Helping keep pellets, flakes, and powder out of the marine environment. opcleansweep.org
32. AI improves knowledge worker results, research finds The future benefits of using AI. Kim Harrison, Cutting Edge PR
Future prospects for the rotational
48. Get it Back! Regulating packaging and packaging waste in the EU. Ronny Ervik, Norner AS and Nordic ARM
42. Hydrogen: Solution to Environment Problems of Fossil Fuels
molding industry. Celal Beysel, Floteks
Upfront: Floteks Automotive
08. FROM THE PUBLISHER Understanding the Why Susan Gibson, JSJ Productions, Inc.
10. CREDITS
ARM Report: ARM Announces a New Webinar Series on Wall Thickness Control in Rotomolding
Roto Around the World: Attendees at April 2024 China technical seminar
46. AT ISSUE
Revolutionizing Rotomoulding: How Sustainability and Innovation Are Shaping the Future Aldo Quaratino, Matrix Polymers
54. ROTO AROUND THE WORLD
12. GLOBAL CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Global Contributors, Department Contributors, and Issue Contributors
16. UPFRONT Industry News, Trends, and Products
38. ARM REPORT
ARM introduces New Webinar on Wall Thickness Control in Rotomolding
Training and Skills Development Ian Hansen, RotaConsult
59. ARMO NEWS
Rotomould24 brings in more than 160 attendees
64. GLOBAL CALENDAR
ARMA President’s Report by Chris Glen, Bushman’s Australia
66. ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
RotoWorld® advertiser contact information
25 Years of Unwavering Service
Then, Now, and Beyond
We are thrilled to welcome back an original H1D500 Orenda Pulverizer for service after 25 years of outstanding performance. Here's to another 25 years of excellence and achievement.
Understanding the Why
We live in a world where information is shared freely. Shared freely by a multitude of platforms. We must ask: how much of it is life-altering or lifeenhancing? How much of it makes a difference? How much of it is valuable?
It is this thought path that leads me to contemplate with each issue we publish, are we are sharing information in RotoWorld that is relevant and of value? Can it be used to better an individual, company, employer, employee, or products? Can it be used to start a conversation? Is it of helpful reference when someone is called on to lead? Can it help you in making a jumpstart on a new idea or project?
This drives me to the topics covered in this issue. On the topic of Training and Skills Development, offered by Ian Hansen, and of which there is a plethora of offerings in our industry, employees who do not learn correct procedures and protocols will struggle to reach their full potential, and that will chip away at the bottom line.
On the topic of Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), this is a campaign supported by the Plastics Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council. This campaign aims to have “zero pellet, flake, and powder loss” from all plastic resin handling operations. Many companies and organizations have shown their support and become partners by signing the
OCS pledge. Joining this program means committing to properly handling pellets, flakes, and powders and maintaining state and local regulations.
GREAT LEADERS ASK QUESTIONS. SO, WHEN YOU READ NEW INFORMATION PERTAINING TO YOUR INDUSTRY, WHAT QUESTIONS WILL YOU ASK OF YOURSELF AND OTHERS? I SUBMIT THAT COMFORT DOESN’T CHANGE THE WORLD. VULNERABILITY DOES.
On the topic of Hydrogen Solutions to Environment
Problems caused by Fossil Fuels, offered by Celal Beysel, emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicle, such as nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter, are a major source of pollution. Hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles emit none of these harmful substances— only water (H2O) and warm air. Hydrogen fuel cell cars are quiet, very energy efficient, produce no emissions, and have equivalent range and performance to gasoline counterparts.
On the topic of AI, offered by Kim Harrison, the amount of data that is generated, by both humans and machines, far outpaces humans’ ability to absorb, interpret, and make complex decisions based on that data. Artificial intelligence forms the basis for all computer learning and is the future of all complex decision making. Great leaders ask questions. So, when you read new information pertaining to your industry, what questions will you ask of yourself and others? I submit that comfort doesn’t change the world. Vulnerability does.
I hope the information and articles we bring you through RotoWorld are a source of knowledge, inspiration, and motivation.
