenzhen fair- market, which was ranked fifth among destination markets for Italian exgrounds instead of the traditional ones in Canton, where it has always ports in the sector in 2020. Indeed, at approximately 145 million euros, taken place in alternation with Shanghai - is the first specialized interna- the value of Italian-made technology did not shift far from the peak of 150 tional exhibition to take place on an in-person basis after a year of lock- million for the decade reached in 2019. And extruders and extrusion lines down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. continue to represent a significant share.

As always, the Italian collective at Chinaplas 2021 And it is certainly no surprise that ChinaBuilt on a turnkey basis and offering maxincluded many Amaplast members plas is leading the way to the resumption imum flexibility, these are high-tech sysof tradeshows for the plastics and rubber tems enhanced with Industry 4.0 solutions industry. After being the one to bear the unlike anything that Chinese converters initial impact of the epidemic, the Chinese are likely to find on the local market. economy was the first to set out on the Chinaplas 2021 was concluded on April road to recovery and for some time now 16 with a total of 152,134 visitors - 149,771 has recorded the highest growth rates. local and 2,363 overseas. With an exhibiAs regards the consolidated results for tion area of over 350,000 square metres, 2020 for the Chinese plastics industry, a the show hosted more than 3,600 exhibrecent study reported that, in spite of the itors from all over the world, showcasing pandemic, 75% of companies ended the more than 3,800 machines, raw materials, year with an increase in revenues with rechemicals and other solutions.

Starting anew from Shenzhen

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

13

Plastics Industry Association

MARKETING

PLASTIC MATERIALS AND PROCESSING MACHINERY IN THE UNITED STATES

ONE INDUSTRY THAT MAKES A POSITIVE IMPACT THREE CONSECUTIVE QUARTERS OF GROWTH FOR PLASTICS MACHINERY SHIPMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS ARTICLE ALSO REPORTS THE MAIN RESULTS OF THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION’S ANALYSIS ON THE ENTIRE US PLASTICS INDUSTRY

BY PLASTICS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

N

orth America shipments of primary plastics machinery for injection moulding and extrusion rose by double-digits in the fourth quarter of 2020, marking their third consecutive quarter of growth, according to statistics compiled and reported by the Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) of the US Plastics Industry Association (Plastics).

The preliminary estimate of shipment value from reporting companies totaled 376.8 million dollars. It was a 22.9% increase following a 15.8% increase in the third quarter. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, plastics machinery shipments increased by 19.3% (see figure 1). The value of shipments of single- and twin-screw extruders rose 31.6% and 4.5%, respectively, in the final quarter of 2020. Shipments of injection moulding equipment jumped 23.1% from

14

the previous quarter and were 21.2% above the fourth quarter of 2019.

“The three consecutive quarters of double-digit increases underscores the importance of plastics machinery not only in the plastics industry but in the manufacturing supply chain of the economy, considering that most plastics are used in manufacturing”, said Perc Pineda, chief economist at Plastics. “We were hoping to see an increase in shipments of machinery in the fourth quarter as the economy stayed in the recovery cycle and that’s exactly what we got”.

The CES also conducts a quarterly survey of plastics machinery suppliers that asks about present market conditions and expectations for the future. In the first quarter of 2021, 96.0% of respondents expect conditions to either improve or hold steady compared to a year ago; that is

higher than the 76.0% that felt similarly in the third quarter 2020. As for the next 12 months, 86.0% expect market conditions to be steadyto-better, slightly lower than the 89.8% in the third-quarter survey.

“The value of shipments of plastics and rubber products in December 2020 was 1.1% lower than a year before - much less than the 11.0% decrease in April year-over-year due to the pandemic”, added Pineda. “Against the backdrop of a recovering domestic and global economy, the growth momentum in plastics end-markets that began in the second half of 2020 is expected to continue through 2021, which should sustain a steady demand for plastic materials and resins, products, machinery, and moulds for plastics”.

In the same fourth quarter of 2020, plastics machinery total exports totalled 360.9 million dolMACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

THE NUMBERS OF A FUNDAMENTAL INDUSTRY FOR THE US ECONOMY The US plastics industry is large, accounting for more than one million jobs and 432.0 billion dollars in shipments in 2019. Last Size and Impact Report - published annually by the Plastics Industry Association - indicates that the US plastics industry not only remains one of the economy’s largest sectors, but also that it continued to grow in 2019. Most plastics are used in manufacturing, although the use of plastics in services is becoming increasingly important. As can be seen from another Plastics Industry Association (Plastics) study, 2020 Global Trends Report, abundant petrochemical feedstocks have helped US exports and therefore US plastics companies and the industry as a whole.

Table 1 summarizes the plastics industry by dividing it into categories named: Plastics Manufacturing, Plastics Wholesale Trade, Captive Plastic Products Manufacturing, and Upstream Impacts. The first three categories comprise what the authors call the plastics industry. Captives are plastic processing activities located in establishments, such as automobile assembly and milk bottling plants, which are not classified by the government, or by most economists, as being part of the plastics industry.

The US plastics industry, as documented by US Government data, operated 15,746 manufacturing establishments, employed 794,900 people and made shipments worth 364 billion

ed for most of the plastic processing industry, was the eighth largest US manufacturing industry in terms of shipments in 2018. Resins, synthetic rubbers and artificial & synthetic fibres & filaments (NAICS 3252, which includes the plastic materials and resins industry), was the 18thranked manufacturing industry in 2018.

Plastics Industry Association

lars - a 20.8% increase from the previous quarter. Imports rose by 16.0% to 875.5 million dollars, resulting in a 514.6 million trade deficit, which was 12.9% larger than the previous quarter. Canada and Mexico remained the top export markets for US equipment suppliers in the fourth quarter. The combined exports to the USMCA trade partners totalled 173.4 million dollars, representing 48.0% of total US plastics machinery exports in the fourth quarter.

RATE OF GROWTH

North America still represents the most important market for made in Italy. According to Italian Istat data, in 2019 Italy exported goods for about 45.6 billion euros to the United States, registering an increase of 7.5% compared to 2018. Industrial machines and automation solutions are amongst the most requested Italian products, appreciated for the high level of reliability and safety

dollars in 2019. This excludes establishments producing captive plastic products or supplying goods and services to the plastics industry.

When captives are included in their definition of the plastics industry, the number rose to just over one million people in 2019. Another 544,800 people were employed by upstream industries that supplied the industry, which brought the total year 2019 employment to 1.55 million (1.0% of the US non-farm workforce).

The plastics industry generated 432 billion dollars in shipments in 2019. Another 118 billion dollars was generated by upstream supplies to industries, bringing the total shipments of the plastics industry to 550 billion dollars.

Furthermore, table 1 does not include downstream impacts on industries that use plastics, or on the consumers who buy the products containing plastics. In order to rank plastics among other industries, the authors considered 82 manufacturing industries defined by the 4-digit North American Industry Classification (NAICS) system, although data were available through 2018.

Plastic products (NAICS 3261), which account-

Figure 1 - Primary plastics machinery shipments between fourth quarter of 2018 and fourth quarter of 2020

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYEES Million dollars

Source: Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) of the Plastics Industry Association

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Over the last 22 years, plastics industry employment, real shipments and real value added fared better than manufacturing as a whole. This is because plastics are still relatively new compared to other materials and methods of manufacture.

Although employment in the plastics manufacturing industry fell 1.0% per year between 1997 and 2019, this is better than employment in all of US manufacturing, which fell 1.4% per year during the same period.

Considering the time frame 2012-2019, plastics manufacturing employment grew 1.6% per year from 2012 to 2019. This outpaced manufacturing as a whole, which saw employment grow only 1.1% per year during the same period. Real value added in the plastics manufacturing industry grew 2.1% per year from 2012 to 2019.

The real value of shipments by this industry grew 1.1% per year.

Productivity in plastics manufacturing, defined as real shipments per employee, declined 0.5% per year from 2012 to 2019. Such productivity declines were typical for the macroeconomics during this period, as investment was low and large numbers of new workers were added.

In 2019, plastics industry growth reflected the strength of the US economy, boosted by abundant natural gas, gas liquid feedstocks and a growing economy. But the number of plastics industry establishments continue to drift downward slowly as the industry consolidates and becomes more efficient. The decline mirrored what happened to the rest of manufacturing except that plastics manufacturing were more volatile, falling faster during the recession and recovering faster after it ended.

The plastics industry spans all 50 states. California is the most populous state and has the most plastics workers. It had the most plastics industry employees (79,700) in 2019, followed

by Ohio (74,500), Texas (71,400) and, more distant, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, North Carolina and New York.

An alternative measure, plastics industry employees per thousand non-farm employees, indicates how concentrated the plastics industry is in a given state, or how much that state spe-

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MARKETING

cializes in plastics. Using this measure, Michigan has the largest number of plastics industry employees (16.0) per thousand non-farm employees, followed very closely by Indiana (a virtual tie), and then by Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Iowa.

The states with the highest concentrations of plastics industry employees tend to have the highest concentrations of manufacturing activity, which is consistent with the fact that most plastic products go into manufactured goods.

in 2019, in terms of the value of plastic products per dollar of final product or service, was the plastic products industry itself, followed by: soft drinks and ice; mattresses, blinds and shades; snack foods; sign manufacturing; and seasonings and dressings.

OUTLOOK AND FORECASTS

Growth in the US plastics industry is currently facing serious challenges as the global economy slows due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thus far, demand has slowed at a higher rate than supply (updated to September 2020).

UPSTREAM IMPACT (SUPPLIERS)…

According to Plastics Industry Association, the Jobs are created in the plastics industry and In 2019, an impressive 23.7% of the final con- US domestic plastics market is expected to also created in the industries that provide sup- sumption of plastic products wound up in some sustain uneven growth, as aggregate demand ply goods and services to the plastics industry. form of service, including healthcare, food ser- shocks seem to have had different impacts on These industries supply fuel, spare parts, office vices and drinking places, retail and wholesale plastics end-markets. The uncertainty of recovsupplies, accounting services, transportation trade, and other services. ery from the great economic disruption of the services etc. As discussed in connection with Construction accounted for 8.5% of final plas- Covid-19 pandemic has underscored weaktable 1, employment and shipments from up- tic products. A large share (29.1%) went into nesses in durable goods demand such as cars stream industries contribute significantly to the non-durable goods: food, tobacco and spir- and light trucks. impact of plastics on the US economy. its (8.0%); plastic products (15.0%); and other Tailwinds will likely come from sustained manuDuring 2019, upstream industries account- non-durables (6.1%). Durable goods accounted facturing of consumer essentials, such food and ed for 545,000 jobs in order to supply goods for the remaining 24.0% share: transportation packaging, personal and healthcare, and elecand services to the plastics industry - 0.54 up- equipment (13.0%); furniture and related (2.4%); tronics - all of which use plastics materials exstream jobs for every job in the industry itself. and other durables (8.6%). The proportion of tensively - against the backdrop of stable hydroIn the same year, upstream businesses gener- those buying plastics-containing goods and ser- carbon feedstock supplies in the United States. ated 117.6 billion dollars in shipments to supply vices in 2019 were as follows: 78.5% went to The plastics industry supports manufacturing goods and services to the plastics industry. personal consumption by households, 29.5% and will continue to shift toward states with new went into private fixed investment, and 13.3% manufacturing facilities. While there are discus… AND DOWNSTREAM IMPACT (USERS) was used by state, local and federal government sions on reshoring manufacturing, the risks from Some plastic products, such as toys and waste- agencies. These percentages add up to more the uncertainty of the pace of economic recovbaskets, are final goods, ready for use. Most are than 100% because the 21.2% that was provid- ery outweight the justification to shift manufacintermediate goods, which are associated with ed by imports (net of exports) - not supplied by turing into the US. services or sent for additional manufacturing domestic producers - was not deducted. The de- Plastics industry employment is expected to processes before becoming a final good. Virtu- duction would be required if National Income and slow this year as some plastics manufacturing ally all plastic products wind up as part of a final Product Account (NIPA) accounting was used. sectors have fallen by 0.2% in 2020. Skilled lagood or service.

The most intense final user of plastic products bour shortages will continue to be a major challenge in the years ahead. Because of that labour shortage, all manuTable 1 - Overview of the US plastics industry and impacts (2019) facturing facilities, including those involved with plastics, are expected to increase their investments in labour-saving equipment and technology. However, uncertainty over the pace of economic recovery will limit capital expenditure in the near-term.

Real plastics industry shipments are expected to decrease in 2020 and recover at rates that depend on different scenarios. The most optimistic outcome would be that real plastics shipments bounce back in 2020 and thereafter revert back to the 2.3% annual growth observed since 2010.

Source: Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) of the Plastics Industry Association www.plasticsindustry.org

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Perc Pineda, chief economist of the Plastics Industry Association

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MARKETING

NEWS Global trends 2020-2025

Recycling and hydrogen to keep composites demand up 2020 has been an exceptional year, on account of the very nature of the crisis and its scope.

The composites have suffered from the impacts of the health crisis and there are no signs that indicate that it will be any different once this new crisis has abated explaining certain figures, although the demand remains strong in some regions. Here are few takeaways with figures from the new 2021 edition of the JEC Observer: “Current trends in the global composites industry 2020-2025”, written in collaboration with Estin & Co. and published by JEC Group.

According to this report, in 2020 the global composites market should be, once consolidated, of 10.0 million tons, for a value of 78 billion dollars. It grew at 8% p.a. over 2010, 4% p.a. from 2010 to 2019, and should remain at -14% in 2020, due to the coro-

navirus crisis and its impact on the economy. Asia remains the largest market, while Americas and EMEA still have higher added value applications.

The composites market should decrease in all regions in 2021.

There should be a stronger decrease in Europe and North America, than in China, where economy is recovering faster.

The composites market should experience a strong rebound in 2021 for almost all applications (except for aerospace, with a rebound expected in 2022 and beyond). It should be noted that in general, countries with strong growth continue to show such growth and are more likely to rebound rapidly post-crisis.

For the next five years (20212025), the composites industry should resume growth, at 2% to 9% p.a. across regions.

The 2021 JEC Observer edition

has a special focus on composite recycling and the growing development of hydrogen and its impact on the industry. Globally, composite materials are recycled at a much lower rate than other prominent materials but it’s been improving. Thus, the recycling processes are gaining momentum with more and more companies entering the market and creating tremendous growth opportunities.

Although the penetration rate of composites in automotive has been slowly increasing over the past 40 years, hydrogen car manufacturing will certainly ramp up composites production worldwide in the long run. “Hydrogen is stirring up growing interest and offers genuine openings for composites, in the transportation sector. Also, all dimensions of the environment - material, waste, processing, recycling - represent

“The sanitary crisis has accelerated some deep underlying trends that were already present before it all started. Asia has become and will remain a strong growth driver for the industry at global level. EMEA and Americas remain geographies where innovation for composites is at the forefront”, said Julien Deleuze, vice president at Estin & Co.

opportunities to be seized, and those who do are sure to make a difference. Expectations are running high across the world”, commented Frédéric Reux, editor-in-chief of the JEC Composites Magazine. www.jeccomposites.com

Polyolefins in the World

China remains largest global market for polyethylene pipes

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China’s construction sector is nearly four times the size of that of the United States, the next largest national market, with its sales of polyethylene pipes around three times larger within that market. Chinese infrastructure investments continue to Tecnomatic

According to the study “Global Polyethylene Pipe”, from The Freedonia Group, demand for polyethylene pipes in China totalled 4.2 million tons in 2019, making it by far the world’s largest market with 33% of global demand and 59% of regional sales.

China possesses massive agriculture, construction, manufacturing, oil and gas, and utility sectors, all of which support plastic pipe demand. Furthermore, sales are supported by China’s diverse process manufacturing industries, including chemicals, food processing, primary metals, pulp and paper, and textiles.

make great strides, with product sales relative to population nearly double the global average. Nevertheless, the US remains a more intensive user of plastic pipes on a per capita basis across many applications.

Globally, demand for polyethylene pipes is projected to grow 3.7% per year to 15.3 million tons in 2024, driven by increasing use of PE pipes across all markets. HDPE pipe demand will record healthy growth on average through 2024 as pipes made from this resin is favoured over other materials in water and sewer applications. www.freedoniagroup.com

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Source: Market Analyzer, GlobalData

Volume share (million units) of key pack materials in India packaging industry - Comparison between 2019 and 2024 (forecasts)

Report by GlobalData

India’s packaging market to reach 422.3 billion units in 2024 Changing lifestyle of consumers along with rising demand for products that offer an ease of convenience are the key attributes prompting the demand for portable packaging solutions. The packaging sector in India is expected to increase from 307.8 billion units in 2019 to 422.3 billion units in 2024, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% during 2019-2024, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Its report, “India Packaging Industry - Trends and Opportunities”, reveals that the sector is majorly driven by growth in the paper & board packaging, which is forecast to register the fastest volume CAGR of 7.8% during 2019-2024. The category is followed by rigid metal, which is expected to record a CAGR of 7.1% during the analysed period.

“Several factors such as growing population, increasing income, burgeoning middle class, strong growth in organized retail and surge in e-commerce are driving the demand for packaged products and are fueling the growth in the Indian packaging sector. Increasingly busier lifestyles are resulting in a surge in the demand for products that offer convenience and portability, and simultaneously those render en-

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hanced shelf life”, said Anchal Bisht, consumer analyst at GlobalData.

Food industry characterized the most use of packaging in India and accounted for 56.5% market share. It was followed by non-alcoholic beverages and cosmetics & toiletries industries with shares of 25.5% and 3.9%, respectively.

Flexible packaging was the most consumed pack material in Indian packaging and accounted for a market share of 66.2% in 2019. It is expected to reach 67.3% by 2024. Rigid plastics and paper & board were the other popular pack materials. Food industry was also leading in terms of usage of flexible packaging, with a share of 68.1% in 2019. It was followed by non-alcoholic industry, which accounted for a share of 18.5% in the same year.

“Aesthetic appeal of products is increasingly becoming a key differentiating factor amongst products. Rising urbanization and disposable incomes are translating in to growing opportunities for ready-to-consume food and drinks as well as cosmetics & toiletries, that address aspirational needs of growing middleclass population. Cut-throat competition, however, is prompting manufacturers to focus on improving the visual appearance of their products and thereby, consumer attention, mainly via packaging, to drive growth”, concluded Anchal Bisht. www.globaldata.com

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Alesco - European Bioplastics

PLASTICS AND ENVIRONMENT

GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND TRENDS

FOR THE FIRST TIME, GROWTH RATE OF BIO-BASED POLYMERS HIGHER THAN OVERALL PLASTICS MARKET GROWTH THE MARKET AND TREND REPORT “BIO-BASED BUILDING BLOCKS AND POLYMERS - GLOBAL CAPACITIES, PRODUCTION AND TRENDS 2020–2025”, FROM THE INTERNATIONAL NOVA-INSTITUTE BIOPOLYMER EXPERT GROUP, SHOWS CAPACITIES AND PRODUCTION DATA FOR ALL BIO-BASED POLYMERS IN THE YEAR 2020 AND A FORECAST FOR 2025

BY NOVA-INSTITUTE

T

he year 2020 was a promising year for bio-based polymers: sold out PLA in 2019 has led to the installation of increased capacities, PE and PP made from bio-based naphtha are breaking ground and future expansion for bio-based polyamides as well as for PBAT, PHAs and casein polymers is on the horizon. A lower production is only observed for bio-based PET. Several global brands are already expanding their feedstock portfolio to include, next to fossil-based, sources of renewable carbon, CO2, recycling and especially biomass, increasing the demand for bio-based as well as biodegradable polymers. Nevertheless, at the same time, there is a lack of support

20

from politics, which still only promotes biofuels and bioenergy.

