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ASSOCIATION OF ROTATIONAL MOULDERS AUSTRALASIA LTD • ARMA

Welcome to ARMA Ltd

Since the start of this year, we have been working hard behind the scenes to change the structure of ARMA from an Incorporated Association to a Company Limited by Guarantee and the transfer it now complete. While this change does not alter any of our excellent benefits and services, it does ensure that we are able to work and adapt with more freedom both federally and internationally.

Our new name is Association of Rotational Moulders Australasia Ltd. In line with this, we have also changed our branding and logo slightly and this has already rolled out across our website and social media. We will also no longer use the RotoConnect name.

Our contact details have also changed, and the office is now located in Melbourne, Victoria.

It is an exciting new chapter for ARMA, and the Board have worked hard to implement a new strategic direction over the next few years as well as a complete overhaul of policies, procedures, and the way we work.

ARMA Environment Group Update

It is an exciting time for the Environment Working Group, who are setting some big industry goals and one of these is around the use of recycled materials. Approximately 2% of the market is currently recycled material and the group is working towards this being 5% by 2025.

An interesting development in this field is the rotomoulding of single use plastics which recently came to fruition here in Australia. Keep your eye out for the in-depth article on this project in a future issue!

“In a world first, noise walls along the Mordialloc Freeway will be made from 75 percent recycled plastic collected from households across the state, as part of a drive to build Australia’s greenest freeway.

The 32,000 square metres of noise walls required for the project will be made from more than 570 tonnes of plastic waste – half of which is plastic disposed in kerbside recycling such as milk and soft drink bottles.

The other half of the recycled content will be made up of soft plastics such as bread bags, food wrappers, and bubble wrap, which are notoriously difficult to recycle and usually end up in landfill.

The amount of recycled content going into these noise wall panels is the equivalent of 30 million water bottles, or the plastic waste collected from 25,000 Victorian homes in one year.

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The noise walls have been made in Carrum Downs by PACT Group, helping them retain local jobs.

At less than half the weight of steel or concrete panels, the recycled plastic noise wall panels are quicker and safer to install while still meeting or exceeding traffic noise reduction requirements. The recycled plastic panels are also non-porous, meaning paint and graffiti can’t be absorbed into them.”

Reference: Victorian State Government Press Release, Monday 1 March 2021.

This is just the start with the government starting to open tenders on a multimillion-dollar road & rail infrastructure project that require a range of recycled products.

Within the same environmental space, ARMA has worked closely with Plastics New Zealand on a recent submission to the Climate Change Commission.

The recommendations of the full draft advice of He Pou a Rangi – the Climate Change Commission outlined recommendations for reducing emissions in New Zealand and suggests the direction of policy that Aotearoa could take to get there.

It has a major effect on our industry due to the ending of natural gas and LPG usage over the coming years.

As part of the submission New Zealand rotational moulders were surveyed to collate as much information on the industry as we could and then were asked to endorse the final document of which an excerpt is included here:

“Addressing climate change is necessary for the ongoing health and wellbeing of both current and future generations. For this reason, the New Zealand plastics industry supports the move towards a Carbon Zero Aotearoa by 2050.

The New Zealand plastics industry has been involved in consistent improvement of environmental management practices for decades, including significant efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce consumption. Much of the industry are already running on renewable electricity, and those companies still reliant on fossil-fuels have been keeping a close eye on developing technologies that might enable decarbonisation.

The plastics industry is also a key enabler of many of the technologies required to achieve Carbon Zero 2050. Plastics are utilised extensively in renewable generation infrastructure (e.g., hydro, wind, solar), electric vehicles of all types and energy efficient buildings to name just a few.

Our members will be impacted specifically by the Electricity, Natural Gas Use, and Industry and Heat recommendations within the Draft Advice. All businesses will be impacted by the Transportation recommendations.” As part of the final submission, we also reached out to our international contacts through ARMO to for their input to highlight what was happening around the world with regard to rotational moulding and decarbonisation: In Central Europe, most factories are using gas as a power source. Just a few would have specialised machinery which is electrically powered (i.e., infrared machines, robomoulds with robots and smart machines). Yet these specialised machines are operated for niche markets and could not be economically utilised for larger scaled machines needed for typical rotomoulding applications such as larger tanks or containers. A policy removing natural gas and LPG without a proper alternative might even have a negative rather than positive impact on the climate – suddenly markets would be flooded with imported products that would be produced in foreign countries. By not being produced locally, these would result in large It has a major effect on our increase of transportation industry due to the ending of efforts, which would negatively impact the carbon natural gas and LPG usage footprint of products. Local over the coming years. production of roto-moulded product, especially when produced from recycled materials, or when produced to be multi-use, or to replace heavier products, will result in better carbon footprints. In North America almost all, perhaps 99.5%, of rotational moulding machines are fired by natural gas, with approximately 4 new electric machines in service. It is improbable, and in practice, almost impossible to see alternative source of energy for the industry happening in the near future. Most of the Nordic region is powered by hydro, geothermal, wind, or nuclear power for electricity. The industry tries to use as little ‘earth’ in its electricity as possible as it is very expensive. Those that can use electric ovens promote their use of renewable energy. However, many of the machines within the industry are still powered by oil (diesel, gas). Watch this space as both recycling and decarbonisation are going to be prominent topics over the coming years and as an industry we need to be looking to the future and be ready for the change that is coming!