We always appreciate your thoughts, input, and ideas for relevant reading. R
SUSAN GIBSON Publisher &
Editor
SUSAN GIBSON JSJ Productions, Inc.
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
Susan D. Gibson President - JSJ Productions, Inc. susan@jsjproductionsinc.com
TECHNICAL EDITOR
Alvin Spence PhD MEng aspence@centroinc.com
PROCESS EDITOR
Paul Nugent PhD MEng paul@paulnugent.com
DESIGN EDITOR
Michael Paloian President - Integrated Design Systems, Inc. paloian@idsys.com
Tom Innis Xcelerant Growth Partners info@xcelerantgrowthpartners.com
Martin Coles Matrix Polymers martin.coles@matrixpolymers.com
Adam Covington Ferry Industries acovington@ferryindustries.com
Mark Kearns Moulding Research Manager m.kearns@qub.ac.uk
Ravi Mehra Managing Director - Norstar International LLC maramehra@aol.com
ADVERTISING AND ART PRODUCTION
Marketing/Advertising Director Jennifer Gibson Hebert Vice President, JSJ Productions, Inc. jennifer@jsjproductionsinc.com
Chief Art Director Anya Wilcox JSJ Productions, Inc. awilcox@designintersection.com
CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION ADMINISTRATION
Sheryl Bjorn JSJ Productions, Inc. sheryl@jsjproductionsinc.com
EDITING & TRANSLATIONS
Suzanne Ketron | Oliver Wandres | Sheryl Bjorn
WEBSITE & ONLINE TECHNOLOGY
Jason Cooper JSJ Productions, Inc. jason@bound.by
RotoWorld® is a JSJ Productions, Inc. Trade Publication JSJ Productions, Inc. 625 West Market Street, Salinas, CA 93901 Phone: (512) 894.4106; Fax (512) 858.0486 Email: rotoworldmag@rotoworldmag.com and Website: www.rotoworldmag.com
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RotoWorld® is a JSJ Productions, Inc. independently owned, bi-monthly trade magazine for the international rotational molding and plastics design industries. JSJ Productions, Inc. owns all copyrights on articles published herein unless ownership is otherwise stated. Reproduction of this magazine, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of the publisher is not permitted.
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To learn more about our products & material solutions get in touch at:
ALVIN SPENCE
Alvin Spence is Vice President Engineering at Centro, Inc., North Liberty, Iowa. He provides leadership for Centro’s product development team and quality resources. Alvin received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and PhD from Queen’s University Belfast. aspence@centroinc.com
MICHAEL PALOIAN
Michael is President of Integrated Design Systems, Inc., Great Neck, New York. Over the past 25 years, Mike has developed a broad range of plastic products utilizing various processing methods including rotational molding. Mike’s B.S. degree in Plastics Engineering and Masters in Industrial Design, combined with his extensive experience, has formed the basis for his branded and unique insights into the field of plastics part design. paloian@idsys.com
PAUL NUGENT
Paul is a consultant who travels extensively across six continents assisting clients in many roles from training to expert witnessing. He received his Eng. degree in Aeronautical Engineering and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University of Belfast. Paul developed the Rotolog system, the first complete computer simulation (RotoSim), and authored a book entitled Rotational Molding: A Practical Guide.