In 2020, the total production volume of biobased polymers was 4.2 million tons, which is 1% of the total production volume of fossil-based polymers. For the first time in many years, the CAGR is, with 8%, significantly higher than the overall growth of polymers (34%). This is expected to continue until 2025.

Overall, the global land requirement for biobased polymers is only 0.006% of the global agricultural land. The major biomass feedstock used for bio-based polymer production is glycerol as a biogenic by-product (37%).

The increase in production capacity from 2019 to 2020 is mainly based on the expan-

sion of polylactic acid (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) production in Asia, and the worldwide epoxy resin production. Also, increased and new production capacities for polybutylene succinate and copolymers (PBS(X)) and bio-based polyethylene (PE) and polyurethanes (PUR) were reported in 2020. Especially polyamides (PA) and polypropylene (PP) will continue to grow significantly (about 36%) until 2025. While capacities for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) will grow in Asia and North America, casein polymers in Europe will increase by 32% until 2025, followed by increases in PE in South America and Europe, PLA mainly in Europe and PBAT in Asia with about 8%.

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Source = nova-Institute (2021)

Fig. 1 - Shares of bio-based polymers production capacities in 2020

BIO-BASED FEEDSTOCKS Considering the steadily increasing demand for bio-based polymers, the need for biomass feedstocks should be taken into account as an important factor. This is especially true for the recurring debate on the use of food crops for bio-based polymer production. The total demand for biomass was 12.5 billion tons for feed, bioenergy, food, material use, biofuels as well as bio-based polymers. While the majority of the biomass (59%) is used for feed production, only 0.038% are needed for bio-based polymer production. That results in a biomass feedstock demand of 4.8 million tons for the production of 4 million tons of bio-based polymers and corresponds to an agricultural land share of only 0.006%. This small area share is due to various factors: the major feedstock used for bio-based polymer production is glycerol (37%), as a biogenic process by-product from biodiesel production it represents a biomass without land use. This glycerol is mainly used for epoxy resin production via epichlorohydrin as an intermediate. The utilised biomass also comprises 24% starch and 16% sugars, both feedstocks are derived from high-yielding crops, such as maize, sugar beet or sugar cane, having a high area efficiency. 12% of the biomass are from non-edible plant oil, such as castor oil, 9% from cellulose (mainly used for cellulose acetate) and 2% from edible plant oil.

From the 4 million tons of produced bio-based polymers (fully and partly bio-based) only 1.9 million tons are actual bio-based components of the polymers (46%). Considering this fact, 2.5 times more feedstock is needed than actually is incorporated into the final product.

This amount of 2.9 million tons (61%) of feedstock that is not ending up in the product is due to a high number of conversion steps and related feedstock and intermediate losses, as well as the formation of by-products.

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SUSTAINABILITY AND RENEWABLE CARBON The only way for polymers, plastics and chemicals to become sustainable, climate-friendly and part of the circular economy is the complete substitution of fossil carbon with renewable carbon from alternative sources: biomass, CO2 and recycling. This necessary transition is already on the strategic agenda of several global brands, that are already expanding their feedstock portfolio to include, next to fossil-based, all three sources of renewable carbon. This rethinking from the market point of view, especially in the use of biomass, will, and already did, increase the supply of bio-based as well as biodegradable polymers. Nevertheless, the market remains challenging from a political perspective and in terms of crude oil prices, as major advantages of bio-based polymers have not been politically rewarded yet: 1) Bio-based polymers replace fossil carbon in the production process with renewable carbon from biomass. This is indispensable

for a sustainable, climate-friendly plastics industry.

2) Biodegradability is offered by almost half of the produced bio-based polymers. This can be a solution for plastics that cannot be collected and enter the environment. In these situations, they can biodegrade without leaving behind microplastics. Only a few countries such as Italy, France and probably Spain will politically support this additional disposal path.

The most important market drivers in 2020 were brands that want to offer their customers environmentally friendly solutions and critical consumers looking for alternatives to petrochemical products. If bio-based polymers were to be accepted as a solution and promoted in a similar way as biofuels, annual growth rates of 10 to 20% could be expected. The same would apply, should the oil price rise significantly. Based on the already existing technical maturity of bio-based polymers, considerable market shares could be gained in these cases.

BIO-BASED POLYMERS The global polymer market includes functional and structural polymers, rubber products as well as man-made fibres. The nova-Institute report focuses on the bio-based share of the structural polymers. Bio-based structural polymers are composed of the structural part, exhaustively reviewed in this report and the bio-based linoleum part. Together amounting to 4.1 million tons. On the other hand, the total amount of bio-based functional polymers consists of bio-based functional polymers and paper starch, yielding 13.6 million tons. Besides these two groups making up 17.7 million tons of bio-based functional and structural polymers, also rubber products and man-made fibres can be

Fig. 2 - Bio-based polymers - Evolution of worldwide production capacities from 2018 to 2025

Source = nova-Institute (2021)

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PLASTICS AND ENVIRONMENT

Source = nova-Institute (2021)

Fig. 4 - Global production capacities of biobased polymers per region (2020), without cellulose acetate, epoxy resins and polyurethanes

Fig. 5 - Shares of the produced bio-based polymers in different market segments (2020)

Source = nova-Institute (2021)

bio-based. In total, 14.1 million tons of rubber products and 7 million tons of man-made fibres are from bio-based resources.

Figure 1 and figure 2 summarise the results of the report and show the share of the biobased polymer production capacities in 2020 and the development of capacities from 2018 to 2025 on the basis of forecasts by current and some new producers. The total installed capacity in 2020 was 4.6 million tons with an actual production of 4.2 million tons. An increase to 6.7 million tons capacity in 2025 is expected, indicating an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 8%. The following polymers show an even higher increase significantly above the average growth rate: PA will continue to grow by 37% and PP by 34% until 2025. Casein polymers in Europe will increase by 32% until 2025, followed by 8% increases in PE and a 7% growth for PLA and PBAT. A quite new polymer, PEF (polyethylene furanoate), is expected to enter the market in 2023. It is comparable to PET but is fully bio-based and furthermore features superior barrier properties, making it an ideal material for beverage bottles.

BIO-BASED BUILDING BLOCKS Figure 3 illustrates the development of capacities for the main bio-based building blocks used for the production of polymers from 2011 to 2025. The building blocks are utilised for the synthesis of structural and functional polymers as well as ingredients in various other applications such as food, feed, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, and therefore show a higher average CAGR than polymers.

The overall production capacity of bio-based building blocks increased about 7% (212,000 t/a) in 2020. This increase is mainly based on L-lactic acid and epichlorohydrin (ECH). The

overall forecast for bio-based building blocks worldwide indicates a growth by 11% (CAGR) until 2025, with 1,5-pentamethylenediamine (DN5), naphtha, ethylene and different furan derivatives being the main drivers.

PRODUCTION CAPACITIES

BY REGION AND MARKET SEGMENT After Asia as leading region, which has installed the largest bio-based production capacities worldwide with 47% in 2020, Europe follows with 26%, followed by North America with

Fig. 3 - Bio-based building blocks - Evolution of worldwide production capacities from 2011 to 2025

Source = nova-Institute (2021)

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17% and South America with 9%, respectively (figure 4). With an expected CAGR of 16% between 2020 and 2025, Asia displays the highest growth of bio-based polymer capacities compared to other regions of the world. This increase is mainly due to higher production capacities for PA, PBAT, PHA and PLA. Today, bio-based polymers can be used in almost all market segments and applications, but the various applications per polymer can be very different. Figure 5 shows a summary of the applications for all bio-based polymers covered in the nova-Institute report. In 2020 fibres including woven, non-woven - mainly cellulose acetate (CA) and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) - have the highest share with 24%. Packaging, flexible and rigid, also have a 24% share in total, followed by automotive and transport with 16% (mainly epoxy resins, PUR and aliphatic polycarbonates), building and construction with 14% (mainly epoxy resins and PA), consumer goods with 9% (mainly starch-containing polymer compounds, PP and casein polymers). The market segments agri- and horticulture, electrics and electronics as well as functional and others have a market share of under 5%, respectively. www.bio-based.eu/markets www.european-bioplastics.org/market MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

PLASTICS AND ENVIRONMENT

NEWS Failings of the collection strategy

Lack of collection infrastructure blights European plastic bottle recycling Europe is falling behind on its race to meet the European Union target of 90% collection of plastic bottles by 2030, according to a recent research by ICIS on the European rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) industry. Results show that progress has been made, but this progress is being threatened by inadequate collection strategies and high contamination levels when it comes PET bottles.

Overall, the region saw a recycling rate of 46% (+2% on the rate in 2018). “This is a marginal improvement, but still less than half of the bottles put into the market are recycled”, said Helen McGeough, senior analyst of Plastic Recycling at ICIS. “Given that PET is one of the most recyclable polymers in the market and the recycling infrastructure is more mature than other polymers, the question remains as to why this is not advancing to higher recycling rates. This reflects the wider issues facing the sector in terms of a collection and sorting infrastructure managed principally by national governments that have not invested in systems to manage the proliferation in waste composition and consequently can pro-

Figure 1 - PET bottle collection rates in 2019. Lack of harmonisation in collection systems produces varied rates across Europe

Source: ICIS, December 2020

duce poor quality recyclables”.

Collection volumes of post-consumer PET bottles reached 2.2 million tons in 2019, with an increase of 5% on 2018, which is the highest growth rate in several years. However, the overall collection rate across the region increased just 1%, to 64% in 2019, so over a third of post-consumer bottles remain uncollected.

The PET recycling industry responded to the boom in demand for rPET supply during 2018 by increasing its capacity by 11%.

However, not only did collection rates not match this growth in capacity but nor did the availability of the highest quality colour-

less bales. Although the feedstock supply may have increased in volume, so too did contamination levels. The average yield across the region was 69.5% in 2019, down from 71% in 2018.

According to McGeough this was “unsurprising given the reduction of PET waste exports to China, due to the waste import ban, and pushback from other Asian markets unable and, or, unwilling to accept shipments and become a dumping ground for the rest of the world. These typically lower-quality materials have since been absorbed into the domestic waste stream and contribute to the overall reduction in yield”.

Figure 2 - rPET usage by end market application. Food contact bottles absorb a third of rPET supply in 2019, a volume increase of 40%

Source: ICIS, December 2020

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The key drivers to the rPET market are brand pledges and legislation, mainly the SUP Directive which mandates the use of recycled content in bottles, pushing the supply increasingly towards the bottle market. The bottle industry must achieve 25% recycled content in PET bottles by 2025 (under SUP Directive), and the study shows growth in the rPET penetration of the food contact bottle market at 14.5%, rising from 10.7% in 2018.

However, this is still over 10% below the mandated target and way below the ambitions of influential brands going way beyond these levels, up to 100% for segments of their portfolios.

The ICIS report also showed that in 2019 the share of rPET supply absorbed by the food contact bottle market rose to 32% compared with 25% in 2018, reflecting this trend and pull through the supply chain from significant beverage brands ambition to offer more sustainable packaging for their product as consumer pressure continued to build after the extremely high profile of plastics pollution in the natural environment, often cited as the Blue Planet effect. www.icis.com MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

PLASTICS AND ENVIRONMENT NEWS A new collaborative project

VinylPlus Med accelerates sustainability in healthcare Adequate sorting and recycling of non-infectious plastic waste can significantly reduce the environmental impact of hospitals and their operational costs. Building on the success of the VinylPlus-funded RecoMed recycling scheme of PVC masks and tubing, the voluntary commitment VinylPlus now launches VinylPlus Med - a collaborative partnership to accelerate sustainability in European healthcare.

PVC is the most common plastic used in life-saving disposable medical devices including oxygen and anaesthetic masks, tubing, IV and dialysis bags. Many of these devices, used once and for a short period of time on non-in-

fectious patients, can be recycled.

VinylPlus Med is developing a recycling scheme for single-use PVC medical devices in Belgium to help hospitals sort their PVC medical waste stream. The scheme will focus on clean and Reach-compliant PVC waste that can be recycled into a wide range of value products marketed across Europe. “Starting with a pilot project in Belgium, we are excited to make medical plastics more circular together with our partners”, stated Brigitte Dero, managing director of VinylPlus.

In partnership with the Europe Hospitals, the high-quality PVC waste of three dialysis facilities will be collected and recycled. The project will also partner with Rene-

wi as the waste manager and Raff Plastics as the recycler. All Belgian VinylPlus Med partners are located within a radius of 120 km, to minimise transport distances and thus mitigate carbon footprint.

Covid-19 has highlighted the crucial role played by single-use plastic medical devices in the prevention and control of infection in hospitals. The surge in the need of such disposable items has shed light on the challenges of properly managing and discarding them after use.

“At the Europe Hospitals, our focus so far has been on energy consumption with the goal to continuously reduce our cost and environmental footprint. Now we

Aimed at accelerating sustainability in healthcare across Europe through the recycling of discarded single-use PVC medical devices, the project VinylPlus Med brings together hospitals, waste managers, recyclers and the PVC industry

want to concentrate more on the efficient management of our plastic waste. Our single-use plastic medical devices that we use everyday should be recycled. Our staff is motivated to enhance the sustainability performance of our healthcare facilities. We all believe that it is our responsibility to save money as well as preserve resources and the environment”, commented Evelyn Vass, operational director at the Europe Hospitals. www.vinylplus.eu

Versalis’ product range for sustainability

ISCC Plus certification for production from bionaphtha and chemical recycling

The ISCC Plus certification process, launched at Versalis in 2020, will be extended to other Italian and overseas plants during the year, demonstrating the tangibility of circular economy strategy which also aims to promote the use of sustainable raw materials

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The Italian chemical company Versalis (ENI Group) has obtained ISCC Plus certification for monomers, intermediates, polymers and elastomers produced with sustainable raw materials, from bionaphtha and chemical recycling, at the Brindisi, Porto Marghera, Mantua, Ferrara and Ravenna (all in Italy) plants.

This represents an important step towards the goal of putting decarbonised and circular products on the market with a new “bio attributed” and “bio-circular attributed” range made from bionaphtha, and “circular attributed” in the case where the raw material is a “recycled oil”, a pyrolysis oil obtained from the chemical recycling process of mixed plastic waste.

Bionaphtha will be made available through Versalis’ integration with Eni, which has transformed two refineries into biorefineries, in Venice Porto Marghera and in Gela, guaranteeing the supply of sustainable raw ma-

terials from vegetable oils, exhausted food oils or other types of organic waste.

ISCC Plus is part of the ISCC certification scheme (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification, approved by the European Union), which is voluntary and allows companies throughout the supply chain to monitor and be able to demonstrate the sustainability of their products based on the sustainability, traceability and mass balance requirements.

Certified products from Versalis include monomers and intermediates such as ethylene, propylene, benzene, styrene, butadiene, and polymers such as polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE, LLDPE), styrenics (PS, EPS and ABS), and elastomers (SBR, BR, EPDM) that do not differ in their chemical composition and physical-mechanical performance from those made from fossil-based raw materials. www.versalis.eni.com

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A new organisation to report on Europe’s plastics circularity

Unity is strength - PolyREC is born Petcore Europe, PlasticsEurope, Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE), and VinylPlus have mutually agreed to join forces to form the organisation PolyREC, which will monitor, verify, and report their plastics recycling and uptake data in Europe. This will be achieved by using a common data collection system - RecoTrace. PolyREC will ensure traceability, transparency, and trust in recycled materials along the entire plastics value chain.

PolyREC will use VinylPlus’ 20 years’ experience and expertise that it has in becoming the industry standard for collecting credible and reliable recycling data via its data collection vehicle Recovinyl. “Circularity of plastics is a key opportunity to enhance plastics products sustainability.

The European PVC industry, through VinylPlus, has learnt the importance of monitoring and progress reporting. We are therefore pleased to share this long-time experience and work collaboratively with all plastic industry sectors to raise traceability and transparency in recycled

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plastics along the entire plastics value chain”, said Brigitte Dero, VinylPlus managing director.

The new organisation comes at a time where monitoring polymers circularity is paramount, especially in the context of the Circular Plastics Alliance (CPA). This system will be able to fulfil the CPA objectives, legislative traceability demands, and industry wide plastic recycling pledges. PRE’s president, Ton Emans, elaborated by saying that “setting up mechanisms

that evidence progress in driving plastic circularity in a transparent manner is a must if we are to meet the EU targets. Today’s announcement is a significant step towards a credible and systemic approach to genuinely improve plastic production, collection, and recycling”.

Petcore Europe’s managing director Christian Crépet announced that as “Petcore Europe has been pioneering the monitoring of PET recycling in Europe since the 1990’s, its participation into a joint monitoring recycled plastics scheme for the EU is both timely and logical”.

“We are very pleased to join forces with key plastic value chain partners in setting up this unique cross-polymer monitoring system while benefiting from the longstanding and proven Recovinyl system. Capitalising on our solid experience in providing key figures of the European plastic industry, we see this as a key milestone in our journey towards circular plastics”, concluded Virginia Janssens, PlasticsEurope managing director. www.plasticsrecyclers.eu

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INTERVIEW WITH FABRIZIO POLI, CEO OF FAP

FACING OUR TIME WITH THE OPTIMISM THAT COMES FROM EXPERIENCE A WIDE-RANGING INTERVIEW WITH FABRIZIO POLI, CEO OF FAP, WHO RUNS THIS FAMILY FIRM TOGETHER WITH HIS BROTHER FRANCESCO, THE SALES DIRECTOR. AFTER BUILDING EXTRUSION PLANTS FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, THE COMPANY NOW SPECIALISES IN FOAM PROCESSING MACHINES

BY LUCA MEI

“T

he best advertisement for FAP has always been innovative, high-quality machines, on which clients can build the success of their enterprises”. These are words of Luigi Poli, who in 1987 founded FAP, a company based in Besana in Brianza (Monza Brianza, Italy) that builds extrusion plants and specialises, in particular, in systems for producing foam film. His words perfectly encapsulate the philosophy that, stemming from the typical Brianza mindset (a trait recognised both in Italy and internationally), has always guided this company. Indeed, Brianza people are committed to their work, even when the going gets tough, and they regard their products as the best possible testimony both to themselves and to their businesses.

In 2020, the reins of the company passed to Fabrizio and Francesco Poli. The two brothers both joined the family firm when they were very young. Accordingly, after lengthy “apprenticeships” in the various departments and in various MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

roles, they are now entrepreneurs with considerable experience to bring to bear, despite their still relatively young age. Today, they are engaged not only in the day-to-day running of the company, but also in a drive to raise the level of every aspect of its operations through major investments of the kind that, especially right now, demand a good deal of courage and expertise.

Clearly, Fabrizio and Francesco have both these qualities in spades.

To get all this straight from the horse’s mouth, we interviewed Fabrizio Poli. Our thanks go to him for giving us his time. This is what he had to say.

LET US START BY TALKING ABOUT YOUR SPECIALISATION, NAMELY THE CONSTRUCTION OF LINES FOR THE EXTRUSION OF FOAM MATERIALS. COULD YOU OUTLINE THE STATE OF THE ART IN THIS FIELD AND YOUR OWN MOST RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS?