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ASSOCIATION OF ROTATIONAL MOULDERS AUSTRALASIA LTD • ARMA

With a one-off subscription fee that provides 12 months access per Company, the training videos can be utilised as much as you require. They can be stopped and started and played over and over. Not only is the technical training from the Masterclass at the Machine included, but also the unreleased videos from Rotomould 2019 Conference in Brisbane. Urban Poly Tanks Pty Ltd (UPT) is an Australian company, based in Pakenham, Victoria. UPT manufactures a range of products, including water storage tanks. The UPT management team has more than 35 years combined experience in rotational moulding and tank manufacture. John Collier presents in the Urban factory on safety on the factory floor and what to look out for.

Melbourne Rotomould Tim Leed and Steve Kyval started this business to use their extensive rotomoulding knowledge to manufacture innovative designs for creative Australian and international businesses. They are passionate about the process, and it continues to fascinate them. Tim Leed provides training on PFG Group t/a Kiel Industries equipment is specially designed to offer an economic advantage with short production runs that are so vital to the Australian supply chain in this modern era. Mark Medew talks about all aspects of Moulds as well as Recycling.

With over 6 hours of content, there is a special deal to all Rotoworld® readers to access the online training portal for a reduced cost. Just email michellerose@rotationalmoulding. com for a discount code or visit https://vimeo.com/ondemand/arma for more information. The training portal launched on the 28th June!

The Masterclass at the Machine Technical Training was Filmed within 3 Factories:

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BRITISH PLASTICS FEDERATION ROTATIONAL MOULDING GROUP • BPF

New BPF Document Highlights Vital Role of Plastic in a Sustainable Future

The British Plastics Federation (BPF) has published a comprehensive new document, Plastics Explained: Exploring the Key Topics, which examines why plastic needs to be thought of more like a valuable resource and how it has a vital role to play as society works towards lowering carbon emissions. It is designed to be a useful reference tool for those working both inside and outside the plastics industry.

Plastics Explained includes facts and figures about the UK plastics industry, details the key role of the industry in a sustainable future and highlights the necessary steps that need to be taken to improve recycling in the UK. The document also takes a thorough look at the complexities surrounding many key plastic-related topics including deposit return schemes, consistent curbside collections, extended producer responsibility, marine litter, and chemical recycling.

The document suggests: • The UK’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 will not be possible without plastic, as the material is not only essential for things like insulation, lightweight vehicles, and wind turbines but also because alternative materials are often heavier and require more resources to produce, which can lead to increased emissions. • All plastic packaging needs to be collected for recycling to develop a circular economy and simplify the current system. • Money raised by the plastic packaging tax should be reinvested to address the lack of suitable collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure for plastic in the UK.

Plastics Explained also covers taxing plastic packaging based upon the amount of recycled content; split targets and PRN reform; exporting plastic waste for recycling; fraud and waste crime; open and closed loop recycling; biobased, biodegradable and oxo-degradable plastics as a solution to littering; microplastics.

BPF Director General Philip Law states:

“Everyone has a role to play in creating a more sustainable society and the plastics industry obviously has a role too. It is constantly innovating to reduce its environmental impact. Plastic will play a key part in all our futures, as it is vital to reducing the UK’s carbon emissions. In the same way we value the modern comfort and safety it brings, as our document suggests, we’d like to encourage people to think of plastic as a valuable resource to be kept in functional use for as long as possible. Plastics Explained covers a broad range of topics and we are confident it will prove useful as an easy means of getting to grips with these.”

Association of Rotational Moulders Australasia Inc. Tel: +61 (0) 7 3812 1450 www.rotationalmoulding.com CEO: Michelle Rose Cheif Executive Officer: Michelle Rose michellerose@rotationalmoulding.com

Association of Rotational Moulding (Central Europe) e.V. (ARM-CE) MAUS GmbH - Rotationsgießformen Am Viehweg 9 - D-76229 Karlsruhe Amtsgericht Mannheim, HRB 103433 Tel.: +49 (0) 7 21 / 9 48 74 12 Fax: +49 (0) 7 21 / 9 48 74 44 Mr. Oliver Wandres, ARM-CE Chairman info@rotational-moulding.de www.rotational-moulding.de Association of Rotational Moulders Southern Africa PO Box 6966 Birchleigh 1621 Gauteng South Africa Tel: +27 82 772 3769 Fax +27 12 541 1738 Chairman: Wayne Wiid info@armsa.co.za www.armsa.co.za

British Plastics Federation Rotational Moulding Group 6 Bath Place Rivington Street London EC2A 3JE United Kingdom Tel: 020 7457 5000 Fax: 020 7457 5045 Chairman: Mr. Philip Maddox PhilipM@LeafieldEnv.com IT-RO Italia Rotazionale Katia Zoppetti Via E. Brigatti 12 20152 Milano (MI) Italy Tel: +039 348 7652560 www.it-ro.it

The Nordic Association of Rotational Moulders Executive Board Chairman: Mr. Ronny Ervik ul. Zielona 8, 61-851 Poznan, Poland Tel: +48 607-126-004 Fax: +48 61-858-8611 info@rotomoulding-europe.org www.nordicrotomoulding.org www.rotomoulding-europe.org Society of Asian Rotomoulders (StAR) 40/145, Ground Floor, Chittaranjan Park New Delhi 110019 Tel: + 91-11-41630157 Fax: +91-11-41634952 Mob: + 91- 9810305356 sb.zaman@staraisa.org arnacz@satyam.net.in www.starasia.org