paul@paulnugent.com
RAVI MEHRA
Ravi Mehra has been associated with the rotational molding industry since the early 1970’s. He is a Past President of ARM – Association of Rotational Molders, and has been inducted into the ARM Hall of Fame. He is the Founding Chairman of StAR – the rotational moulding Trade Association of India. He was the Chairman of ARMO – Affiliation of Rotational Moulding Organizations from 2012 to 2014. Ravi consults internationally with companies in the rotational moulding arena to help their global strategy, facilitate technology tie-ups, and business alliances. maramehra@aol.com
MARTIN COLES
Martin Coles, CEO of Matrix Polymers co-founded the business 30 years ago and is the company’s largest shareholder. Shortly after graduating from London University, Martin began his career in the plastics industry working for a major Italian petrochemical company and soon became passionate about the unique world of rotomoulding. Matrix Polymers are experts in rotomoulding materials and have become a global supplier with compounding and grinding plants in the UK, Poland, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and Malaysia. The company sells more than $150 million of rotomoulding materials each year and has 230 employees. martin.coles@matrixpolymers.com
CELAL BEYSEL
Celal is Chairman of Floteks Plastik, the pioneer and innovative leader of the rotational molding industry in Turkey and is a Global Contributing Editor for RotoWorld® magazine. Being an ARM member for more than 20 years, Celal has made many presentations at ARM meetings in various countries. He is also active in business and political organizations in his country. Celal has authored numerous articles published in various newspapers and magazines about politics, plastics, rotomolding, and innovation. beysel@superonline.com
TOM INNIS
Tom Innis is owner and Principal CEO of Xcelerant Growth Partners, LLC (Madison, WI), a multi-discipline consulting firm with specific focus in the global plastics sector. Leveraging industry experience and relationships built over 25+ years in the international manufacturing realm, Xcelerant connects the links in the industry supply chain to accelerate speedto-market and deliver turnkey personnel, product development, and manufacturing solutions to an international audience. tinnis@ xcelerantgrowthpartners.com
ROB MILLER
Rob Miller is Owner/President, Wittmann Battenfeld Canada Inc./ Rotoload. Rob started in the plastics pneumatic conveying industry in 1986. He has spent his entire career developing, engineering, and designing all types of catalog, standard, and custom pneumatic conveying systems for the plastics industry. He started in the rotational molding industry in 2013, has enjoyed learning the idiosyncrasies of the industry and market, and most of all meeting the people and building relationships for the future. Rob.Miller@wittmann-group.ca
ADAM COVINGTON
Adam Covington is President of Ferry Industries, Inc. in Akron, Ohio U.S.A. Covington has been with Ferry Industries for over 11 years, advanced through the manufacturing, engineering, sales, and service positions within the company and was appointed President in 2019. Adam strives to find solutions for customer’s needs and advance machine technology for the rotomolding industry. He is a graduate of Ohio University’s Russ College of Engineering and Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology. acovington@ferryindustries.com
IAN HANSEN
Ian Hansen has over 30 years of experience in the rotational moulding industry and has presented to conferences around the world on the subject of quality, safety, and tank design standards. Rotomoulders around the globe have problems from time to time. Rota Consult delivers production solutions so rotomoulders can improve productivity and profitability, without wasting more of their valuable time. ianhansenconsult@gmail.com
MARK KEARNS
Mark Kearns is the Rotational Moulding Research Manager of the Polymer Processing Research Centre at Queen’s University of Belfast. He is a Chartered Chemical Engineer with a M. Phil Degree in Rotational Moulding. Mark manages rotational moulding research and development projects for companies across Europe, Australasia, and North America. M.Kearns@qub.ac.uk
R. DRU LAWS
R. Dru Laws, educator and rotomolding expert, graduated from Brigham Young University in 2003 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. In 2005, he graduated top of his class with distinction (honors) from the Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland with an MSc in Polymer Engineering from their school of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering. He has several rotomoulding-related patents. Laws is currently a fulltime Manufacturing Engineering professor at BYU-Idaho, as well as CEO of Halltech Systems and High Pointe Plastics. drulaws @gmail.com
KIM HARRISON
Kim Harrison, Founder and Principal of Cutting Edge PR, loves sharing actionable ideas and information about professional communication and business management. He has wide experience as a corporate affairs manager, consultant, author, lecturer, and CEO of a non-profit organization. Kim is a Fellow and former national board member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia, and he ran his State’s professional development program for 7 years, helping many practitioners to strengthen their communication skills.
ALDO QUARATINO
As Group Technical Director of Matrix Polymers, Aldo Quaratino spearheads the company’s research and development initiatives. He leads a dedicated team in identifying new opportunities and crafting innovative solutions to address the dynamic needs of their customers. Aldo’s deep expertise in polymer science has been the driving force behind many of Matrix Polymers groundbreaking advancements. Under his leadership, the company has developed a suite of high-performance polymers that have revolutionized the rotomoulding industry. Aldo is renowned for his technical acumen and forwardthinking approach.