“FAP has more than thirty years of experience in the foam film sector. Through our research and development laboratory in France, we study new applications made possible by materials that have yet to reach the market, so that our

A stage in the production of polyethylene foam film on a FAP line

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technology can be made suitable for processing them. In other words, we always try to anticipate the needs of processors and the market, to be sure we are ready”.

HAS INDUSTRY 4.0 CHANGED THE PLANTS YOU BUILD AND YOUR COMPANY’S INTERNAL PROCESSES? IF SO, HOW? “For years now, the manufacturing sector has been going through an unprecedented process of transformation thanks to technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence and augmented reality. At FAP, we have invested heavily in Industry 4.0, improving both access to data and the management of the extrusion process, so as to allow our customers to become more competitive, especially in terms of efficiency, precision and reduction of production costs”.

HOW IS YOUR REFERENCE MARKET FARING IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES? “We experienced a slowdown in March 2020 but bounced back almost immediately. Even though all sectors have been impacted by the

Brothers Fabrizio and Francesco Poli in the company’s production department

The CEO of Fap, Fabrizio Poli (on the left), with the brother Francesco Poli, sales director of Fap

Covid-19 crisis, fortunately our customer base is made up of companies that operate across a range of different ones, and have therefore felt the effects of this difficult situation less than they might otherwise have done. Thanks to their very high technical performance levels, foam films are used widely in numerous industrial fields, such as packaging, construction and automotive.

What is more, as an effect of imminent restrictions on the marketing and use of food containers made of polystyrene foam, we are seeing an increase in the demand for 100% recyclable solutions from food companies that are going to have to replace their products in polystyrene foam. We are therefore carrying out numerous tests in our laboratory in order to be able to offer our customers the best solutions to do just this. Our estimates suggest that 2021 will see our turnover further increasing on previous years”.

SPEAKING OF COVID-19, WHAT REPERCUSSIONS HAS THE PANDEMIC HAD ON YOU, AND HOW DID YOU ORGANISE YOUR WORK IN THE FACE OF THE EMERGENCY? DID YOU HAVE TO CLOSE OR REORGANISE YOUR PRODUCTION IN ANY WAY?

“We closed the company in April 2020. At that time, of course, there was widespread fear, a lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and no clear indications on the issue of workplace organisation. For us, like all companies, prioritising the health of our employees and collaborators has meant reorganising things, in other words, redistributing work spaces, sanitising common areas, making sure everyone has access to PPE and sanitising gels, and setting up training courses on safety protocols to follow within the company”.

COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR INVESTMENTS IN THE RENOVATION AND EXPANSION OF YOUR FACTORY? WHAT STAGE ARE YOU AT, AND WHAT INTERVENTIONS ARE PLANNED? “Work on our new production site, which will also be in Besana in Brianza, is scheduled to begin in May. The project involves expanding the production area, which is now insufficient to manage our ever-increasing number of orders.

Furthermore, we will be moving our research and development laboratory to Italy, thereby expanding our international research centre here”.

YOU HAVE RECENTLY UNDERGONE AN IMAGE AND COMMUNICATIONS MAKEOVER. COULD YOU TELL US MORE? “We are a serious company, committed to our customers, and this, together with our achievements, says a lot about us. However, we wanted to make sure our story also reaches those who still don’t know us. It has always been widely accepted that a company’s logo is an essential element in defining its image.

We have therefore had ours restyled and also given our website a makeover, to make it simpler and more modern. We are very pleased with the result and feel that our new logo really reflects what we are today: a dynamic family business with a long history of success, as well as solid and constantly growing international experience”.

THESE NEW INVESTMENTS SUGGEST THAT YOU ARE REALLY STRIVING TO FORGE AHEAD WITH YOUR BUSINESS. WILL THIS DRIVE INCLUDE THE RECRUITMENT OF NEW TECHNICAL AND SALES STAFF?

Finished foam material is wound onto reels by FAP-built winders

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“We have already embarked on a quest to find new people to add to our R&D and technical teams. We have started this process early because we attach great importance to the recruitment side of things. After all, the daily efforts of our staff are the foundation of the company’s success”. www.fapitaly.com MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

RELIABLE PROCESSES, INFINITE SOLUTIONS. MAXIMUM FLOW RATE LARGE PROCESSING WINDOW HOMOGENOUS TEMPERATURE PROFILE FREQUENT COLOUR CHANGES LEAK FREE SYSTEM HIGH PERFORMANCE INJECTION INCLUDING PCR, BIO BASED AND BIODEGRADABLE EASY MAINTENANCE HIGH QUALITY OF MOULDED PARTS OPEN AND VALVE GATE INJECTION

THERMOPLAY SPA | Pont Saint Martin | Italy | tel. +39 0125 8031 | thermoplay@thermoplay.com

PROCESSING MACHINERY

ARBURG AT CHINAPLAS 2021

DIGITALISATION, LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION, EFFICIENCY THE CHINESE MARKET AND THUS CHINAPLAS ARE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE FOR ARBURG. IN SHENZHEN (APRIL 13-16, 2021) THE COMPANY EXHIBITED HIGH-END MACHINE TECHNOLOGY AND TURNKEY SOLUTIONS, FOCUSING ON THE TOPICS OF DIGITALISATION AND RESOURCE CONSERVATION. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS WERE THE FREEFORMER FOR THE INDUSTRIAL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AND A SMART ALLROUNDER IN THE “FACTORY OF THE FUTURE”

“C

hina is the world’s largest market for injection moulding machines and the demand for high-end machines and turnkey systems is growing. With our product range, as well as our arburgXworld and arburgGREENworld programs for digitalisation and resource conservation, we are in a pole position. In Shenzhen, we are presenting not only sophisticated exhibits used for LSR processing, lightweight construction and additive manufacturing, but also a turnkey solution for medical technology and our arburgXworld customer portal. This is a diversity that other companies would be hard pressed to match”, said Zhao Tong, managing director of the Arburg organisations in China.

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

ALLROUNDER GOLDEN ELECTRIC FOR LSR APPLICATIONS At Chinaplas 2021, Arburg presented a LSR version of an Allrounder from the Golden Electric series to the international trade fair scene for the first time. The economic electric machine is perfect for the demands of the Asian market. The exhibit manufactured demanding lenses for the automotive industry, which are used in the matrix headlights for passenger cars, for example.

The turnkey system, built around an Allrounder 470 E Golden Electric with a clamping force of 1,000 kN, was equipped with a Multilift Select of Arburg and a six-axis robot from the Chinese company AID, as well as a 2-cavity mould from local partner Concraft.

At Chinaplas 2021, an Allrounder of the Golden Electric series manufactured high-quality lenses with 33 optical fibres each

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PROCESSING MACHINERY With the fibre-direct compounding (FDC) method, long glass fibres from roving can be added directly to the melt

With a laser, each component was marked with a DM code, which can be used to view the manufacturing data in the arburgXworld customer portal. This ensures 100% traceability of each individual component.

DEMANDING TURNKEY SOLUTION FOR MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY The coronavirus pandemic caused the market for in-vitro diagnostics to skyrocket. At Chinaplas 2021, Arburg demonstrated the fully automated manufacturing of pipette tips. An Allrounder 470 H with 1,000 kN clamping force and a hot runner mould from the Chinese company Jestar could produce 48 tips per 6-second cycle. Arburg developed the turnkey system in cooperation with local automation partners, and it has been designed to produce several product variants. The automation consisted of three modules for removal, camera inspection and order picking. The picking module was able to automatically fill gaps resulting from rejected parts with good parts.

with 4,000 kN clamping force produced test plates made of PP reinforced with 30% long glass fibres. A linear Multilift Select robotic system was responsible for performing the handling tasks.

INDUSTRIAL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING WITH THE FREEFORMER

FDC PROCEDURE FOR INNOVATIVE LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION Using fibre-direct compounding (FDC), Arburg demonstrated a very economic and resource-saving lightweight construction application. A lateral feeder cut glass fibre roving into lengths before adding them directly into the liquid melt. The advantages of this innovative injection moulding process include high material availability, a cost reduction of up to 40% and the option of actively tailoring component properties.

In Shenzhen, a hydraulic Allrounder 820 S

The Freeformer 300-3X has three discharge units, making it possible to produce complex and resilient functional parts in hard/soft combinations by means of Arburg Plastic Freeforming

The plastic granules processed in injection moulding can also be used in Arburg Plastic Freeforming (APF). At the trade fair, a Freeformer 300-3X combined two components and support material to create a functional component, using a hard/soft combination. The open system is also suitable for very soft and certified original materials, and is perfect for demanding applications, for example in the medical technology and the automotive industry. www.arburg.com

arburgXworld

News about the customer portal and digitalisation

The internationally available arburgXworld customer portal is continuously expanded with new apps and functions

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The German company Arburg is one of the industry’s pioneers in the field of digitalisation. The “arburgXworld” program contains the entire range of digital products and services. With its numerous apps and configuration levels, the customer portal with the same name provides extensive digital support.

At Chinaplas, all injection moulding exhibits were equipped with an IIoT gateway and networked via the Arburg host computer sys-

tem (ALS). In the “Factory of the Future”, the German manufacturer additionally showcased real-life application examples that illustrated the advantages offered by digitalisation and automation in injection moulding. There an Allrounder 470 E Golden Electric with networked IT equipment manufactured plugs for the automotive industry - completely automatically and with full traceability.

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

FLEXO PRINTING MACHINE FFS SUPERFLEXOL 4 COLOURS GEARLESS - 1000MM.

Production line for Industrial bags – Heavy Duty (FFS) Automatic unwinder and revolver winder for up to 1500 mm. diameter reels 2-band embossing & gussetting unit Printing speed up to 300 mt/min.

Since 1961

FLEXOL 6 COLOURS GEARLESS - 2200MM. Inking through closed chamber doctor blades Automatic pre-register at machine start and printing unit motorized forwarding with job memorization and recall Printing width 2200 mm.

Printing speed up to 300 mt/min.

Via IV Novembre, 153 - 21058 Solbiate Olona (VA) Italy - Tel. +39 0331 64 90 12 info@saldoflex.com - www.saldoflex.com

AUTOMATIC BAG MAKING MACHINE MODULA SERIES: 800 -1100 -1300 -1500 MM. High speed production of bottom seal bags, T-Shirt bags and Block Notes NON STOP production for bags up 700 mm. and with PAUSE operation up to 2000 mm.

Stacking table for up to 8 lines bags collection (with or without pins) Film feeding speed up to 180 mt/min.

Since 1961

ROLL-FLEX R-3000 | 1100 – 1300 – 1500 MM. High speed production of pre-cut bottom seal rolled-up bags, taped with gummed paper Production for bags up to 2000 mm. long Automatic winder unit with taping devices up to 4 tracks Film feeding speed up to 180 mt/min

Via IV Novembre, 153 - 21058 Solbiate Olona (VA) Italy - Tel. +39 0331 64 90 12 info@saldoflex.com - www.saldoflex.com

PROCESSING MACHINERY

ZHAFIR IN THE RANGE FROM 400 TO 33000 kN

THIRD GENERATION ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY WITH THE THIRD TECHNOLOGY GENERATION, THE STRONGEST ZHAFIR FAMILY OF ALL TIME ENTERS THE MARKET WITH CLAMPING FORCES FROM 400 TO 33,000 KN AND PINPOINT SOLUTIONS FROM ALL-ELECTRIC TO HYBRID. HIGHLY PRECISE, ENERGY-SAVING AND ATTRACTIVELY PRICED. FROM DYNAMIC HIGH-SPEED MACHINES TO THE NEW, BIG - AND YET AFFORDABLE - ELECTRIC INJECTION UNIT

T

he latest technology generation of the premium brand Zhafir (Haitian Group) distributed in Italy and Romania by the IMG company of Capriano del Colle (Brescia) offers beneficial updates as well as new developments in hardware and software. Optimized drives and an open integration strategy for robotics and automation increase the scope for investments and in production.

Ongoing improvements and the consistent development of standard components such as motors result in higher performance but also higher overall resource savings.

The all-electric Venus series in the third generation of Zhafir again provides the basic technology for all other electric Zhafir series machines. The highly flexible Zeres series which already addresses the widest range of applications due to its integrated hydraulics for core pull applications - has also been extended by specifically designed solutions for fast processes or multi-component tasks.

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

One of Zhafir’s new developments is the intelligent combination of hardware and software. A very innovative example is provided by the electric injection unit with its 4-spindle principle. “Here you can see the perfect symbiosis of software and hardware”, says

Zhang Bin, CEO of Zhafir Plastics Machinery. “The challenge was the exact synchronization of all four spindles. This is only possible with extremely powerful, reliable but also flexible components that are controlled by an intelligent control centre”.

An example of the VE1200III-300 press, which finds one of its main application areas in the medical sector

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OPEN INTEGRATION WITH CONNECTIVITY PLUS AND MOTION PLUS The third technology generation is no longer just a hardware update. Rather, it is a system platform with intelligent and extremely fast adaptive software.

The in-house developed software solutions offer the processor very high flexibility in the process optimization of all axes. Based on the OPC-Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) standards (for platform, system architecture, communication and data transfer), they enable extremely open integration and connectivity with all common interfaces and seamless connection of industrial automation or any MES system.

Connectivity Plus Fu Nanhong, chief engineer of Haitian International, explains: “We provide the customer an intelligent machine system that is open to all possibilities while leaving him free choice of integration partners”. This allows the highly standardized Zhafir machines to be integrated into automated processes, cells and production lines as required - maximum flexibility with the best possible productivity.

Connectivity Plus stands out for: - versatile communication interfaces and device integration functions; - interoperability protocols and information models for coordinating the injection moulding machine with peripheral equipment and automation cell; - business to machine: integration into vertical management systems; - OPC Unified Architecture: interoperability as standard for secure and reliable data exchange in the field of industrial automation; - enhanced data compatibility with the ability to transform heterogeneous data from edge computers.

Motion Plus Motion Plus is the bundling of already established and new developments for intelligent motion control. “This may not sound

Tailor-made standardization: efficient and intelligent processes for making large batches help standardize and make the production of customized components cheaper

spectacular at first, but given the enormous manufacturing power and service capacities, this technological advance is taking on new significance”, says Fu Nanhong. “Motion Plus combines hardware and software into a high-performance symbiosis”.

OPTIMIZED CLAMPING TOGGLE AND NEW INJECTION UNIT Even though the technological advance in the Zhafir series is not excessively big the Zhafir Series has been continuously developed - the electric technology in third generation presents itself even more customer-oriented thanks to an optimized toggle design and new injection unit - especially in the upper clamping force segment.

A very innovative example is the new electric injection unit with 4-spindle principle. “Here you can see the perfect interaction of soft-

The new four-axis electric injection unit represents a very innovative example of the perfect integration between software and hardware (in the picture a JE108000III-5200 press)

38

ware and hardware”, says Fu Nanhong. “The challenge was to exactly synchronize the software and hardware for all four spindles.

The multi-axis control technology is based on servo torque direct drives. This is only possible with extremely powerful, reliable, but also flexible components that are controlled by an intelligent control centre”.

Amongst the all-electric machines, the VE1200III-300, a Venus series III very dynamic with highest precision and up to 70% energy savings, is particularly suited for the production of medical parts, while the press ZE2300F-830, a Zeres series F with integrated hydraulic drive, represents the ideal dynamic solution for the production of packaging.

AN OUTLOOK TO THE FUTURE “Efficient and smart manufacturing processes and high-volume production make customized components a cost-efficient standard”, says Fu Nanhong. “We could also call it tailor-made standardization”. This opens up completely new perspectives for the entire company. “Customized drives, intelligent software and the unique manufacturing power in the Haitian Group allow us to think even larger in terms of electric drives and to further expand the still attractively priced range of electric concepts, especially large clamping forces and, above all, large and affordable injection units”, Nanhong concludes. www.zhafir.com - www.img.macchine.it MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

INDUSTR 4.0 Enabled REAL-TIME SYSTEM STATUS

ETHERNET CONNECTIVITY

REMOTE MONITORING

SMART FACTORY COMPATIBILITY

SENSORS SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE DIAGNOSTICS

Enhance the concept of pipe extrusion.

The investment in INDUSTRY 4.0 brings about an increased productivity and quality of the processes, and as a consequence a reduction of the overhead costs. Tecnomatic’s PIPE 4.0 is the most up-to-date and state-of-the-art dedicated software in the market. INDUSTRY 4.0 allows preventive maintenance procedures and the recording of the efficiency of the machines themselves, but in particular it monitors all production activities, providing precise and timely data on order management, production phases and estimates and calculates production costs.

TECHNOLOGIES FOR PLASTIC PIPES PROCESSING

Tecnomatic Srl - Bergamo (Italy) tel. +39 035 310375 - tecnomaticsrl.net

PROCESSING MACHINERY

TECNODINAMICA TURNS FORTY

FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE OF EPS TECHNOLOGIES A FEW WORDS WITH ADRIANO DE ROSSO AND GRAZIANO FREGOLENT, FOUNDING PARTNERS OF TECNODINAMICA, WHICH IN 2021 TURNS FORTY YEARS IN BUSINESS AND REPRESENTS A TRAIT D’UNION THAT JOINS THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR PROCESSING EPS

T

here is an indissoluble connection between the world of EPS and Tecnodinamica, the company founded in 1981 close to Treviso, Italy, surrounded by the wonderful scenario of Prosecco hills recently named a World Heritage Site

by Unesco. Worldwide production of components for thermal and acoustic insulation, for shock protection, but also scenic and design elements, for forty years now, is achieved thanks to technologies and know-how developed within this “technological boutique”.

MacPlas talked about this with Adriano De Rosso and Graziano Fregolent, as two of the associate founders. “We started with simple hot-wire cutting machines for the domestic market and from that point we moved forward to meet the needs of our customers, but also motivated by our curiosity and desire to innovate. Recently we have integrat-

40

ed our portfolio with a new range of packaging technologies; we mention our 4 side stretch film wrapping machine, orbital and

bag system wrappers. All of them, as well as our machines, are fully designed and manufactured in our plants”, they started out.

Graziano Fregolent (on the left) and Adriano De Rosso

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

Example of EPS blocks production plant manufactured by Tecnodinamica

WHAT ARE THE DISTINCTIVE FACTORS THAT HAVE ALLOWED TECNODINAMICA TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE GLOBAL MARKET? “There could be many to mention. We think of the care to the customer, plant reliability, research and continuous improvement.

For sure the ability of providing customized products and services has played a very important role. Our customers rely on Tecnodinamica as a technological partner, with whom developing projects and innovating their own processes. The range of possibilities is extremely wide, including standard machines on catalogue, custom-made designs but, above all, specific solutions fully designed and ad-hoc manufactured for special applications. This customer-oriented approach is possible thanks to a complete and well-organized structure, which over time has maintained and developed within it all the necessary skills, from mechanical, electrical and software design, to construction, up to after-sales service”.

WHAT ABOUT THE NEAR FUTURE? “In the coming years we expect many challenges, the markets are evolving in an in-

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

creasingly dynamic and unpredictable way.

From an organizational and mindset standpoint, it will be essential to maintain flexibility and prompt response towards these changes. As far as technology is concerned, we continue to invest in research and development: new machines, new services and a strong focus on digitalization of processes”.