RONNY ERVIK
Ronny Ervik has very good expertise and 8 years of experience in manufacturing, processing, and theoretical knowledge concerning polymers. He has extensive experience in Rotational Moulding and possesses a large international network within this application. Ronny currently holds the position as Processing Expert at Norner AS and is responsible for all rotomoulding activities within Norner, in addition to numerous projects and RecyClass protocol testing. Ronny is the President of Nordic ARM (Association of Rotational Moulders), and a member of the ARMO Board of Directors.
LightManufacturing uses solar power to rotomold off the grid
by Catherine Kavanaugh, Plastics News
ARROYO GRANDE, CA, USA – Arroyo Grandebased LightManufacturing, machine builder and contract manufacturer, has developed a solar rotational molding system that improves performance and portability and could take clean technology to new heights.
The SRM4 — the name refers to the project being its fourth-generation system — has the most powerful heliostats, wirelessly controlled, sun-tracking mirrors to concentrate solar-thermal power, ever developed by LightManufacturing, and the system is so compact it can be transported as a factory in a box. “At 14 feet high, the SRM4 is the physically largest thing that you can get on the federal highways and under the bridges. We pushed it to the max,” company founder Karl von Kries said in a phone interview.
“WE’VE PERFECTED THIS TO THE POINT WHERE WE’RE MAKING LARGE PRODUCTS WITH VERY LOW POROSITY AND VERY HIGH IMPACT STRENGTH.”
that’s incredibly high quality,” von Kries said. He started the central coast company in 2010 to focus on technology to replace the use of fossil fuels in industrial processes with concentrated heat. Since then, new algorithms, better heliostats (branded as H1), and more advanced software, electronics, and sensors have improved performance and quality.
“This is not some aspirational technology that you really hope it works and then you never hear about it. This is competitive and ready for prime time,” von Kries said.
“We’ve perfected this to the point where we’re making large products with very low porosity and very high impact strength.”
The SRM4 is a containerized system capable of molding kayaks, industrial pipes, architectural elements, road barriers, and products as large as 2,000-gallon water tanks with a significant savings on energy and utility costs. The patented system needs no natural gas, propane, or water, and it can process thermoplastics used in traditional rotational molding, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, nylon, and polycarbonate with no emissions.
During the SRM process, mirrors focus thousands of watts of solar heat on a rotating mold, while photovoltaic cells provide electricity to run motors and other equipment.
The mold is heated radiatively, like standing in front of a space heater, as opposed to convectively, such as sitting inside an oven. This means the SRM4 can have complex electronics in the chamber, including servo and stepper motors and systems to monitor temperature, mold surface, mold position, beam intensity, and more.
“The time has come for zero-carbon molding
As a contract manufacturer, LightManufacturing makes products and parts for theme parks, the military, and other customers.
As a machine builder, the company now will license the technology to partners wanting to set up factories in a box at their own site to expand capacity or get closer to customers to reduce transportation costs.
Forty-nine percent of the Earth’s land area is suitable for an SRM4 operation, and in North America, the systems could change the economics of rotational molding, von Kries said.
“The inputs of heat, plastic, labor, and capital expenses have been essentially fixed for 50 years. While there’s been some innovation, the economic fundamentals haven’t really changed until now,” von Kries said.
“We’re going to delete your cost for energy. How does that change your business? And we’re going to make this factory much less expensive and much smaller. You’re able to put it close to customers. Maybe you’ve had to ship products some 300 miles. Now you can cost-effectively put this right in their backyard.” R
Intelligent solutions that enhance the circular economy at Fakuma 2024
OBERGLATT, SWITZERLAND
– MAAG Group is a broadly diversified global solutions provider of Pump & Filtration Systems, Pelletizing & Pulverizing Systems, Recycling Systems, and digital solutions.
At Fakuma 2024 in Friedrichshafen, Germany (October 15 – 19), MAAG Group is presented as a technology provider with intelligent solutions for important future-oriented applications in plastics processing in hall A6, booth 6202.
The focus is on the continuous high-performance melt filter of the ECO series, which is used to filter highly contaminated polymer melts due to its special design. For chemical recycling, this technology is outstanding for filtering low viscosity polymers. The ECO filter is self-cleaning with a rotating, perforated drum, through which there is a continuous flow of melt from the outside to the inside. A scraper removes the contaminants that remain on the surface and feeds them to the discharge system. This enables the filter to be used fully automatically and without disruptions over long periods caused by having to replace the screen. The advantages: Reliable melt filtration, ultra-low melt losses constant pressure curve, fast spreading of the contamination, and short residence time of the melt in the filter.
Ueli Thürig, President of the MAAG Group: “Sustainable technologies for recycling and the circular economy are becoming increasingly important. Whether solutions for mechanical or chemical recycling or machines optimized for energy and resource efficiency for the production, processing or treatment of plastics – MAAG Group offers appropriate solutions for the plastics industry.”
MAAG will display the PEARLO® underwater pelletizer, which has been designed for processing a wide range of polymers and thermoplastics. This highly efficient and flexible system produces firstclass spherical granulate and has been applied in the production of raw materials, compounds, masterbatches, engineering plastics, organic, and wood polymer composites, thermoplastic elastomers, hot-melt adhesives, rubber, and more. We help our customers to achieve the maximum level of profitability with the know-how of an installed base of more than 7,000 underwater pelletizers.
With customized die plates and specific knife holders and knives, AMN enhances the MAAG
Group portfolio with high performance tools for all applications and throughputs up to 100 t/h. Specifically designed for high melt index or complex polymers, the CIS system directs the water flow locally to facilitate cutting, improved pellet quality, and reduced cavitation. Easily adapted to existing installations, the additional water flow is then distributed via the knife holder equipped with cone and saber knives, facilitating pellet cooling and ejection.
MAAG’s strand pelletizing system, EBG, is designed for highly filled, hydroscopic, and water-sensitive compounds. EBG scores with a high degree of automation, gentle material processing, and excellent product quality. From the die head to the granulator, the pelletizing system forms a unit that, despite its compact design, has the features of a large compounding system.
For more information on our products, visit www.maag.com. R
‘Big mix-up’ leads to false report of rotomolder closure in North Carolina
by Jim Johnson, Plastics News
Tank Holding Corp. will not close a rotational molding plant in Smithfield, N.C., after mistakenly filing paperwork with the state indicating the facility would be shuttered.
A spokesperson for Tank Holding on Sept. 4 said the EnviCor Enterprises location will remain open, allowing 74 people to keep their jobs.
Tank Holding acquired EnviCor Enterprises, which had two locations in 2023. A smaller site in Sikeston, Mo., closed shortly after the acquisition and business was absorbed into other company locations.
The letter to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, which has been rescinded by the company, was sent by mistake, the company official said. “It was just an all-around big mix-up, and I’m excited to say we’re not closing it.”
Tank Holding is owned by private equity firm Olympus Partners and has a network of rotational molding plants around the country as well as two in Canada, according to the company’s website. R
Stemple takes full ownership at Integrity Rotational Molding
Integrity Rotational Molding LLC’s new sole owner is not new to the company at all.
Minority owner Terry Stemple, who has been with the business since its founding in 2001, is acquiring full ownership of the Plainfield, IN based. company. And with the change, Stemple said he sees an opportunity for growth at the 50-employee firm now occupying 72,000 square feet.
“STEMPLE SEES GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES BY LAUNCHING PROPRIETARY PRODUCT LINES AND EXPANDING OPERATIONS.”
“I’ve always had the vision to be the sole owner of Integrity and see how far we can grow the business,” Stemple said in a statement. “I want to build a family business and a legacy for my family who are part of Integrity’s leadership team. Not only for them, but to provide a truly great place to work where all our employees feel like family, too.”
Integrity makes products for the advertising, agriculture, automotive, waste disposal, construction, medical, transportation, recreation, shipping, safety, and home and garden markets.
Integrity was No. 65 in the most recent Plastics News ranking of North American rotomolders with
$7.2 million in sales in the region. As minority owner, Stemple actually has been running the business for more than 15 years. He became a minority partner with original owner Bill Delong in July 2001. Gary Richardson later became majority owner after acquiring Delong’s portion of the company and became a silent partner in 2007, the company said.