SOME EXAMPLES? “Virtual and Mixed Reality technologies have proven to be a key point for the remote support of customers and operators in a general lock-down situation. From here we start-

ed with the project “Service 4.0” which will take us in a few months to fully digitalize the service infrastructure and implement new and improved services for our customers in addition to already existing tools such as the remote assistance. Another relevant area of development concerns operator interfaces (HMI). For a year we started an important project that will revolutionize the experience of using our machines. The prototypes made have given a very positive feedback and soon even our customers will be able to see first hand this important news”. www.tecnodinamica.it

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THE ITALIAN COMPANY GAMMA MECCANICA IS REALIZING A NEW TEST CENTRE EQUIPPED WITH ITS NEW GENERATION TECHNOLOGY. AN IMPORTANT INVESTMENT TO ANSWER TO THE NEEDS OF BOTH CUSTOMERS AND MARKET AT THE SAME TIME

A WINNING COMBINATION FROM GAMMA MECCANICA

NEW GENERATION TECHNOLOGY FOR A NEW TEST CENTRE T

o meet the customers needs and to ensure precise and complete answers to them, the Italian company Gamma Meccanica, specialized in design and production of recycling lines for plastic materials, has decided to expand the internal lab and testing capabilities. The new structure will be set up to test the materials supplied by customers and to verify the quality of the processes. The companies interested in this service will have the possibility to test on different “pilot lines” the material they want to recycle. This will allow the customer to get all the useful data for the purchase of a line, knowing the best quality they will be able to achieve and what production can be guaranteed.

A NEW LABORATORY For many years the company has its own internal laboratory to give customers the opportunity to test materials they want to recover

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and to evaluate the type of system that best suits their needs. Furthermore, the laboratory allows companies to test new materials, and technical staff to continue developing lines that are increasing performance based on the needs of the market. Over time, the number of tests has become so high that Gamma

Meccanica decided to invest in a new factory where the new test centre will be set up and dedicated technical staff will be added. In the new laboratory there will be several lines for the exclusive use of tests, including a “configurable” GM 90 Tandem line and a GM 90 Compac line.

Some tools to analyse the materials recycled with Gamma Meccanica lines

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

A technician at work in the Gamma Meccanica laboratory

A SINGLE TANDEM LINE, TWO POSSIBLE CONFIGURATIONS The Tandem line will be dedicated to test highly printed, contaminated and wet plastic materials. It will be a line with many sensors to store operation and process data according to the different types of material. The basic model will consist in: conveyor belt with metal detector; cutter-compactor with feeding screw; primary extruder; screen changer for the first filtration; high-performance degassing chamber; adapter that will allow the creation of two different solutions. In the first case it will be possible to connect to the first extruder a second single screw extruder, another screen changer, a pelletizer and a weigh system. The other configuration includes a secondary twin-screw extruder: in this way the user will arrange the Tandem Plus model which in addition to the recycling process allows to enrich the material giving it an added value (upcycling).

The line will be also equipped with various accessories: roll feeder; dosing units for higher bulk density regrind materials; dosing units for master; melt pump; device for high vacuum pumps with water recovery tank; condensers;

ing screw; extruder with L/D 35:1 ratio; automatic screen changer; TDA 4.0 pelletizer; weigh system. This model will be equipped with many options in comparison to a standard model, such as: roll feeder; bypass for ground materials with higher bulk density; dosing system for master; powder dosing system; 3-way vibrating screen.

For materials that have high fluidity such as PET, PA etc., the tests will be carried out with the new TI 2.3 underwater pelletizer that Gamma Meccanica has recently redesigned to recycle these types of materials.

A STRUCTURE FOR A LOT OF TESTS lateral dosing units (in the case of the Tandem Plus configuration); TDA 4.0 pelletizer; 3-way vibrating screen; in-line viscometer.

NOT ONLY TANDEM Along with the Tandem line there will be also a GM 90 Compac line for less contaminated materials coming from post-industrial waste.

This line will consist in: conveyor belt with metal detector; cutter-compactor with feed-

The new test centre will be equipped with all the tools to analyse the material, and, when necessary, to improve its characteristics. It will be possible to perform: moisture tests to measure the humidity contained in the material; density tests; rheological tests; melt flow index tests to measure the fluidity of the material; Intrinsic Viscosity tests on PET; calorimetric tests; thermogravimetric tests; oven tests to determine the quantity of impurities in PET flakes. www.gamma-meccanica.it

PICK YOUR FIMIC’S SLICE METALLIC MESH SCREEN from 80 to 2.000 micron

LASER SCREEN

from 80 to 300 micron

PUNCHED SCREEN

from 400 to 2.000 micron

www.fimic.it

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

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NEWS Latest developments by Tecnomatic

Enhanced performances in XPE and PE-RT multilayer pipe extrusion Domestic plastic pipes have experimented a significant increment in their use in the market. The advances in research and development of materials have made nowadays the plastic pipes one of the solutions to choose for the water supply, due to the economic and balance that they represent. The advantages offered by plastic pipes are, among others, the absence of corrosion and the resistance to many chemical products. They are flexible and easy to install, they can be joined by fusion, and they are light, which favours their transport and handling.

Many years of experience in supplying lines for multilayer pipes place Tecnomatic products amongst those most reliable and performing for producing structural pipes for such applications. Nonetheless the company has not stopped to innovate and has recently delivered Athena five-layer die-head

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The assembling of the high-speed 5-layer line

a multi-purpose line to a main European processor for producing both PE-RT and XPE pipes with five layers.

The key component of the line is a further developed model of the Athena die-head series.

Based on a radial distributors design, it has been optimized

with slight modification to reach even more flexibility and accuracy in the distribution, especially important to shape the EVOH and adhesive into very thin and uniform layers.

The radial distributors do not have any dead zones or edges where material could stop and

grant an easy cleaning and rapid assembling/disassembling operation. Radial spirals allow low pressure losses and high flexibility in terms of layers structure (thick or thin layers) and number of layers, while their short flow path leads to reduced residence time and rapid material and colour changes.

The line, which has a working range from 8 to 32 mm, is characterized by performance up to 60 m/min for the five layers in XPE or PE-RT, but it has also the peculiarity to work PE pipes in two layers up to 63 mm, by means of an additional die-head Venus Multi 2.

To reach such high performance every part of the line has been studied in minute detail.

The extrusion line configuration consists in a main extruder Atlas 60.30 Evo, part of the revised series of extruder in 30 L/D which has been further optimized for higher output, melt homogeneity and energy consumption, while coextruders Mizar and Atlas 30 are used for adhesive, EVOH and external layers. All the extruders work in synchronization mode and are integrated and fed by a gravimetric system for a total of eight dosing components. An ultrasonic wall thickness station continuously controls all the pipe parameters, as eccentricity, wall thickness, diameter and ovality during the production process to ensure a top-quality pipe. To manage the high-speed coiling, the line is completed with a fully automatic coiler of the company FB Balzanelli, especially designed to coil both PE-RT, XPE and PE pipes. www.tecnomaticsrl.net MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

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NEWS Tomra and Stadler UK chosen by Viridor

A 15.4 million-pound investment to upgrade a recycling plant In 2019, Viridor, one of the UK leading recycling, resource and waste management companies, undertook a 15.4 million pounds upgrade of its Masons Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) near Ipswich, modernising the facility as part of a ten-year Viridor-Suffolk County Council contract renewal. Leading plant designer and builder, Stadler UK, was appointed by Viridor as one of two main contract partners for the major transformation of the Masons MRF. In its tender documentation for the upgrade, Viridor specified Tomra Sorting Recycling sensor-based sorting solutions.

By investing heavily in the plant upgrade, Viridor has been able to transform its operations, increasing capacity from 65,000 to 75,000 tpa (equivalent to 17 tons per hour). The plant is now operating at full capacity and at optimum processing levels. Output quality has also improved considerably, thanks to the new Tomra equipment installed during the

15.4 million pounds have been invested for upgrading the recycling plant of Viridor, increasing its capacity from 65,000 to 75,000 tpa

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A view of the upgraded Viridor plant

upgrade. In figures, the plant is now able to reach 98.5% purity on newspapers and pamphlets and 95% for polymers such as PET, HDPE and mixed plastics.

The infeed material for the Masons MRF is composed by dry mixed recyclables (plastics, paper and cardboard) from Suffolk County Council. On arrival at the plant, the infeed material is first processed using brand new mechanical separation equipment then goes through an air separation process before arriving at the newly installed Tomra Autosort optical sensor-based sorting units. All 12 Autosort units have been programmed to sort and recover mixed plastics by polymer into high purity single stream plastics (PET, HDPE, hard plastics, film, pots, tubs and trays) and mixed fibres (cardboard, mixed paper and newspapers and pamphlets).

The Autosort system is a hi-

ghly ultra-compact versatile sensor-based sorting system which can be used across a vast range of material sorting applications.

The system brings together the very latest in Tomra technologies to deliver advanced accuracy of complex sorting tasks at high throughput rates. Capable of separating materials which are difficult or even impossible to separate using conventional technologies, Autosort consistently delivers high performance sorting accuracy across all target fractions.

Steven Walsh, sales engineer at Tomra Sorting Recycling, commented: “Masons is now amongst the most highly automated plants in the UK. Prior to the refurb, this Viridor site could only sort mixed plastics for further processing at the Rochester PRF and it was extremely manual sorting focused, with hand sorting used for all cardboard and refi-

ned paper grades. Now though, by integrating Tomra equipment and benefitting from Tomra technical expertise, the plant’s advanced automated capabilities mean Viridor can capture superior quality materials ready to feed back into the circular economy”.

Viridor recycling director, Derek Edwards, said: “This is by far the largest investment in a UK MRF in recent years. The Masons investment plan has been specifically designed not only to achieve greater capacity but to match the quality of its output with market requirements. The plant now has the same infeed material as before, but the upgrade has resulted in us being able to cope with an additional 10,000 tons of material per annum. We are delighted with the performance of the plant and its equipment since the upgrade was completed”. www.tomra.com www.w-stadler.de MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

PROCESSING MACHINERY The new Roto LOP RS 2000 F-6

NEWS A Presma rotary moulding machine for solid silicone

The challenge to traditional moulding in the rubber and silicone sector continues The competitiveness and efficiency of the automated production process in the name of quality and safety represent, for Presma, the foundations on which it builds proposals that increasingly meet the expectations of rubber and solid silicone processors. The company has recently introduced a specific rotary moulding machine for solid silicone. Due to the experience gained in the construction of static vertical moulding machines for an important Italian company, Presma convinced the same customer to evaluate the concept of a “multi-station unit” to reduce the downtime of curing and consequently increase the productivity.

The new Roto LOP RS 2000 F-6 is a six-station, vertical rotary injection moulding machine, equipped with a sliding lower mould half for insert loading and part unloading, with the horizontal injection unit, and with

a horizontal screw and punch injection unit.

The feeding of the silicone in loaves through a “pick and place” system ensures a precise transfer from the conveyor belt to the storage position, in front of the “punch cylinder” feeding the screw. The main advantage of such a configuration is the possibility of significantly reducing the cycle time compared to a single-station machine. After the injection into the mould, it is not necessary to wait for the compound to cure before unloading the product and then start again with another injection, because, with the mould still closed, the table rotates and brings the next mould to the injection position. The operation is repeated as many times as the number of stations and, at the end of the rotation cycle, the curing process of the material injected into the first mould is complete, allowing the product to be unloaded.

The widely achieved goal was the injection of 1500 g of silicone within a moulding cycle of 60 seconds. On the other hand, the cycle time of a single-station injection moulding machine could not be less than 360-380 s using 6/8-cavity moulds with a curing time of 300 seconds, when considering the moulding, ejection and insert positioning phases; the production that would be obtained is around 60-80 pieces/hour compared to the 120 pieces now obtained with the rotary solution, using six 2-cavity moulds. Further advantages are represented by an easier mould manufacturing and reduced sprues. The number of stations on the rotary table makes this technology very flexible. By installing different moulds, in fact, it is possible to obtain, in the same cycle, products of the same material which are different in shape and size. www.presma.it

The strength of a major group

High-tech solutions for the machining of technical items Business division of the Biesse Group, Biesse Advanced Materials focuses on the machining of advanced materials, composites and thermoformed materials. The group, which was founded in Pesaro in 1969, consists of four main business divisions covering the group’s four brands: Biesse, Intermac, Diamut and HSD. Backed by the strength and experience of a major industrial group that boasts 4,200 employees globally, the Biesse Advanced Materials division stands out for research and development, a dedicated technical office and the service and commercial presence provided by 39 branch offices. The cutting-edge innovation Biesse is known for derives directly from the high-tech solutions used in

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A particular of a Biesse machine working an advanced material component

its products, as well as from the group’s drive to invest in skilled human capital and the desire to expand and add to the company’s range and experience. Biesse has focused its attention on developing cutting edge solutions to meet market demand in the advance materials sector, which is seeing significant growth.

The Advanced Materials division offers solutions designed

to respond to a vast range of machining needs for the production of advanced technical items, components and specific manufacturing products with multiple fields of application.

A vast range of materials and components are used in different sectors: automotive, packaging, bottling lines, agri-food, and the automated handling of goods, to list just a few. When it comes to machining the vast range of materials demanded by the market, Biesse is the ideal partner, capable of handling rubber, PVC or plastic composites, silicone, polyethylene, and engineering polymers whose composition, behaviour, elasticity, finishing and hardness suit the most widely requested needs.

Always focused on the end

user, Biesse solutions are technologically competitive, easy to use, versatile and complete with all the optionals for machining any material currently present on the market. The business division is capable of completing the entire production process and offers technology for: precision cutting of sheets, thanks to the Selco Plast range of cutters; 3-axis or 5-axis precision milling of sheets, thanks to the Rover Plast range of machining centres; high-tech milling of medium and large components, thanks to the Materia range of machining centres; and of course precision water jet cutting thanks to the Primus Plast range of waterjet systems. www.biesse.com

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

BFM consolidates presence in the Middle East

Two Sirio S Plus delivered to Saudi Arabia posed of an inter-colour system and a drying box with electric or gas heating and a winder with different winding possibilities.

The automation platform has been designed by Bosch Rexroth.

This printing machine is a “right compromise” between costs and performances: in this case the use of IndraDyn MBT torque motors, which move the colour group composed of counter-roller-cliché-anilox, grants high dimensional compactness and the right printing precision. The use of the IndraDrive M digital series ensures constant position synchronism between the different printing elements, with consequent register maintenance both at high speeds and during accel-

A view of the 6-colour Sirio S Plus

eration and deceleration.

Initial registration is very quick and can also be done when the machine is stopped, significantly reducing energy and material waste. The technical construc-

tion solutions and the “cantilever systems” adopted for the change of both anilox and cliché “sleeves” have allowed reducing downtime work changeovers. www.bfm.it

made in promosrimini.com

Two Sirio S Plus flexographic printing machines, with 6 and 8 colours respectively, have been recently delivered by BFM to Saudi Arabia, thus consolidating its presence in the Middle East.

Sirio S Plus are 6 or 8 colours stack machines designed for printing, in line with the extruder or from reel to reel, on different plastic materials for the packaging market (but also suitable for paper materials). The printing length ranges from 350 to 1200 mm, with printing widths up to 1600 mm.

The line is composed of a fixed, shaft-less or revolver unwinder, 6 or 8 colours printing group with motorized counter-printing axis, electric grinding and pneumatic inking. The drying group is com-

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

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PROCESSING MACHINERY

NEWS Saldoflex and Elba together

An all-Italian converting partnership Two long-standing companies and world leader in the manufacture of plastic processing and printing machines, Elba and Saldoflex recently signed a partnership agreement that defines and outlines new synergies in the converting market, both in Italy and abroad.

The companies, founded in 1956 and 1961 respectively, boasting a total of 125 years of experience, had the intuition to share the enormous know-how and knowledge of their respective markets, creating an all-Italian collaboration that is the emblem of made in Italy.

By sharing and defining new commercial assets, the pur-

This is an important year for Plastiblow. In 1981, the company started producing blow-moulding machines as an independent company under the control of Plastimac Group. In 2001, at the K show, it exhibited its first fully electric blow-moulding machine: the road to low energy consumption, efficiency, greater precision, and reduction of noise, cycle time and maintenance interventions is opened. Therefore, 2021 marks forty years of machines installed all over the world for every application in the

Assembling at Saldoflex

2021 for Plastiblow

A year of anniversaries blow-moulding, and twenty years of continuous improvements that allowed it to build machines with the highest energy efficiency class (10 Euromap 46.1).

Today the technology applied to extruders and extrusion heads makes it possible to use more and more recycled plastic material for the central

A rendering of the new 2021 headquarters

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pose of this agreement is to further strengthen the visibility and success of the technological solutions proposed and to offer customers a product portfolio without equal in terms of range, quality and value in the printing and production of bags and shoppers.

Elba and Saldoflex, thanks to their widespread presence on the market, will guarantee their customers more extensive advice, by addressing them to the partner that will identify and provide them with the best technological solution. www.saldoflex.com www.elba-spa.it

layers with very minimal external and internal layers of virgin plastic, without affecting the aesthetic appearance and safety of the content. An important step towards a more sustainable and circular economy.

In this year of anniversaries, Plastiblow already partially achieved further shortterm goals: the expansion of the facility with the reorganization of space which is already bearing the first fruits in terms of production efficiency and reduction of delivery times; the strengthening of the aftersales service to meet the requirements of an increasingly extensive number of machines installed, thanks to the hiring of new technicians and joint-ventures with foreign partners; and finally the strengthening of the commercial team, with the addition of young, competent and full-of-enthusiasm area managers. www.plastiblow.it

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

Corotating twin screw extruders

Delicate on sensitive materials The corotating twin screw extruders built by Sara generate an extremely low amount of heat and reach high mixing performance levels with low energy consumption, as a result delivering finished products featuring excellent foam properties and improved cell and lambda structures.

The screws can be fed by means of an independent mechanism so that their adjustment does not affect output rates, while friction is extremely reduced thanks to the addition of heat from the outside, which is much easier to adjust. The positive conveying of the melt eliminates fluctuations and facilitates the dimensional control of the extrudate. This is also beneficial for the mixing action, which is carried out without overheating the material. The system also guarantees better dispersion and homogenization. Automatic cleaning is fast and thorough and is carried out without further overheating the material. As less energy is necessary to reach the rated pow-

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

er, the stress on the machine is reduced. Energy consumption is comparatively low since the actual value is very close to the required technical value.

Sara extruders are particularly suitable for processing highly sensitive polymers as well as for extruding parts that require low process temperatures, dry mixtures and materials that are difficult to feed or need to be completely degassed. Finally, with an appropriate screw configuration, it is also possible to use foaming agents in the same extruder.

The latest innovations from Sara include the RS80 twin-screw extrusion for processing PS, PE and PET foam, with an output capacity of 30 to 140 kg/hour, 75 mm centre distance, screws with a maximum diameter of 98 mm, an L/D ratio of 25/1 and a 30 kW main drive. www.sarasrl.eu

A version of the RS80 extruder

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ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

THE PERFECT VORTEX ACCORDING TO MIXACO

THE RECIPE FOR MIXING PVC IN HOT MIXERS, THE VORTEX DESCRIBES THE FLOW OF MATERIAL THAT MOVES INSIDE THE MIXING CHAMBER AND IS A MATERIAL-FREE ZONE CREATED BY SPEED AND GRAVITY. FOR THIS PURPOSE, THE BLADES AND THE CHAMBER ITSELF MUST HAVE A PARTICULAR DESIGN. THOSE PROPOSED

BY MIXACO ARE ABLE TO GENERATE THE SO-CALLED PERFECT VORTEX. THAT’S HOW

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

is created (radial vector). The material gets pressed to the side walls of the bowl and a vacuum is created in the middle. Therefore, the material is dragged to the shaft (horizontal vector) and pulled down (vertical vector), which creates the vortex. This is enhanced by the special engineered bowl design. In addition, turbulences created by the mixing tools improve friction and blending performance.