Stemple sees growth opportunities by launching proprietary product lines and expanding operations. “I want to add one to two machines and expand the building to provide complete assembly, store inventory, and drop-ship our customer’s products. The goal is to offer total turnkey services,” Stemple said in his statement.
Integrity’s operations include a tool shop for mold repairs and revisions. The company said it has developed a reputation for achieving “tolerances not usually associated with rotomolding.”
Integrity’s customer list includes companies in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Ireland. R
Productivity Redefined: Competitive now and into the future
LONDON, ENGLAND
– On Friday, 6 September 2024
the British Plastics Federation (BPF) launched a new initiative that aims to support the UK plastics industry compete in a world-wide market, by improving efficiency and outlining best-practice methodology in a technology driven factory of the future.
The culmination of two years of collaborative work by key stakeholders, “Productivity Redefined” launches with the first of a series of inter-related documents focusing on specific themes that form the foundation of manufacturing operations in the plastics industry.
Available as free downloads to BPF members, these documents pull together a wide range of expertise from the UK plastics industry and have been peer reviewed to deliver:
• Industry best practice
• State of the art developments
• Data backed evidence
• Case studies
• ROI plans
Guides will be released in phases with the first set of documents available now:
Three more guides are expected by the end of the year:
• Automation
• Digitalization (Part I: Real Time MES, Part II: ERP/MRP)
• Waste Minimization
Guides will be revised annually to ensure they keep up with industry standards and innovation. Phase II is already underway with more documents in the pipeline for 2025. R
What are the Advantages of Roto Moulding in Manufacturing Plastic Speaker Enclosures
What are the Advantages of Roto Moulding in Manufacturing Plastic Speaker Enclosures
Roto Moulding, also known as rotational moulding, is a versatile and efficient process for manufacturing plastic speaker enclosures. Here are some of the key advantages of using this technique.
1. Cost-Effectiveness
One of the primary advantages of Roto Moulding is its cost-effectiveness. The process requires less investment in tooling and equipment compared to other manufacturing methods like injection moulding. Additionally, the minimal material waste and efficient use of raw materials can help to reduce overall production costs. This makes rotational moulding an attractive option for businesses, especially for small-scale production or custom-made speaker enclosures.
2. Uniform Wall Thickness
Roto Moulding allows for precise control over the wall thickness of the speaker enclosures. The mould is rotated at a consistent speed, ensuring that the plastic material is evenly distributed across the mould’s walls. This results in a uniform wall thickness, which is crucial for achieving optimal sound performance. A consistent wall thickness can also help to minimise material waste and reduce production costs.
3.
Seamless Construction
vibrations and resonance that could be detrimental to sound quality.
4. Customizability
Roto Moulding allows for a high degree of customizability, enabling manufacturers to design speaker enclosures with unique shapes and sizes. The flexibility of the process makes it possible to create customized enclosures that meet specific acoustic requirements or aesthetic preferences. This is particularly beneficial for businesses looking to differentiate their products in the market.
5. High-Quality Finishes
“UNLIKE OTHER MANUFACTURING METHODS, SUCH AS INJECTION MOULDING OR BLOW MOULDING: A ROTOMOULDED SPEAKER ENCLOSURE DOESN’T HAVE ANY JOINTS OR CONNECTING POINTS IN THE FINAL PRODUCT.”
Roto Moulding produces enclosures with excellent surface finishes, resulting in a high-quality appearance. The smooth and consistent finishes of rotationally moulded plastic speaker enclosures enhance the overall look of the product and contribute to its market appeal. This advantage sets Roto Moulding apart from other manufacturing processes that may result in rough or uneven surfaces.
6.
Strength and Durability
Roto Moulding is able to create seamless products. Unlike other manufacturing methods, such as injection moulding or blow moulding, rotomoulded plastic speaker enclosure doesn’t have any joints or connecting points in the final product. This seamless design improves the structural integrity of the speaker enclosures, minimizing the potential for
Rotomolded plastic speaker enclosures are known for their exceptional strength and durability. The process creates a seamless and uniform structure, eliminating weak points and stress concentrations that are common in other manufacturing methods. This ensures that the speaker enclosures can withstand the demands of regular use and provide long-lasting performance.