The Vortex can be affected by many factors during the mixing process and it is important to know the influences of each of these facMagic MP

W

hen it comes to high-quality and sign of mixing tools and vessels. high-performance mixing, there is In a vortex, there are different movements more than just raw materials in a (combined vectors). The bottom blade mainbowl with tools. In PVC mixing that means ly creates a vertical upwards movement and more than 10 batches/h with a superb ef- pushing the material to the sides, while the ficiency. When the desire is to obtain these middle tools only create a radial force. Due to outstanding performances, Mixaco proposes the velocity of the blades, a centrifugal force the perfect mixing vortex. In hot mixThe different movements in a vortex ers, the vortex is describing the flow of the material as it moves inside the mixing bowl. It is specified as a material-free zone, which is formed by the velocity and gravity achieved by the de-

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ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

Marco Marinello in Mixaco

Strengthening of the team for increasingly innovative products

tors. Some of the most common and easiest practices are the following: tip speed; filling level; blades.

TIP SPEED An easy way to control the vortex is the tip speed of the mixing tools. By changing the speed, the centrifugal force is strongly affected. The perfect tip speed depends on the raw materials, blade, and vessel design.

The best range of tip speed is always mentioned by the supplier. If the tip speed of the blades is too low (<20 m/s), there is no vacuum created in the middle of the bowl and no horizontal movement. Additionally, many times this will cause the mixer to start vibrating badly. If the tip speed is too high (35-40 m/s), the material is pushed up and to the side walls, while creating a huge vacuum in the centre. The material will have no top-down movement and a high radial motion. This is called “donut-mixing”, where the quality of the blend decreases significantly.

FILLING LEVEL

Marco Marinello, head of the Mixaco PVC Mixing Plants division

As head of the PVC Mixing Plants division, Marco Marinello recently joined the Mixaco team, bringing with him over 30 years of expertise in mixing technology for PVC, powder coatings, powders, plastic materials, additives, and colour masterbatches.

Headquartered in Neuenrade (Germany), Mixaco has been a global leader in mixing technology for over 60 years. Their mixers and solutions have been setting new standards from laboratory to production mixers for decades.

Next path forward is to merge Mixaco proven quality with the extensive technical know-how of Marco Marinello to provide customers innovative products with advanced technology to improve mixing performances; the finest quality mixing plants; and global technical assistance that fully meets customer’s requirements.

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The filling level of the heating mixer is an important parameter in creating the best vortex. In general, the heating mixer is designed to work with a certain amount of material inside. The useful and recommended volume in Mixaco is 85%. Based on this, the vessels, tools, and motors are engineered. With a low filling level, the mixer cannot create

much downforce. As a result, the blend is pushed upwards and remains at the top of the vessel and the tools are moving without touching much material. The mixing effect is very less.

The vortex needs a space to move (free volume), especially when it heats up the PVC particles get bloated and use more volume.

If the mixer is overfilled, the vortex will not move efficiently and there is a danger of blowing the filter or lid connections.

CHANGING THE DESIGN OR IMPROVING THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE BLADES A more challenging way to affect the vortex is by changing blade design or enhancing the blade configuration. There are a lot of different blade designs on the market.

The truth of the matter is most of the current designs are just revisions of the old designs. The revised and newer blade designs achieve a better vortex.

If the blend used is very light or has a big spread of different bulk densities, it is helpful to change the blade configuration. Light materials tend to keep at the top of the mixer and do not homogenize well in the whole blend. Moreover, this can occur with very fluidized blends. If so, the blades can be lowered to achieve more space for the materials to collapse in the centre of the bowl creating the best vortex. www.mixaco.com

A Mixaco PVC mixing plant: HM 1200/KM 4500 H

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ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

THE MARKET CALLS, IPM ANSWERS

PACKAGING AND AUTOMATION SYSTEM FOR PIPES EXTRUSION CONTINUOUS TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND HIGHLY CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS ARE THE STRENGTHS OF IPM MACHINES TODAY. RECENTLY, THIS CONSTRUCTIVE CONCEPTION HAS ALSO MATERIALIZED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOLUTION FOR THE PACKAGING OF PIPES. LET’S SEE ITS PECULIARITIES

S

trong of its experience and innovation capability, IPM is one of the most representative companies in the extrusion field worldwide, very often offering “tailor made” systems to complete the lines for extruding plastic pipes.

In Europe, where the use of polypropylene - but

A detail of an IPM plant

also PVC and polyethylene - pipes is growing strongly, the demand for ever faster and more performing lines is spreading more and more, to the detriment of manpower. In particular, the implementation of automation technologies and digitalized processes, control and management, in a 4.0 perspective, has become essential to increase the competitiveness of pipe manufacturing companies, improving product quality and reliability. The Italian company IPM has invested and is still investing heavily in this area, studying and creating customized solutions based on the specific needs of customers, optimizing the truly productive surface.

THE REAL CHALLENGE Thanks to the new automatic packaging systems, it is now possible to complete the extrusion lines by collecting and packing pipes in wooden frames, in cardboard or iron boxes, in polyethylene bags, in plastic saddles etc. conciliating production and marketing

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needs, without neglecting the logistics and the available spaces in the company.

The real challenge is precisely this one: to increase the level of automation of the plants, as well as their production capacity, improving the quality and reliability of the products, guaranteeing limited spaces and respecting the safety norms.

QUICK, PRECISE AND SAFE PACKAGING One of the latest plants of such a kind that IPM developed is the new RMC packaging system. This new packaging plant features Cartesian arms, able to collect and deposit entire rows of pipes inside pallet holders with wooden frames, using dedicated “masks”, equipped with special suction cups, quickly and without any risk of damage to the pipes themselves.

The peculiarity of the system, in addition to its speed and precision, is the possibility of proMACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

cessing large pipes (even 3 metres long, with a diameter of 400 mm) in total safety (since, even in an emergency, the system designed does not drop the pipes). The reduced dimensions of the machine (it takes up less space than a traditional palletizer), and the automatic handling of empty pallet holders and full trolleys, according to the customer needs, have to be emphasized. Furthermore, on request, these systems can also be integrated with reinforcement and/or pallet closing systems, automatically.

An overall view of an RMP packaging plant

VIDEO TERMINAL AND REMOTE ASSISTANCE All IPM machines are equipped with latest generation video terminals and equipped for remote assistance.

High-speed 7- and 9-inch touchscreen panels (from Siemens) features a renewed graphic interface, with visual indicators of efficiency and energy consumption that allow an immediate understanding of the performance of the machine. An analytical troubleshooting system directly integrated on the video terminal is able to provide detailed information on the causes that originated the alarms. The

EPS BLOCK PRODUCTION PLANTS

system can also create an historical archive of the alarms, allowing the operator to freely consult the last 1000 alarm messages. Plant manual and wiring diagram in PDF can also be visualized from the video terminal.

The processing recipes can be stored on a micro SD card not to risk losing production data in the event of a panel malfunction. The functions of the panel include maintenance scheduling - with alarm messages whose text is specified by the end user and which are activated according to specific occurrences - and sending e-mails to specific ad-

CUTTING AND MILLING MACHINES

Take a look to one of our full automatic EPS manufacturing solutions

www.tecnodinamica.it

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

dresses set by the user when activation conditions set occur.

Through the company network, via ethernet or wi-fi, or by means of mobile phone, via UMTS, where the company network is absent, it is possible to connect to the machines installed in the production departments to perform assistance in real time. In the Industry 4.0 era this service has become essential to avoid costly downtime and restore operation with the best performance in a very short time. www.ipm-italy.it

EPS RECYCLING PLANTS

SINCE 1981 THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR EPS PROCESSING

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ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

MAST IS MOVING QUICKLY

HOW TO CHANGE, WHILE REMAINING YOURSELF IN A FEW MONTHS THE WORLD HAS CHANGED A LOT AND RAPID CHANGES OF THIS KIND SEEM TO BE WHAT WE WILL HAVE TO GET USED TO IN THE FUTURE. THEREFORE, WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO CHANGE WITH IT, AND FAST. MAST, WHILE NOT DENYING THE DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED, IS DOING PRECISELY THIS, ADDRESSING THIS PERIOD OF CHANGE WITH A SPIRIT OF INNOVATION, NOT RESIGNATION

BY LUCA MEI

H

Screw sections are one of the base parts of corotating screws, which together with barrels are the main products manufactured by Mast

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aving already reached, back in 2017, its milestone 50th anniversary, Mast (which stands for Macchine e Attrezzature Speciali per Termoplastici) is a great advert for the kind of small- and medium-sized businesses that form the fabric and backbone of Italian industry and manufacturing. We are talking about family businesses, just like the company led by brothers Carlo and Marco, sons of founder Marino Arioli, and subcontractors that work mainly for other large companies, and therefore must have an extensive and in-depth knowledge of all the products that come out of their departments. In a nutshell - and this is to specify and clarify better what we are saying (certainly not to diminish it) - these are companies that, by tradition and also because of the nature of their work, really know how to do things well.

Mast clearly fits the mould. It could hardly be otherwise, given that the products this company turns out are screws and barrels that, being destined mainly for extrusion lines, need to show the most accurate workmanship and the most extreme precision - qualities they certainly do not lack!

But this company is also acquiring another attribute that is increasingly central to competitiveness in the Industry 4.0 era, and in many cases necessary regardless of whether a company is classified as small, medium-sized or large. Indeed, in line with what today’s market increasingly demands, it is also becoming quick (as opposed to slow and unchanging): quick to adapt to new practices, and we all know how much practices have changed in recent months; quick to understand customers’ increasingly stringent MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

Brothers Carlo (in the picture) and Marco Arioli represent the second generation at the helm of Mast, founded by their father Marino Arioli in 1967

needs; and quick to anticipate technological developments and translate them into innovation.

In other words, by managing to look back at what has been achieved in the past, as well as forward to where it wants to go, Mast is proving capable of adapting to the changing times without distorting its own identity. All this is explained by Carlo Arioli. Thanks to him for answering our questions!

YOUR COMPANY IS A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF AN ITALIAN SUBCONTRACTOR. MAST PRODUCES SCREWS AND BARRELS FOR EXTRUSION PLANTS MADE BY MAJOR MANUFACTURERS. WHAT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY PURSUING IN ORDER TO MEET YOUR CUSTOMERS’ MOST PRESSING DEMANDS? “It is true, Mast is a company that well represents the so-called advanced tertiary sector.

In this role and this setting, we must always be ready to satisfy any new request our customers might make. Although our customers provide us with the technical specifications that we need in order to make their products, it is up to us to know how to develop efficient production processes that allow us to supply screws and barrels in line with increasingly stringent criteria in terms of accuracy and finishing. What is more, all this often has to be done using new types of steel, such as those obtained by means of powder sintering, or “HIP”, methods that, in addition to being particularly expensive, require specific tools and processing techniques”.

ALONGSIDE SUCH TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES, YOU HAVE RECENTLY LAUNCHED AN INVESTMENT PLAN TO MODERNISE YOUR OPERATIONS AND FACTORY. WHAT NEW MACHINES HAVE YOU PURCHASED, AND HOW IS THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW

HEADQUARTERS PROGRESSING? “We see investing as a continuous process one that never stops. There are times when we might take particularly important steps, such as purchasing an edge wheel grinding machine or a new machining centre, and others when the steps we take are less significant in economic terms, yet hugely important from the perspective of improving our efficiency, such as when we completely overhauled our barrel drilling machine. And let’s not forget that we are also continuously updating the various measuring instruments, tools and CAD-CAM systems in use in our departments. In parallel with all this, the plans for our new production site are coming along, even though the Covid-19 emergency, combined with bureaucratic delays, has held us back somewhat in the last 12-18 months”.

ON THE SUBJECT OF COVID-19, WE NATURALLY HAVE A QUESTION TO ASK. WHAT IMPACT HAVE THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE PAST YEAR HAD ON YOUR MARKET,

Precision has to be put in manufacturing every mechanical component for industrial machines and plants, but in the case of screws and barrels it becomes essential MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

AND HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOUR BUSINESS IN PARTICULAR? “The pandemic has affected us on several fronts. While our 2020 financial statements do not show a deficit, last year certainly saw a sharp decline in turnover generated both on the domestic market and on foreign markets.

At present, the signs look very positive on the demand side, and we are quickly returning to what we might call pre-Covid levels. That said, we are rather worried about raw material shortages, currently a problem for our entire supply chain, and about the consequent price hikes”.

FOLLOWING ON FROM THESE CONSIDERATIONS, WHAT TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS, IF ANY, HAVE YOU USED FOR SETTING UP REMOTE MEETINGS WITH SUPPLIERS AND CUSTOMERS, SO AS TO KEEP BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS ALIVE DESPITE THE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS OF RECENT MONTHS? “As well as having to adapt to new hygiene and health standards in the workplace, we have also had to make changes to our sales methods. The pandemic has forced us to drastically reduce our trips to customers’ facilities, and also suspended trade fairs of course. The communication technologies we have at our disposal today have not always been sufficient to compensate for all this. Although, to an extent, they have allowed us to make up for the travel restrictions, unfortunately, not all business and working relationships can be managed effectively by resorting to smart working. What is more, it seems likely that some of these new practices will remain firmly in place even once the public health emergency is over and we can once again travel and meet up with others as we did before”. www.mastsrl.it

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ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

THE CORONA TREATMENT ACCORDING TO MERO

CARE AND ATTENTION IN R&D AS KEY OF SUCCESS O

ne of the main manufacturers worldwide tures of the corona treatments that MeRo ofof machines for corona treatment, MeRo fers to the market, together with a large numis a Tuscany-based company owned by ber of possibilities for customisation based on the Mennucci family. It has successfully built up specific application and user requirements. an excellent reputation in this specific field over The wide range of generator power and types the years specialising in the production of corona of discharge station allows the development treatment machines for a wide range of applica- of a corona treatment that is perfectly in line tions and supplying top-quality system manufac- with the specific application, so the customturers like the German company Brückner. er has the guarantee of relying on the very Corona treatment increases the surface ten- best and most reliable solution available. This sion of films, thus improving the adhesion of is coupled with a constant focus on innovainks, coatings and adhesives. The role of this tion, resulting in the continuous evolution of so-called “accessory” is, therefore, essential the product. MeRo does not offer a “static” because it must ensure a level of reliability catalogue with a set number of models, but that will not comconstantly intepromise the grates its offer with operation of new products and the production technological innoline in any way. vations that appear Consequently, roon the market. A bustness, strength, relirange that is always ability and full integration up to date, following with existing systems all market evolutions in are the stand-out fea- 10.5-m-wide corona treater for BOPP films real time.

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WITH A WIDE AND VARIED OFFER, MERO IS AMONGST THE LEADING COMPANIES WORLDWIDE IN THE FIELD OF CORONA TREATMENT SYSTEMS. THE KEY TO ITS SUCCESS IS THE CARE AND ATTENTION PUT INTO RESEARCH AND INNOVATION. THE ROLE OF THE AFTER-SALES SERVICES IS ALSO CRUCIAL IN PROVIDING SUPPORT TO CUSTOMERS AND CREATING LOYALTY

APPLICATIONS One of the sectors on which MeRo has focused in particular, and it has been operating since the 1980s, is that of biaxially oriented lines for polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester and polyamide films. The company is the official supplier of corona treatment to Brückner, a leading manufacturer of biaxially oriented film, with whom it has established a thirty-year plus partnership, with mutual satisfaction. In the case of “historic” customers, system upgrading or specific requests from the technical departments, MeRo also works directly with users, deploying its expertise to identify and roll out the most suitable solution.

The BOPP films core business is complimentMACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

ed by the converting sector with applications on printing and lamination machines, extrusion coating and coating machines. The converting sector, which up until about twenty years ago was secondary for the company, has grown significantly over recent years, in response to the demand for increasingly high quality. Another historic sector for MeRo, and one that is still growing, is the cast sector, especially cast polypropylene film, where the company can draw on the expertise recognised by major European manufacturers. Last, but not least, the blown film applications, a sector which has produced very encouraging results thanks to the increased widespread use of these applications.

In addition to corona treatment, the company offer also includes vacuum plasma and atmospheric plasma treatment systems. The latter is, in fact, a variation of the corona treatment (the discharge is a mixture of gases) which achieves better results on certain types of films, guaranteeing a longer duration of the surface tension and, thus, better adhesion of inks, glues etc. The vacuum plasma treatment systems, on the other hand, operate in high vacuum conditions and the surface treatment takes place between the unwinder and metallisation phase. This treatment makes it possible to achieve better adhesion on metal or other coatings of aluminium or silicon oxides, resulting in better barrier properties. The metal is, thus, spread out more evenly, avoiding the formation of imperfections leading to the ingress of oxygen and water vapour through the metallised surface.

Recently, there has been a trend, especially in the food packaging sector, to create a transparent coating as an alternative to the aluminium one (the coating par excellence for creating a barrier), using aluminium or silicon oxides specifically to obtain transparent barriers.

Another application in the packaging sector, even if not specifically used for film, is the use of induction cap sealing machines, employed in the bottling sector and with applications in the beverage, food, motor oil, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and agro-industrial sectors. MeRo is one of just a handful of companies in Italy that produces this type of machinery which places a seal under the cap to create a barrier and prevent leakages, which is used, for example, in packaging for milk, fruit juice and sauces, as well as engine oil and fertiliser.

INNOVATION AND CUSTOMISATION The Italian company MeRo has opted for an approach centred on the constant updating of its offer, immediately applying the latest innovations in components and electronics to its production line. In corona treatment, the company efforts MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

Induction cap sealing system

film, speed, film width, to name but a few. We are able to offer the treatment that best meets the specific characteristics of the application in question. Until some time ago, this placed us in a higher price bracket compared to some of our competitors, but recently we have been able to significantly reduce the price difference, adopting a more “combative” sales and marketing strategy whilst keeping the quality unchanged. Indeed, we have no intention of creating low cost lines, which would backfire on us. On the contrary, we make use of all the new technology on the market to offer increasingly reliable and higher-performance machines”, Mennucci adds.

The company also has always focused on electronic management. It was the first company to integrate the recipe corona treatment management system on rotogravure and laminating machines, thus avoiding the need to periodically adjust the various parameters based on the film and treatment required, which has proved particularly useful in converting processes. Another advantage offered by MeRo is the company flexibility in adapting the configuration of its devices to existing machinery layout; a capability that is highly appreciated by manufacturers.

have always focused on ensuring quality, reliability and robustness of generators and discharge stations.

“Companies, working with 10.5-metre-wide systems producing 50 thousand tons of film per year, cannot afford to halt the process due to a malfunction or break in the corona treatment.