7. Vibration Dampening
Plastic materials used in Roto Moulding are known for their excellent vibration dampening properties. This attribute is crucial for speaker enclosures, as it helps to minimize vibrations and resonance, resulting in
clearer and more accurate sound reproduction. The ability of a Rotomolded plastic speaker enclosure to dampen vibrations makes it an ideal choice for highquality audio applications.
8.
Lightweight and Portable
Roto Moulded plastic speaker enclosures are typically lightweight, which can provide several advantages. Firstly, lighter enclosures reduce the overall weight of the speaker system, making it easier to transport and install. Secondly, the reduced weight can lead to cost savings in terms of shipping and logistics. Lastly, lighter enclosures can contribute to improved acoustic performance by reducing the likelihood of resonance and vibrations.
9. Environmental Friendliness
Roto Moulding is a greener manufacturing process compared to some other methods. It consumes less energy and generates less waste during the production cycle. The use of recycled materials and the ability to reuse scrap plastic further contribute to the environmental friendliness of Roto Moulding. Producing speaker enclosures using this method can help manufacturers reduce their carbon footprint and appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.
At Light Venus, we pride ourselves on crafting a custom plastic speaker enclosure that meet the unique needs of our clients. Please feel welcome to contact us for your custom projects. R
Syensqo and ZF win prestigious SPE Automotive Award 2024
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – August 8, 2024Syensqo, a leader in high-performance specialty polymers, and ZF, a Tier 1 supplying advanced mobility systems, are proud to announce that the outboard housing developed for Volvo’s EX90 vehicle, and manufactured using Xencor™ HPPA long glass fiber (LGF) reinforced, has been honored with the prestigious Automotive Award 2024 by the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Central Europe.
This innovative thermoplastic outboard housing, the first to be used in a steering system over a metal one, won third place in the Chassis Unit - Structural Component category, recognizing outstanding advancements of plastics for the technology and design of tomorrow’s vehicles. The combination of Xencor™ HPPA long-fiber technology with the component’s design, achieves the necessary rigidity and stability to withstand extreme temperatures (-40°C to +125°C) and dynamic loads, all while offering a favorable costperformance ratio. The use of Xencor™ HPPA LGF thermoplastic over metal enabled weight saving of approximately 40% in this application.
“Syensqo’s specialty polymers have advanced lightweight, fuel-efficient, and cost-effective mobility solutions for decades. We’re honored to receive this award as a testament to our proficient collaboration with ZF Group and Volvo in a crucial automotive
application,” said Georges Houtappel, Executive Vice President of Transportation at Syensqo.
Given the safety-critical nature of the steering system, Syensqo developed comprehensive durability and aging models to ensure long-term reliability. The innovative one-shot injection molding process used for this component allows the integration of functional elements, such as metal dowel pins for precise alignment and molded sealing ribs to enhance sealing performance. Unlike traditional aluminum high-pressure die-casting housings, the thermoplastic material provides inherent corrosion resistance, eliminating the need for additional anodization Xencor™ is a trademark of Syensqo. R
Scepter, a Myers Industries company, celebrates 75 years at Canadian manufacturing plant
AKRON, OH, USA – Scepter, a Myers Industries company since 2014, proudly marks 75 years of innovation and manufacturing excellence at its Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, location this year. The milestone anniversary is a testament to Scepter’s strong foundation, which has always emphasized employees and industry leadership.
“Our culture of mutual support and adaptability has been crucial to our sustained success,” said Scarborough Operations Manager Hitesh Desai. “Throughout our history, you’ll find a consistent focus on our people, resulting in an impressive average tenure of 18 years at its highest point. Plus, we pride ourselves on maintaining an excellent safety record, underscoring our dedication to the well-being of our team.”
engine fuel tanks, earning numerous awards for innovation and a dominating share of the market.
“Scepter’s robust, family-oriented culture fosters mutual care and a resilient, can-do spirit,” continued Desai. “And our dedicated employees consistently go above and beyond for our customers.”