We need to be able to ensure total reliability and robustness both on a mechanical and electronic level. Our discharge stations are built on the SERVICE criteria of overall strength. If the film breaks on Service also plays an increasingly strategic role. systems producing 650 m/min, an impressive That is why MeRo offers its customers the supfilm backlog will impact the discharge station port of a team of ten technicians who are ready that would very likely damage the entire device, for deployment to the customer site, when if the electrode and station structure were not necessary, to solve their problems. In 2005, the designed with certain characteristics, resulting in company also opened an office in China to alproblems of treatment uniformity. Our job, there- low it to support more efficiently the Asian marfore, is to ensure the very best in terms of robust- ket, where the number of installations and sysness and reliability and the manufacturing choic- tems is rising. It is the Asian market, together es resulting from the BOPP sector are transferred with South America, that drives exports, as well to other applications as well”, Armando Mennuc- as Europe, of course, which continues to repci, managing director at MeRo, explains. resent an important slice of the company busiAnother of the company strong points is the wide ness. Currently, 95% of the company instalselection of generator powers available, ranging lations cover foreign markets. In 2020, MeRo from 1 to 125 kW (over 25 sizes), together with recorded a turnover of 17 million and in 2021, the possibility of choosing from over 40 different despite the difficult situation globally, the turndischarge stations depending on the application over appears to be better than 2020. (cast, blown, converting, extrusion coating etc.). www.mero.it By combining different size generators with the most suitable discharge station, it is, therefore, possible to offer a customised and “made-to-measure” solution for the specific application.

“Offering such a vast choice is certainly a challenge, but it is a key factor that sets us apart from the competition. There are, in fact, a large number of variables in3850-mm-wide corona treater suitable for metalized films at a speed of 1000 m/min volved, such as the type of

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ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

RIVI MAGNETICS FIRMLY “ANCHORED” TO THE MARKET

AN ITALIAN BUSINESS STORY MADE OF RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND PASSION FOR OVER FIFTY YEARS ON THE MARKET, RIVI MAGNETICS HAS EVER CONSIDERED THE INNOVATIONS OF THE CUSTOMER PRODUCTION PROCESS THE DRIVE FOR BEING AN INNOVATIVE COMPANY AND CONSEQUENTLY ACTING TO BECOME IT. IDENTIFYING SOLID ENTREPRENEURIAL VISION, INVESTMENTS IN R&D AND HUMAN CAPITAL AS KEY FACTORS TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL

“W

e tame gravity through our magnetic plates”. This is what Rivi Magnetics states about its magnetic plates which allow instant, safe and universal clamping of the moulds in a wide range of industrial applications and industries, from plastics to ceramics and metal.

Investments in The Italian company has been applying its skills R&D, together and know-how to the development of clampwith a solid entrepreneurial ing solutions for industrial moulding for over vision and the fifty years. Today, its goals are still the same: human capital, are the company strives to enhance the perforconsidered by Rivi mance of its customer plants, to increase the Magnetics as efficiency in their production processes and to key factors for its success improve the working conditions and safety of

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the operators. Its focus is to create a competitive advantage for customers and to satisfy their needs even on highly customized projects. Rivi Magnetics has always been distinguished on the market thanks to its high technical standards, to its well-known reliability and to the flexibility which allows it to develop complex customized solutions.

Heating plates

THE REASONS FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT The technological innovation that characterizes its products is the trigger of innovation in its customer production processes. This is why Rivi Magnetics chose to excel in what it does and transformed itself into a well-structured company that strives for continuous improvement, thanks to a solid entrepreneurial vision, consistent investments in R&D and internal education programs. It wants to become a solid reference and a reliable partner, capable to support its customers over time for all their needs.

Its know-how about the production of magnetic platens for all kind of industrial applications has allowed it to optimize its work processes. Its specialized departments

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

CERTIFICATIONS AND HUMAN CAPITAL (technical department, R&D, production and assembly) work synergically in order to develop the best solution for any possible problem of processors, including their tight delivery schedule.

Rivi Magnetics believes it is essential to be a problem solver and a reliable, flexible partner who can provide increasingly specific and complex solutions to customer needs.

Its R&D department understands customer needs and develops innovative solutions accordingly, working in close collaboration with its technical department who is responsible for the production and testing of machines.

Each of Rivi Magnetics products is certified and comes complete with manuals, CE marking and declaration of conformity. But this is not all: the company also participates actively to the ISO, EN and Euromap working groups and is directly involved in defining the safety standards and norms to be applied to the magnetic systems.

Last but not least, Rivi Magnetics invests strongly on its human resources, because it believes that the feeling of being part of a bigger project leads people to work with more passion and creates an added value both for the person and for the company. www.rivimagnetics.it

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ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

RECENT DEVELOPMENT BY THERMOPLAY

INJECTION SYSTEMS TAILORED ON DEMAND FOR SPECIAL APPLICATIONS HEADQUARTERED IN ITALY, THERMOPLAY IS A BUSINESS WITHIN BARNES MOLDING SOLUTIONS, SPECIALIZING IN MULTI-CAVITY INJECTION SYSTEMS FOR LARGE VOLUMES MANUFACTURING, THAT USUALLY APPLY TO PACKAGING, CAPS AND CLOSURES, HEALTHCARE AND TECHNICAL PARTS MARKETS. BARNES MOLDING SOLUTIONS IS A STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNIT WITHIN BARNES GROUP COVERING THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF MOULD MAKING AND HOT RUNNER TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING TEMPERATURE CONTROL AND PROCESS CONTROL TECHNOLOGY

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or customers focused on the quality aspects of the hot runners and of the final product, the injection systems tailored on demand for special applications are very important. The hot runner customizations come out from customers who have special process or injection requirements, often asking studies to get the project that better applies with their applications. Thermoplay supplies about of 50% customized hot runners, provided with filling analysis testing, mechanical and thermal balance. Its standard injection systems are suitable for moulding parts where

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good injection point appearance is required.

They are recommended for all polymers also with abrasive fillers. They can be fitted with a tip extension that can inject the part in areas with limited space: the heating area is distant from the part to limit haloing and imperfections, so they are suggested for moulding thin parts that require fast cycles.

UNIFORM MATERIAL DISTRIBUTION AND REDUCED FLOW PATHS The particular GLT tip allows for a uniform material distribution and reducing flow paths. The

sector of application of this nozzle is specially cosmetics and packaging. Sprue gating option is used to mould on sprues or directly in cavities, leaving a small sprue on the moulded part.

It is suitable for thermoplastics with abrasive fillers most used in applications such as motor engine components, components for electrical and technical devices. Direct side gating applies for tube-shaped components, syringes, medical cannulas, special shaped caps and technical parts. Special gating options can be studied and customized upon customer’s request.

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

MANIFOLD WITH SYMMETRIC FLOW BORES LAYOUT Colour change performances are improved by a correct study of the manifold design having a symmetric flow bores layout. The manifolds should have no stagnation areas and the channels sizes and fittings have to allow smooth transitions and short residence time of the melt flow. Flow bores diameters should be designed to have a constant shear rate value.

A special injector was developed upon a customer request to get very high quality of the gate and efficient and fast colour change in a fast cycle application for a bottle cap. The customized hot runner was designed with an extended tip with five bores designed to have smooth transitions and constant shear rate Special five bores customized hot runner value. A polyimide insulator bushing was added around the tip to improve colour change ca- long stop without defects on the moulded part. pabilities.

Tip replacement is possible with the mould inAnother customer wanted to replace an old in- stalled in the injection machine. jection system for moulding a cap component used for sealing alcoholic beverages. The in- INJECTION OF RECYCLED MATERIAL jector studied is provided with a two gates tip Thermoplay has the solution also for injection to get perfect part concentricity and avoid cold of recycled materials such as rPET and others flow lines. The tip has a special design to pro- which are sensitive to temperature variations vide stable 1-Mezza temperatures restart even1 after between the mould and the melt temperature. pag. and 2020-GB.pdf 04/09/20 13:52

A special nozzle by Thermoplay

A new injector with improved thermal profile allows high homogeneity and stability of the heat distribution on the entire nozzle body. The melt flow is kept at suitable temperatures, therefore the characteristics of the material during processing unchanged. Consequently, all the aesthetic and functional characteristics required by the application are preserved. www.thermoplay.com

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ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

NEWS Itib Machinery at the service of innovation

Corrugated pipes, not only round The corrugated pipe in its double wall variant has for several decades now found its common application where it is required that the element inside can be inserted or slide easily, whether they are cables or water. And, if it was air?

We hear more and more often about controlled mechanical ventilation; the need to create high energy efficiency homes and buildings limits the interaction of the internal environment with the external one and can bring along with the countless and undeniable benefits, also a limited air exchange. This condition is essential to avoid, for example, condensation and mould in our homes and in general to ensure healthy conditions in our rooms. The mechanical systems of forced but controlled ventilation comes to our aid.

The traditional double wall corrugated PE pipe in its round version is an essential component and in concealed applications where there is a need to contain overall dimensions, its oval version is the ideal solution. Itib Machinery double wall pipes extrusion lines can produce also this particular pipes. Its extrusion does not only require the realization of oval-shaped moulds and dies, that would be reduced to the however not simple machining of mechanical component. Above all, it is essential the study and a consolidated knowledge of plastic materials, their behaviour inside and at the exit of not full symmetrical dies,

An Itib Machinery corrugator producing oval corrugated pipes

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A detail of a mould for producing oval corrugated pipes

where straight sections are followed by round sections. In this condition, different speed and thickness of the plastic material are possible if the flowing channels are not properly designed.

For the design of its extrusion heads and dies, Itib Machinery uses advanced simulation software, relying when necessary also on researchers from the engineering department of the University of Brescia. The oval-shaped moulds are made on five-axis numerical control machines and are mounted on a corrugator; in the manufacturing of corrugators the company boast an experience of more than sixty years. The FV200 and FV250 corrugators are the most commonly used machines for the production of double wall pipes, also in their oval variant, which emphasi-

zes the need for very tight tolerances of mechanical components and an absolute constancy of the production speed to allow a uniform flexibility of the pipe.

The oval shape can be found not only in pipes for controlled mechanical ventilation systems but also in smaller pipes like in the automotive industry, the household sector and in all those applications where the containment of the overall dimensions is fundamental. The long and solid experience of Itib Machinery, combined with a complete and up-to-date range of corrugators is a strong worldwide reference for study, development and production of corrugated pipes of any shape. www.itib-machinery.com

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

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INDUSTRIAL & DURABLE GOODS

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YOUR BUSINESS COMMUNITIES 3 - 6 MAY 2022 FIERA MILANO - RHO - ITALY ipackima.com #ipackima ORGAN IZED B Y:

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A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN:

ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

NEWS Exact cold granulators

Simplicity in edge trim recovery For almost 50 years Exact has been producing auxiliary machinery for the plastic industry. The flagships of their production are the granulators, machines used for the recovery of all types of thermoplastic films: single and multilayer, biodegradable, with air bubbles, spunbonded, non-woven fabric and many other types.

The operation mechanism of these machines is simple. Plastic film is compacted by special compression bushings and the resulting semi-rigid tape is then cut into small recyclable pellets with a highly specific weight. These pellets are then ready to be re-extruded, thus allowing to work in closed cycle environments of edge trim recovery within the extrusion plant, and without any contamination of the material.

The highly specific weight of these pellets differentiates Exact granulators from other recovery mills, whose final product is the so-called “fluff”, a light and bulky material. For these reasons, Exact machines can be considered the link between mills and recovery extruders. This original idea, the result of the inventiveness of the late founder of Exact, Ilario Mazzoleni, has been increasingly perfected over the years to meet the needs of a market that has expanded and transformed immensely since 1974 - the year the company was originally founded.

Although the company also produces extruders for the recovery of edge trim using “heat”, the “cold” system solution is seeing a clear resurgence in the field when compared to the former.

To confirm this, as well as the statistical numbers, Noris Mazzoleni, CEO of Exact, explains

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Small recyclable pellets coming from an Exact granulator

the phenomenon as follows: “In our experience the plastic film production market is moving along three main lines: production of highly technical materials, a decisive resumption of non-woven fabric production, and continuous growth in demand for biodegradable products. The first is a consequence of the progress of time, the second of the ongoing pande-

mic with a consequent increase in the production of PPE, and the third is the result of a change in sensitivity towards environmental sustainability”.

“Responding to these very different drivers”, continues Mazzoleni, “is not trivial; even less so, attempting to do this with just one product. Fortunately, our granulators respond to the challenges with naturalness and simplicity,

precisely because they are free of complications; and in troubled times like the ones we are currently experiencing, people desire (demand): simplicity and results”.

Adaptability to different materials, ease of use, and a recognized solid history of the brand therefore become a safety net for film producers who, in uncertain times characterized by raw material rallies and wild races to readjust production processes following changes in final demand, are looking for concrete solutions for the management of their production waste. Exact granulators can be customized according to the needs of each customer, made possible through free test offering of the granulators where the company tests customer materials based on their individual applications. www.exact.it

A particular of one of the Exact granulators, which are the flagship of the company production

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

ON THE MARKET FOR MORE THAN

YEARS

Publisher Promaplast Srl Centro Direzionale Milanof ori Palazzo F/3 - 20057 Assago (MI) phone (+39) 02 82283775 - fax (+39) 02 57512490 macplas@macplas.it - www.macplas.it For advertising: lerner-media@t-online.de

ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

NEWS Sytrama wide range of products

Mepol choses BD Plast

A compact but innovative and performing screenchanger Since the end of June 2020 the new BDOx3 BF 140 self-cleaning screenchanger by BD Plast has been operating at the Mepol production site in Riese Pio X (Treviso, Italy). Mepol is a manufacturer of thermoplastic compounds with high technical value and eco-sustainable certification since 1996. Great production capacity, competence and know-how are the solid foundations on which Mepol rests the relationship with its customers. Since 1986 BD Plast has specialized in the manufacture of screenchangers and systems for the extrusion of polymers using two simple but indispensable characteristics: flexibility and great ability to customize products in order to meet any single need.

The Italian company BD Plast has created an extremely compact product with innovative features to meet the expectations of Mepol, which has achieved significant increase in efficiency of a line intended for filtration and granulation of PP filled with calcium carbonate. The BDOx3 BF self-cleaning screenchanger is also the ideal solution for the retrofit of existing lines as it does not require significant additional spaces that are often not available.

One of the strengths of the BDOx3 BF is the ability to carry out the self-cleaning cycle with particularly low back pressures. This is a real continuous flow screenchanger where, unlike other types of screenchangers, the replacement of the filter elements takes place without stopping the system, with consequent advantages in terms of time and without waste of materials when stopping and restarting the line. Furthermore, the automatic expulsion of the breaker plate occurs during the mesh replacement phase, thus greatly facilitating the operator in replacing the filter element and saving further time. The low back pressure self-cleaning capacity, the unique feature of having an automatic breaker plate ejection system for the net change, and the reduced purge times were the key elements that allow the filter to reach up to 200 self-cleaning cycles. www.bdplast.com

The BD Plast filter in action at Mepol

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The answer for growth, competitiveness, and innovation An S20-S Sytrama robot and, in the box, an SCP control

Research and development on products and processes, joint to give the best response to customer needs, is the common thread that has distinguished Sytrama for 40 years.

The company features a wide range of Cartesian robots for IMM from 40 to 6000 tons, produced in Italy with components from leading European companies, managed by a single control system for all the technologically advanced automatic solutions, and able to satisfy all safety regulations thanks to integrated PLCs and safe drives.

In addition, in the control panels, an ethernet connection is available for remote connection through the Internet via VPN which, together with the presence of the OPC-UA protocol, position the product at the highest levels of the market; robots and automations are therefore managed by a control system that centralizes all information, allowing easier and more immediate supervision and diagnosis.

In addition to Cartesian robots, the product range extends to anthropomorphic robots of lead-

ing brands, also integrated with the Sytrama SCP2 control, offering a standard user interface for both 3 and 6-axis robots, regardless of the model. Also there are a wide range of turnkey solutions for automation dedicated to moulding factories: IML systems, insert loading, comoulding, sprue cutting, welding, flaming, marking, assembly and all that can be needed for a 4.0 factory.

These solutions, together with the flexibility particularly appreciated by international customers, have allowed the company to collaborate with the largest groups in the automotive sector and beyond, providing numerous automatic cells. As a demonstration of this, a recent and important success concerns the supply of a system to produce car bumpers, designed to work 24 hours per day, and able to perform the production change in a few minutes, without setup interventions by the operators. www.sytrama.com MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

Get ready for the 2-day digital event that will bring the composites community together

www.jeccomposites-connect.events #JECConnect

ANCILLARIES AND COMPONENTS

NEWS A new robot from Star Automation Europe

Easy demoulding of large parts The XW-2000VI “extra-large” automatic handling robot was recently added to Star Automation Europe range as a solution that can meet the “biggest” challenges in the field of injection moulding. This model, suitable for IMMs with a clamping force between 1,600 and 2,500 tons, is ideal for demoulding large parts in different industrial sectors, from bumpers to dashboards and from drums to dumpsters.

The robot is equipped with AC servo motors for the axes, while the vertical arm’s wrist tipping movement is controlled by a pneumatic drive. The vertical axis stroke is 2,000 mm, but versions with strokes of 2,500 and 3,200 mm are also available in order to

meet the most varied needs resulting from the machine tonnage and the size of the items to be demoulded. Despite its large overall dimensions, the XW-2000VI robot is able to complete a demoulding cycle in less than 3 seconds and a full work cycle in just under 13 seconds.

The comparison with previous models of the same size built by Star Automation Europe, such as the TW series, shows that the XW2000VI robot ensures higher levels of stability and rigidity during the movements, which are driven by toothed belts on the horizontal and vertical axes and by a pinion and rack system on the transverse axis, which in some cases can exceed 5,000 mm in

The new “extra-large” XV-2000VI robot

length. The deflection at the horizontal axis end has been reduced by 38% compared to the previous model, maintaining however the same loading capacity thanks to improved rigidity and the welding technique adopted for the horizontal and transverse axes. All this allows the robot to handle loads up to 60 kg without affecting the operating life of the machine.

For the same reason, the tipping unit at the end of the vertical arm was redesigned with the aim of reducing its weight by 54%, thus facilitating installation on process machines. Finally, thanks to the new design, the weight of the vertical axis was further reduced by

10% although it is now made of steel instead of aluminium. Steel, on the other hand, improves the overall rigidity, with a 42% reduction in Y axis deflection.

The drives of all axes are installed in the same position in order to optimize their arrangement and reduce cable lengths. In addition, the drive controller box is easily accessible in case the robot needs to be equipped with an optional maintenance platform - to be placed on the same side of the transverse axis where the cable chain is located - simplifying inspection and maintenance operations. www.star-europe.com

Baruffaldi launches Smart Industry

New digital platform for Industry 4.0 The Smart Industry new generation digital platform, developed by Baruffaldi Plastic Technology for Industry 4.0 allows monitoring in real time the machine

operating status, and collecting statistical data about its use. These data are stored in a proprietary cloud and are available both to the machine user for productivity analysis, and to the manufacturer for maintenance and technical assistance analysis. The platform can be consulted on any mobile device with an Internet connection.

Smart Industry will be implemented on every Baruffaldi machine and activate a new range of services for the customer such as remote machine monitoring, collection of production data and superAlberto Dosi, owner of Baruffaldi Plastic Technology, together with a technician and an assistant during the tests of the Smart Industry digital platform

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vision, making it possible also to install and maintain the machines remotely. The sample machine selected for developing and testing the digital platform is a Povi 5000 hydraulic punching for electrical and wiring ducts. Starting from the 4.0 services panel, the Baruffaldi software engineers studied a modular, flexible and scalable solution, first of all defining the technologies, and then designing the prototype, to which, from time to time, further services were implemented, up to the creation of the machine side section of the platform. Once the Smart Industry platform was created and implemented on the Povi 5000 machine, tests were carried out, simulating the machine ordinary work cycles, which gave excellent results. www.baruffaldi.eu

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

Fimic RAS filter for Ilap

High filtrating capacity for highly contaminated HDPE Filtration systems and technology by Fimic are well known worldwide in the filtration and recycling of highly contaminated plastic material markets. The functionality and budgetary management features make its screenchangers extremely functional to obtain a more efficient and competitive production. This reputation is not a myth but a reality, and to see a concrete example of it, it’s not necessary to go far

A close up view of a RAS filter

or cross any borders. Ilap is an Italian company that revolutionized its production process four years ago thanks to the Fimic RAS filtrating capacity.

It is one of the first companies in Italy to operate in the sector of the production of compounds and granules of secondary raw materials through the regeneration of low-density polyethylene. The relationship between Fimic and Ilap was born from the need to perfect its production cycle and to obtain a qualitative improvement of the product with more stable characteristics.

Ilap processes LDPE, a

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

highly contaminated heterogeneous waste material, from agricultural sheets and post-consumer mulching films, where, even in presence of proper washing systems, it is possible to have residual contamination of earth, sand and aluminium. These types of contaminants created malfunction problems especially from an electronic point of view, complications whose solution was not obvious and which not only slowed down the production processes, but also led to an increase in management costs.

With Fimic, the company has found an extremely

flexible solution suitable for its different applications and quality requirements. For the operational request of Ilap, the RAS 600 self-cleaning filter ensured a lower percentage of the impact on costs when increasing the quality of production.

The screenchanger is easy to manage, at an operational and maintenance level, with prompt and quick assistance in case of need, without affecting productivity. The general cost of management for the company has also been reduced, as the Fimic filters can be used several times, with an average of

120 to 140 hours of work for a single use. The average total life of a filter, is therefore, around 30 days.

The scraping system allows to keep the filter clean continuously and to obtain a constant quality of the granule. The Fimic filter has allowed Ilap to achieve results that could not get before, especially when very fine filtrations are used, from 100 to 150 microns. With Fimic RAS filter addition to its production line, Ilap has now the possibility to work with new clients who have much more demanding applications. www.fimic.it

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MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS

Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (Pfinztal, Germany) won in both the “Innovative Products/Applications” and “Research and Science” categories of AVK Innovation Awards

INNOVATIONS IN THE PLASTIC COMPOSITES INDUSTRY

AWARD CEREMONY ON THE INTERNET FOR THE FIRST TIME THE GERMAN FEDERATION OF REINFORCED PLASTICS (AVK) PRESENTED ITS AWARDS VIRTUALLY FOR THE FIRST TIME. MANY OF THE WINNERS’ INNOVATIONS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN THE AVK INNOVATION AWARD BROCHURE, AVAILABLE ONLINE

D

ue to the Covid-19 pandemic, the AVK Innovation Awards ceremony took place as an online event on November 12, 2020. Decided by an expert jury, the awards recognise and honour sustainable innovations in three categories: “Innovative Products/Appli-

cations”, “Innovative Processes” and “Research and Science”.

“We were delighted to receive so many strong submissions again in 2020. Many aspects of the process were, of course, rather different.

For the first time, the award ceremony was held as an Internet event. However, it is clear that everyone - everywhere - is making the best of the situation. The positive trends in the field of fibre-reinforced plastics are still continuing. We expect these important materials to be at the heart of many innovations in the coming years”, says Gerhard Lettl, chairman of the jury.

INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS/APPLICATIONS

DEmiL directly-cooled electric motor features a housing made of fibre reinforced polymers and it has been developed by Fraunhofer ICT

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First place in this category was awarded to “Directly-cooled electric motor with integral lightweight housing made of fibre reinforced polymers - DEmiL”, developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT, Pfinztal, Germany) in partnership with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Sumitomo Bakelite. This

high-performance electric motor proves that fibre reinforced plastics can be used to produce smaller and lighter structures than standard metal designs. The motor achieves a continuous output of 58 kW at a weight of just 10.5 kg. The power density of 5.5 kW/kg sets a new standard for electric motors that can be produced in large series. A cooling system was integrated into the housing, which dissipates the heat generated by the motor directly at source and makes it possible for composites to be used in the construction.

Second place was awarded to cidetec from Donostia-San Sebastian in Spain for its “Intrinsically Reprocessable, Repairable and Recyclable (3R) thermoset composites for more Competitive and Sustainable Industries”.

These use dynamic and covalent bonding to create a new generation of thermoset composites which, alongside the familiar performance characteristics, have other properties never seen before in this form. They can be MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

easily reconditioned, recycled or repaired.

Third place was awarded to a “fireproof composite metal hybrid structure - LEO fire protection sandwich with integrated Hyconnect steel-glass hybrid connector”, from German companies Saertex and Hyconnect. This is a 3D-reinforced composite sandwich structure, into which fire protection layers can be inserted to insulate and cool in case of fire. Standard epoxy resins can be used during vacuum infusion to integrate a hybrid glass-metal structure to which traditional metal components can be attached by welding, providing a fireproof connection at an early stage of the process. This fire protective covering forms an insulating layer in case of fire and also protects the sandwich component and the hybrid connection. In contrast to traditional metal composites, this product can reduce weight by up to 55%.

pregs. It enables manufacturers to produce stringers efficiently at low cost and in large quantities while also saving resources. The process chain as a whole combines automated fibre placement (AFP) technology, single-sided membrane forming, also known as hot forming, and autoclave curing. The special feature of the novel production process is the simultaneous forming of cross-sections with positive and negative curvatures.

Third place was awarded to “Hybrid die-casting - manufacturing of The “Robin Exist” team close to its system for “robotized injection intrinsic CFRP-aluminium composite moulding”, winner in the “Innovative Processes” category structures in aluminium high-pressure die-casting” - a process developed by the Fa- esters and urethanes. The toughening agents serinstitut Bremen (Fibre) and Fraunhofer IFAM. are based on styrene-maleic anhydride (SMA) This new process provides a technique for join- copolymers and increase the viscosity of the INNOVATIVE PROCESSES ing aluminium alloys and carbon fibre reinforced resin at temperatures between 100 and 160°C. First place in the “Innovative Processes” cat- plastics by melting the thermoplastic layer. At At the same time, they increase reactivity and egory was awarded to the Institute for Light- the same time, the thermoplastic layer creates improve the surface quality of the laminate. weight Engineering and Polymer Technology an electrochemical separation between the car- Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology at the TU Dresden for its “Robotised injection bon fibre and the aluminium alloy, preventing (ICT) was also awarded second place for its moulding (Robin)” process. By using carbon contact corrosion. The strength is achieved in “Scientific principles for the industrial applicafibre in a composite C-frame of an injection the interface between the thermoplastic layer tion of the thermoplastic resin transfer moulding moulding machine, the developers were able to and the aluminium. The process saves resourc- (T-RTM) process”. This research project evalubuild a machine that weighs less than 140 kg. es and can be used in series production. Due to ates the negative effects of moisture in T-RTM. This allows the machine to be attached to a ro- its potential in lightweight construction, it could The process compensates for water in order bot, for example, and moved around freely in a reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles. to restore the prior reaction speed with almost room. Improving the mobility of plant technolidentical polymer properties. With a newly deogy generates greater flexibility in the injection RESEARCH AND SCIENCE veloped simulation model, the process can be moulding process for the production of hybrid In this category, first place was awarded to controlled specifically by modelling the process components, while simultaneously making it Münster University of Applied Sciences for its kinetics. This leads to a highly efficient process possible to manufacture lightweight products in “New high-temperature resistant UP resins and and enables T-RTM components to be manua manner that saves resources. toughening agents”. The UP resin achieves factured in series production environments.

Second place went to the “Omega stringer a heat distortion temperature (HDT) of almost Last but not least, third place was awarded to from the roll”, developed by the German Aero- 250°C. The highest previously measured HDT the Institute of Polymer Technology at the Unispace Center. This new manufacturing process was around 180°C. The photochemical and versity of Erlangen for its project “Material- and allows omega-shaped stiffening elements to be thermal reactivity is significantly higher than that energy-efficient production of turbine struts by produced from carbon fibre epoxy resin pre- of comparable high-temperature resistant vinyl the integrative combination of thermoset fibre reinforced materials”. The “Duro-IMF process”, which was developed in the course of the research project, enables complex thermoset fibre composite components to be manufactured efficiently by thermoset injection moulding. The process combines continuous fibre reinforced prepregs and short fibre reinforced moulding materials in the one-shot principle. By coordinating the material modification and intelligent process controls, the resin systems of the materials react irreversibly with each other during curing in the mould, resulting in a hybrid component with high bonding strength, low weight and high temperature resistance, as well as a reduction in energy consumption and First place in the category “Research and Science” was awarded to Münster University of Applied cycle time of over 50%. www.avk-tv.de Sciences for the development of new high-temperature resistant UP resins and toughening agents MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

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MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS

Technical questions SPACE DEVOTED TO READERS’ QUESTIONS ON ISSUES RELATING TO THE PROCESSING OF POLYMERS. THE ANSWERS ARE PROVIDED BY EXPERTS FROM CESAP, A SUPPORT CENTRE FOR PLASTICS PROCESSORS AND USERS, LOCATED WITHIN THE ITALIAN PLASTICS INSTITUTE (IIP)

EJECTION FORCE

pressibility of the plastic and expansion within the mould cavity, dependent on the strong pressure used to inject the material. This explains why it is difficult to balance an ejection force, especially in pieces that have no linear and symmetrical walls between them.

What is more, the position of the ejectors on the piece is determined by a number of points of resistance opposed by the latter at ejection, like very high walls or with little conicity of demoulding, ribbing and so on. By regulation, ejectors have small diameters and sections. This leads to the need to intervene using guide elements, not dependent on the shape of the piece, in order to be able to arFig. 1 - The ejection force vs the degree of surface finishing on the mould, both correlated with the temperature of the piece range diameters with robust sections as needed. Other aspects to take into consideration in the ejection stage are: • pressure values, injection speed and temperature, which influence dimensional shrinkage; • the type of polymer (amorphous or semi-crystalline structure), its modMould surface roughness (µ) ulus of elasticity and elongation at break, the values of which however Fig. 2 - The ejection force vs. the demoulding angle, both correlated have to be considered in with the temperature of the piece function of cooling time and the temperature of the piece at the time of ejection; Cooling time increase • demoulding conicity of the vertical cavity walls; • the degree of finishing (roughness) on the cavity surfaces; • the surface of the piece in the ejection system; • positioning of the ejectors; Demoulding angle (degrees) • the speed of the ejection movement.

Ejection force (N)

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Material temperature

Cooling time

Ejection force

In injection moulding, which factors influence the optimal ejection force value for moulded pieces?

First of all, it should be noted that in this type of processing, the extent of the ejection force is in relation to the shape and thickness of the piece. Moreover, it should be remembered that due to the shrinkage and adherence that occurs between the surfaces of the piece and the mould walls, zones have different resistances in opposition to the ejection force.

The adherence force of the piece derives from the residual pressure due to the com-

Each of these factors, if set up incorrectly, can negatively influence the expulsion stage. It is therefore vital to accurately evaluate them, starting with the design of the mould, when the ejection mechanism has to be defined. However, it should be noted in principle that the force needed to eject some materials is represented in the two diagrams in figures 1 and 2.

In figure 1, the ejection force is demonstrated in function of the degree of surface finishing on the mould, both correlated with the temperature of the piece. Two materials, very different from each other, are considered. One very fragile (crystal polystyrene) and one ductile (polypropylene). With reference to a single object, with a certain degree of surface finish (medium roughness: 3.5 µ), the graph shows - with more marked whole lines - the ideal temperature conditions for performing the ejection. For both materials, a high temperature of the piece at ejection (quick cooling time), coincides with higher piece ejection force, but also poses the danger of distortion in the ejector zone.

In the opposite instance, with low temperature at ejection (long cooling time), breakage can occur near the ejectors in some fragile materials.

In figure 2, on the other hand, the ejection force is considered in function of the demoulding angle, both correlated with the temperature of the piece. Two materials are analysed, one with high modulus of elasticity (ABS) and one with low modulus (HDPE). It is noted that, demoulding angles being equal, the material that has the highest modulus of elasticity requires greater and greater expulsion force as the piece temperature decreases (long cooling time). The difference in ejection force between ABS and HDPE decreases as the demoulding angle and material temperature increase.

CESAP - CENTRE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLASTICS APPLICATIONS Via Velleia, 4 - 20900 Monza (Italy) Tel.: +39 039 2045700 - Fax: +39 039 2045784 E-mail: info@cesap.com www.cesap.com – www.iip.it

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

DSM Engineering Materials

NEWS R&D by DSM, Sabic, Cepsa, Fibrant and Viscofan

Joint development of a new casing for meat products from post-consumer plastics Driven by a shared vision of sustainability and strong collaboration, DSM, Sabic, Cepsa, Fibrant, and Viscofan have together created a multi-barrier casing for meat products made via advanced recycling of post-consumer plastics. The transition towards recycled-based multi-layer films enables the packaging industry to adopt a more sustainable solution without compromising on functional performance.

Produced by Viscofan, the newly developed sustainable casing consists of several layers of different polymers. DSM Engineering Materials supplies the high-performance certified circular polyamide Akulon CRC-MB, and Sabic supplies the high-performance certified circular polyethylene from its Trucircle portfolio of circular solutions, obtained thanks to an advanced feedstock recycling technology from UK-based Plastic Energy. Both products are based on used and post-consumer plastics which would

otherwise be discarded as landfill or lost to incineration. Using advanced recycling, the used plastic is converted into new feedstock, which then enters the production chain to deliver new virgin-quality materials.

Akulon CRC-MB is produced through a strong value chain collaboration involving a range of partners applying a mass-balancing approach, that has been designed to trace the flow of materials through a complex value chain. The mass balance approach provides a set of rules for how to allocate recycled content to different products to be able to claim and market the content as “recycled-based” (source: Mass Balance White Paper from Ellen MacArthur Foundation).

Firstly, Sabic produces certified circular benzene, based on materials produced via feedstock recycling of mixed-used plastics, which is used by Cepsa to make certified circular phenol.

The joint development of this packaging material underlines a strong commitment to enabling a circular economy by working together with partners throughout the value chain

Fibrant then uses the phenol to produce certified circular caprolactam EcoLactam, which is provided to DSM to produce its certified circular polyamide. Finally, Viscofan combines the certified circular polyethylene and polyamide to produce the multi-barrier film used to create casings for a variety of meat products. All of the advanced recycled materials within the value chain will have the globally recognized ISCC Plus certification and will not require re-qualification.

Multi-layer barrier films inherently offer strong sustainability advantages by helping to reduce preventable food waste and extending the shelf-life of food products. What’s more, using post-consumer plastics as a feedstock mitigates the depletion of natural resources, reduces the accumulation of plastic waste and improves the environmental footprint. www.dsm.com - www.sabic.com

Expansion of Basf’s site in Pontecchio Marconi, Italy

Light and thermal stabilizers for plasticulture applications Plasticulture, the use of plastic materials in agricultural applica- cility delivers a wider range of NOR solutions to support Basf’s tions, plays an important role in helping farmers enhance crop leading position in the strategically important and growing agriproductivity and food quality in an increasingly difficult environ- culture industry. ment. Agricultural plastics must be capable of protecting the The Pontecchio site has already been a major production unit crops enduring exposure to harsher ultraviolet and heat radia- for hindered amine light stabilizers Hals and NOR Hals product tion and be impervious to the chemicals used by farmers to treat ranges. It is also home to the global testing hub for agricultural plants’ diseases and for disinfection practices. The demand for applications and the regional weathering centre. The expansion such reinforced plastics continues to increase rapidly. The novel generates new opportunities to serve the growing customer deBasf NOR technology platform consists mand and the new plant can accelerate of a range of outstanding light and therthe site’s progression towards Industry mal stabilizers that are especially effec4.0. The new communication platform, for tive in plasticulture applications such as example, allows maintenance, troublegreenhouse covers, macro and small tunshooting and configuration of instruments nels, nettings and substrate bags. to be done remotely over industrial ethRecently, Basf announced the techniernet which provides more security and cal completion of the newly constructed stability. The plant also incorporates the plant for the plastic additives business Agricultural applications are benefiting from the latest technology to increase energy efat its site located in Pontecchio Marconi expansion of Basf’s plastic additives portfolio in ficiency, while decreasing CO2 and noise (Bologna, Italy). The state-of-the-art faemissions. www.basf.com Pontecchio Marconi, Italy

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

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MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS

NEWS WATER-BASED SOLUTIONS

NEW RELEASE AGENT FOR THE MOULDING OF ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS The global leader in the development and production of highly effective release agents, purging compounds, and other ancillary moulding products, Chem-Trend has launched the new release agent Chemlease 2754W. This semi-permanent product is specifically designed for advanced composites and high-performance carbon fibre components. It allows for multiple releases and thus saves costs. In addition, thanks to its water-based formula, the impact on the environment is reduced and working conditions are improved.

It separates common resin systems from almost all substrates and can be applied at various mould temperatures. Contrary to the use of solvent-based release agents, it is not necessary to let the mould cool down. Switching to a water-based release agent helps to boost production efficiency, as downtimes are avoided and overall costs reduced. In addition, the product has a short flash-off time and is almost odourless.

The new release agent is especially suited for advanced composites and high performance components that are typically manufactured from carbon fibre and high-grade resin systems. It can be used in BMC, SMC, infusion, autoclaving, and compression moulding with only minimal transfer to the finished product. Furthermore, the product is compatible with a wide range of materials, when using both thermoset prepregs or thermoplastic semipregs. Chemlease 2754W is supplied ready-to-use for spraying or for applying manually to moulds.

“With Chemlease 2754W, we have brought a highly innovative, semi-permanent release agent to market. This product significantly improves efficiency by enabling multiple releases. Due to its lower application rate, low VOC and water-based formula, it enhances sustainability and helps to create a healthier workplace”, said Tomasz Krause, European business director Composites at Chem-Trend. www.chemtrend.com Chemlease 2754W release agent succeeds renowned Chemlease 2191W and is specially tailored for advanced composites

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New development in Germany

The first carbon fibre reinforced smartphone is on the market A smartphone that sets new standards for lightness, slim design and sustainability made its debut on the market last March - the Carbon 1 MK II from the Berlin-based start-up Carbon Mobile. The base material for the production of the housing is a thermoplastic composite from the Lanxess Tepex dynalite product range. It is reinforced with fabrics of incredibly fine 1K continuous carbon fibre filaments.

Following the same construction principle as the load-bearing chasApplied for the first time in the sis of a Formula 1 car, the housing Carbon 1 MK II smartphone, the is designed as a monocoque, or HyRECM technology produces a “single shell”. As a result, it makes robust carbon fibre-based housing optimized use of the extreme rigid- structure that is not only incredibly ity of carbon fibre reinforced plastic thin and light, but also made from less than five percent plastic and (CFRP). This contributes significant- allows the passage of radio signals ly to the thin wall thicknesses and low weight of the smartphone and also enables miniaturization. That is because there is no bulky reinforcement taking up space on the inside of the housing. “Our cutting-edge monocoque design enables a device that weighs only 125 grams, a third lighter than conventional smartphones. At just 6.3 millimeters, it is also 25% thinner as well”, commented Firas Khalifeh, CEO of Carbon Mobile.

Despite their advanced properties for producing robust yet lightweight structures, carbon fibres behave in an electromagnetic shielding manner.

This means that they block radio signals, forming a Faraday cage that rather than allowing signals to pass through, instead disperses them around the outer body of the device. Connected devices with carbon fibre, for this reason have been viewed as an impossibility by the tech industry.

Following four years of research and development, Carbon Mobile’s engineers have developed a revolutionary process to unlock carbon fibre’s potential for connected devices. The patented HyRECM (Hybrid Radio Enabled Composite Material) technology fuses carbon fibres together with a complementary composite material capable of RF signal permeation. To further boost the devices connectivity, a unique 3D-printed conductive ink is integrated into the carbon fibre structure. The result is the first “radio enabled” carbon fibre based material, which can also easily be recycled and repurposed for new uses.

“Like all products in the Tepex dynalite product line, this material can be shredded and then processed on standard injection-moulding machines to make new high-quality components, either by itself or mixed with suitable new material”, explained Philipp Genders, Tepex expert in application development at Lanxess. “In addition, the matte-black carbon-fibres give the smartphone a truly high-tech look”. www.tepex.com - www.lanxess.com MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

ADV Amaplast A4 it-ing.indd 2

03/03/20 12:18

MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS

NEWS A new production plant for Laborplast

Compounds based on virgin and regenerated PVC The last months have been characterized by strong changes and high instability, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the difficulties that the plastics market has faced. Despite this turbulence, the Italian company Laborplast has continued to carry out its investment and development projects, aware of the need to innovate in order to always be ready to face the new scenarios that will arise in the coming years.

The project for the construction of the new plant in Busto Arsizio (Varese, Italy) fits into this perspective. Construction work on the new production plant is coming to an end, after almost two years.

The main function of the new plant will be the inclusion of new production lines dedicated to the extrusion of PVC granules, in order to follow the current growth trend of this sector. One of the most important activities of Laborplast is the production of regenerated rigid PVC compounds (for extrusion of pipes/profiles and for injection moulding), mainly dedicated to the manufacturing of building products.

Currently, about 25,000 tons of regenerated PVC are processed per year and there has been a sharp increase in requests for this type of product, driven by the growing need on the market to use eco-sustainable materials. Starting from

Regrind, granules, pipe and profile sections made of Laborplast compounds based on regenerated PVC. Above, building of the new production plant in Busto Arsizio (Varese, Italy)

May 2021, a new granulation plant will be started up, bringing the hourly production of compounds to approximately 4,400 kg/h. The new extrusion line will be dedicated to the production of traditional 100% regenerated products, but also to a new range of “Eco-virgin” products, formulations based on a mix of virgin and regenerated PVC, in order to improve the technical properties of the materials while maintaining a strong environmental sustainability base.

The new plant will also include a new storage area for finished products and a new laboratory.

In addition to the transfer of the current equipment (dynamometer, plastometer, HDT/Vicat, Izod/Charpy pendulum and thermal stability ap-

paratus), the new laboratory will be equipped with a Brabender rheometer, useful for analysing more specifically the rheology of materials by simulating the real processing conditions of the different compounds. The new instrumentation will make it possible to carry out in-depth analyses on all production batches of compounds, verify incoming raw materials and provide new analysis tools for the R&D department.

In view of the challenges arising from this transition phase, Laborplast is continuously investing important resources to be able to better face every possible future scenario, aiming at three main directions - innovation, quality and respect for the environment. www.laborplast.net

Eco-sustainable material from Oldrati and MrWolf

A regenerated-rubber mousse for mountain bikes After launching in 2017 Banger, an antipuncture system for mountain bikes in the form of a mousse specifically designed for use in traditional MTB and e-MTB, MrWolf is today one of the most innovative startups on the market, whose solutions are increasingly meeting the interest of both enthusiastic cyclists and professional athletes.

One of the most avant-garde projects carried out by MrWolf concerns the collaboration with Oldrati, important international group in the production of rubber, plastic and silicone products for many sectors, one of

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which is certainly cycling sports.

The two Italian companies are in fact working together on the production of the first eco-sustainable mousse containing regenerated material, namely Oldrati Ogreen.

Amongst the solutions that have made MrWolf famous among riders, we cannot forget Komdom, the first real anti-puncture solution for the mountain bike world. The distinctive feature of Komdom consists in its ability to combine the performance of a mousse with the practicality of air, allowing to customize and make perfect the feeling

of the product for each type of user and use. The mousse component dampens shocks, giving new grip and comfort to the bike; the inner tube allows you to change at will the response of the wheel group to adapt to every need of the rider.

Besides ensuring the performance of Komdom, another objective of the ongoing research is to associate the product with a philosophy of attention and care for the environment. MrWolf’s choice to use Oldrati Ogreen for its mousses brings with it numerous advantages, among which the reduction in

Being able to offer solutions that contain components produced through sustainable processes is an important step in the field of outdoor sports

the consumption of virgin resources, the reduction in waste and a lower use of disposal plants with a consequent reduction in environmental impact: a very important aspect that represents a great added value for the company and for the cycling enthusiasts. www.oldrati.com MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

E&E applications

Black polyamides for laser welding Laser welding is becoming one of the top cost-effective technologies to deep weld polymer materials together in many industries and is particularly used in the development of complex and small shaped plastic parts for the automotive market, electronic circuits, Internet of Things applications and consumer goods.

The most relevant benefits of this technology include speed, flexibility, precision and superior appearance. Additional laser welding is also a low dust technology, a key high performance for electric and electronic applications.

That is why a new product family PA66-based black plastics suitable for laser welding has been developed by Domo Chemicals. “Being such a concentrated heat source, in thin materials laser welding can be carried out at high welding speeds. Thicker materials can produce narrow, deep welds between squareedged parts. Our Technyl Star

AF 219 V30 black LT expanded product family will be important for the electric vehicle market where there is a growing demand for sensor boxes, cases and control units”, explained Vincent de Givry, marketing director Engineered Materials at Domo.

The technique sees a laser beam pass through the laser-transparent part to reach the laser-absorbing component, melting the material in a localized area and contactless welding from the inside out, creating a clean, invisible and aesthetic finish. Other technologies that require friction during the welding create air pollution in the process meaning that parts require post-production cleaning.

Technyl Star AF 219 V30 black LT was measured using a light transmission test as a wavelength of 940 nm, proving the suitability of this solution up to 3-mm thickness. Additionally, Domo’s in-house APT Part test-

Black transparent laser welded application

The welding of this air conditioning pipe passed the burst test; it did not break along the welding

ing service, can perform burst tests on welded parts for final proof of concept and to speed customer’s time to market. All tests to date have shown good cohesion of the welding.

New applications for laser welding are constantly emerging. One of these is extruded tubes for air conditioning lines and Domo has developed unfilled alternative that has proven to be successful and passed the burst

test before and after refrigerant aging. Looking ahead, a reinforced, and specifically designed for laser welding technology, PA6 30% glass fibre is also under development and will be soon released to the market. www.domochemicals.com

Composite materials

Carbon fibre reinforced ABS for 3D printers A new ABS-based carbon fibre material has been introduced by Stratasys for its line of F123 Series 3D printers, the first composite material for the platform. Carbon fibre materials have proven extremely popular on Stratasys’ industrial-scale FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) 3D printers for a variety of end-use applications such as jigs, fixtures, and tooling. With FDM ABS-CF10, Stratasys now makes carbon fibre much more accessible to the engineering and manufacturing community with high-performance F170, F270, and F370 3D printers.

The material properties of FDM ABS-CF10, featuring 10% chopped carbon fibre, make it a compelling alternative to metal parts. In fact, the material is 15% stronger and more than 50% stiffer than standard ABS, without MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

the weight of metal, and can be printed with a high degree of accuracy. QSR Support water-soluble material makes it possible to 3D print intricate and complex parts without time-consuming manual support removal.

UK-based Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group specializes in the conversion and modification of military, civil, and business aircraft, along with defense vehicle engineering and shelter manufacturing.

The company uses both Fortus 450mc and F370 3D printers for a variety of tooling applications.

“All the tooling we create has different and often unique requirements”, said Chris Botting, materials and environmental engineering manager at Marshall. “Our F370 3D printers offer us the flexibility to choose

ABS-CF10 offers excellent stiffness for alignment tools like this weldment fixture

from a wide variety of materials based on application demands while still producing functional parts. 3D printing parts that we historically would have made of metal has led to a significant cost reduction compared to machining the part out of aluminium, while reducing overall part weight”.

With FDM ABS-CF10 material, available since April 2021, Stratasys is particularly focused on addressing applications in the aerospace, automotive, industrial, and recreational manufacturing industries. www.stratasys.com

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TRADE FAIRS AND CONFERENCES

International exhibition for packaging solutions

MYipackima - An innovative digital platform Next edition of Ipack-Ima (Milan, May 3-6, 2022) will focus further on sustainability and circular economy, which are becoming one of the most important drivers of innovation in all manufacturing industries. These topics will be discussed indepth through conferences and special events, starting from the packaging design topic. The exhibition will provide visitors with live events to witness the stateof-the-art applications and best practices of Ipack-Ima exhibitors and partners.

The “Ipack-Mat - Packaging Materials for Product Development” project has become a real brand for the 2022 edition: the aim is to ensure greater identity to all packaging material suppliers. Moreover, the Ipack-Mat thematic area will showcase innovative materials and eco-friendly packaging, where it will clearly emerge how closely green economy, design and smart

packaging are associated.

Furthermore, there will be an area for innovative material, capable of responding the ever-greater need of sustainability.

Ipack-Ima will start before May 3 thanks to the new version of MYipackima, the innovative digital platform where exhibitors and buyers can look for the perfect match to develop new opportunities. MYipackima marks the digital transformation of the fair, whose goals are to integrate business opportunities and digital networking to the traditional exhibition model.

Whether it’s on-site appointments or virtual meetings, any time, between now and 2022, it is useful to create new contacts, enhance exhibitors’ offer, identify new customers, reach different targets. MYipackima allows all exhibitors and buyers of Ipack-Ima to create new contacts before, during and after the show. www.ipackima.com

EXHIBITIONS & TRADE FAIRS 2021 June 15-17 - Rosplast & Rosmould (Moscow, Russia) June 16-18 - Plastics & Rubber Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) July 7-8 - Luxe Pack Shanghai (Shanghai, China) August 10-12 - Feipur Polyurethanes / Feiplar Composites (São Paulo, Brazil) August 11-14 - Indoplas, Indopack, Indoprint (Jakarta, Indonesia) August 26-28 - Plastech Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) September 14-16 - European Coatings Show (Nuremberg, Germany) September 14-18 - Equiplast (Barcelona, Spain) September 23-25 - PPP, plastprintpack Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) September 27-29 - Luxe Pack (Monaco, Principality of Monaco) September 28-30 - Interplas (Birmingham, United Kingdom) September 28-30 - FachPack (Nuremberg, Germany) September 29-30 - Compounding, Recycling, Extrusion, Polymer Testing World Expo (Essen, Germany) October 12-16 - Fakuma (Friedrichshafen, Germany) October 19-21 - Icec, International Converting Exhibition and Conference (Orlando, United States) October 19-22 - Hispack (Barcelona, Spain) October 26-28 - PPP, plastprintpack Nigeria (Lagos, Nigeria) October 26-28 - Utech Middle East/Africa Foam & Polyurethane Expo (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) October 26-29 - Ecomondo (Rimini, Italy) October 27-31 - PackShow (Bucharest, Romania) November 8-12 - Plastico Brasil (São Paulo, Brazil) November 11-13 - Central Asia Plast World (Almaty, Kazakhstan) November 15-18 - Arabplast (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) November 16-18 - Utech Europe (Maastricht, Netherlands)

2022 February 17-21 - Plastindia (New Delhi, India) March 8-10 - JEC World (Paris, France) March 29-31 - FiltXPO & Idea (Miami Beach, Florida, United States) April 5-8 - FIP (Lyon, France) April 5-8 - Interplast (Joinville, Brazil) May 3-6 - Ipack-Ima, Print4All and Intralogistica (Milan, Italy) May 11-14 - HanoiPlas (Hanoi, Vietnam) June 1-4 - Plastexpo / Packexpo (Casablanca, Morocco) June 27-30 - DKT IRC (Nuremberg, Germany) September 26-30 - Colombiaplast (Bogotà, Colombia) November 22-24 - PPP, plastprintpack Kenya (Nairobi, Kenya)

The international trade show Ipack-Ima will take place in Milan, Italy, on May 3-6, 2022, displaying the excellence in packaging solutions and materials for food and non-food industry

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NOTE: The trade show calendar could be subjected to change due to the health emergency caused by Covid-19. Therefore, we invite you to visit www.macplas.it to take note of all possible postponements.

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

MEETINGS & CONGRESSES 2021 Austria October 20 - 21 - Vienna: Plastics Recycling Technology Europe - AMI (www.ami.international/events)

Belgium June 17 - Brussels: The VinylPlus Sustainability Forum (conference + webinar) VinylPlus (https://vinylplus.eu)

Germany

Cables Europe - AMI (www.ami.international/events) September 27-28 - Düsseldorf: Chemical Recycling - AMI (www.ami.international/events) October 4-6 - Hamburg: Polymer Sourcing & Distribution - AMI (www.ami.international/events) November 30 - December 1 - Berlin: European Bioplastics Conference - European Bioplastics (www.european-bioplastics.org)

Italy

June 28 - July 1 - Webinar: DKG Elastomer Symposium - German Rubber Society (www.elastosymp.de) July 21-22 - Berlin: Additive Manufacturing Forum - Institute for Production Management (www.am-forum.eu) September 7-8 - Nuremberg: bio!Toy Polymedia Publisher (www.bio-toy.info) September 22-23 - Cologne: PHA platform World Congress - Polymedia Publisher (www.bioplasticsmagazine.com) September 14-16 - Cologne :

June 23-25 - Webinar: International Conference on Fatigue of Composites University of Padua (http://static.gest.unipd.it/ICFC8) July 22 - Webinar: Level up and optimise the performance of Fanuc motors and drives on machine tools (English advanced level) - Fanuc (https://levelup.fanuc.eu/en/) September 30 - Webinar: PET Day Global Service International (www.gsiplastic.com)

Spain October 6-7 - Valencia: Plastics are future Aimplas (www.plasticsarefuture.com)

The Netherlands June 23-24 - Amsterdam: Biobased Coatings Europe - ACI (www.wplgroup.com/aci/events)

United States June 22-23 - Cary (North Carolina): Filter Media Training Course - Inda (www.inda.org) June 28-29 - Phoenix (Arizona): Digital Print for Packaging - Smithers Rapra (www.smithers.com/events) July 12-15 - Atlanta (Georgia): World of Wipes - Inda (www.inda.org) August 4-5 - Webinar: Resource Recycling Resource Recycling (https://resource-recycling.com) NOTE: The event calendar could be subjected to change due to the health emergency caused by Covid-19. Therefore, we invite you to visit www. macplas.it to take note of all possible postponements

A series of events devoted to the composites industry

International conference on fatigue of composites The eighth edition of the “International Conference on Fatigue of Composites” (ICFC8), organised by the Department of Management and Engineering of the University of Padua, Italy, will be held as an online conference from June 23 to 25.

The event aims to enhance interactions amongst scientists and engineers both from academia, research institutions and end-use industries, providing them with a forum for the communications and discussions on the recent exciting accomplishments, future trends and directions in the field of fatigue, damage mechanics and fracture of composite materials. This edition will continue the series of previous confer-

MACPLAS INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021

ences, which were held in Paris (1997), in Williamsburg (2000), in Kyoto (2004), in Kaiserslautern (2007), in Nanjing (2010) and again back in Paris (2015) and Vicenza (2018).

Together with local cultural introduction, the high-quality presentations on the basis of strict professional selection ensure a friendly atmosphere during the symposium, which is believed to further promote and establish long-term cooperation among the participants.

An attractive background programme will be arranged to complement the interesting presentations and discussions.

The main conference topics can be summarised as follows: • experimental characterization

of fatigue response of composites materials, structures and assemblies; • damage mechanics and fatigue damage mechanisms: quantitative description of the initiation and evolution process; • damage evolution and property degradation; • effects of process, manufacturing induced defects, environment, temperature, humidity on the fatigue response of composites; • variable amplitude, spectrum loading and cumulative damage modelling; • advanced experimental techniques for damage investigation; • health monitoring and non-de-

The ICFC conferences attract internationally renowned scientists, researchers and application engineers, with a scientific program covering theoretical aspects, experimental methods and examples of practical industrial applications

structive methods for fatigue damage detection and their applications; • models and procedures for damage evolution assessment, residual properties and life prediction; • applications and case histories (fatigue and property degradation in complex composite structures). http://static.gest.unipd.it/ICFC8

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ARBURG​​​ 33 AVK​ 74 BARUFFALDI​ 72 BASF​​ 77 BD PLAST​ 70 BFM​ 49 BIESSE​ 48 BOSCH REXROTH​ 49 BRÜCKNER ​60 CARBON MOBILE​ 78 CEPSA​ 77 CESAP - IIP ​​76 CHEM-TREND ​78 CHINAPLAS ​​12; 33 CIDETEC​ 74 DOMO CHEMICALS​ 81 DSM ​​77 ELBA​ 50 ENI​ 26 EXACT ​ 68 ESTIN & CO.​ 18 EUROPEAN BIOPLASTICS​ 20 FAP​ 29 FASERINSTITUT BREMEN​ 75 FB BALZANELLI​ 44 FIBRANT​ 77 FIMIC​ 73 FRAUNHOFER IFAM ​​74 FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE FOR CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY​ 74 FREEDONIA GROUP​ 18 GAMMA MECCANICA​​ 42 GERMAN AEROSPACE CENTER ​74 GLOBALDATA​ 19 HAITIAN GROUP ​​​37 HYCONNECT​ 75 ICIS​ 24 ILAP​ 73 IMG​​ 37 INSTITUTE FOR LIGHTWEIGHT ENGINEERING & POLYMER TECHNOLOGY​ 74 INSTITUTE OF POLYMER TECHNOLOGY (UNIVERSITY OF ERLAGEN)​ 74 IPACK-IMA​ 82 IPM​ 56 ITIB MACHINERY ​66 JEC GROUP ​18 LABORPLAST​ 80 LANXESS​ 78 MARSHALL AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE GROUP​ 81 MAST​ 58 MEPOL​ 70 ME.RO​ 60 MIXACO ​ 53 MRWOLF​ 80 MÜNSTER UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES​ 74 NOVA-INSTITUTE​ 20 OLDRATI GROUP ​​​​80 PETCORE EUROPE​ 27 PLASTIBLOW ​ 50 PLASTICSEUROPE​ 27 PLASTICS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION​ 14 PLASTICS RECYCLERS EUROPE​​ 27 POLYREC ​ 27 PRESMA​ 48 RIVI MAGNETICS ​62 ROBOLINE SYTRAMA​ 70 SABIC​ 7 SAERTEX​ 75 SALDOFLEX​ 50 SARA​​ 51 STADLER UK​​ 46 STAR AUTOMATION EUROPE​ 72 STRATASYS ​ 81 TECNODINAMICA ​ 40 TECNOMATIC​ 44 TEPEX​ 78 THERMOPLAY​ 64 TOMRA​ 46 UNIVERSITY OF PADUA​ 83 VERSALIS​ 26 VINYLPLUS​ 26; 27 VIRIDOR​ 46 VISCOFAN​ 77 ZHAFIR PLASTICS MACHINERY​ 37

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