“SCEPTER’S ROBUST, FAMILY-ORIENTED CULTURE FOSTERS MUTUAL CARE AND A RESILIENT, CAN-DO SPIRIT.”
Myers’ Scepter brand employs approximately 170 dedicated individuals at its Scarborough site and 90 at its U.S. facility in Miami, OK.
Over the years, the belief that employees are the cornerstone of its achievements fueled another strength at Scepter: innovation. Founded in 1949 by Evald Torokvei in the basement of his Toronto home, Scepter rapidly evolved from a maker of plastic children’s toys into a powerhouse manufacturer of blow-molded plastics for various industries. From pipes, dairy crates, and recycling bins to best-inclass fuel and water containers and military casings, the company’s product offerings have flourished due to its forward-thinking approach and a commitment to developing high-quality products that meet customer needs.
In fact, Scepter produced the first plastic militarystyle fuel and water containers, which eventually were adopted as the new standard by the U.S. Department of Defense, leading all branches to convert from metal to plastic. These containers are still known as “Scepter cans” by armies around the world. The company also played a pivotal role in converting the marine industry to plastic outboard
Today, Scepter is recognized as the global leader in the design and manufacture of highquality, durable fuel and water containers for the consumer, military, and marine markets.
The company’s iconic red fuel container—renowned for its rugged, ergonomic, and easyto-use design—is a household staple, and its five-gallon water container was named “best overall” in a May 2024 feature by Popular Mechanics magazine.
Scepter is also a leading manufacturer of largecaliber ammunition casings. Designed to exceed NATO requirements and manufactured using advanced, high-impact thermoplastics, the casings offer a better, lighter, and safer solution to metal and wood packaging.
To commemorate its 75th year, Scepter Canada hosted an on-site celebration for employees, retirees, and their families on August 11, 2024. The event included food, games, a slideshow highlighting the site’s rich history, product displays, plant tours—and expressions of congratulations and appreciation from company leaders, customers, and the community. Among the most notable was a printed proclamation from Jamaal Myers, Toronto Councillor for Scarborough North, formally recognizing the plant for its contributions to the local economy and thanking employees for their determination and hard work.
“This anniversary truly reflects Scepter Canada’s vital role—locally, within Myers Industries, and on the world stage,” added Desai. “And as we look to the future, we are pleased to affirm that Scepter Canada remains committed to the same values, innovation, and quality that have brought us to this significant milestone.” R
Floteks Automotive
BURSA, TURKEY
–
Great News! As Floteks Automotive & Pressura, we are incredibly proud and delighted to receive the Dr. Fikret Yücel Pioneer Institution Award in #Climate Technologies from Technology Development Foundation of Türkiye #TTGV. We continue to shape the #future with our #composite #pressure #vessels designed for Hydrogen driven vehicles as well as the transportation and storage of green Hydrogen. Thank you to our entire team for achieving this success
together! #hydrogen #hydrogenstorage #sustainability #zeroemission #COPV #floteksautomotive #pressura R
OGP Announces Enhancements to Shapegrabber Automated 3D Laser Scanning Systems
Optical Gaging Products (OGP®), a world-leading manufacturer of optical and precision metrology systems for industrial quality control, is pleased to announce all-new SG SmartCapture Software, leading a variety of enhancements to its ShapeGrabber family of automated 3D laser scanning systems.
SG SmartCapture offers both advanced features and ease of use functionality to ShapeGrabber systems, making metrology-class 3D scanning easier than ever. Among the improvements, SG SmartCapture delivers automatic 3D scanning and STL file creation, full GD&T (ASME Y.14.5), and GPS (ISO 1101) evaluations, and fast scan data export in STEP file format for reverse engineering applications.
Tim Fantauzzo, VP North American Sales, remarked, “ShapeGrabber systems already offer class-leading 3D scanning suited for metrology applications. With the addition of SG SmartCapture software, now users can easily take that robust scan data and do more with it, easily. By measuring a “golden” or perfect part initially, all subsequent manufactured parts are measured against that original measurement.
STL to STL file comparative measurements are easy and accurate in SG SmartCapture and make for a foolproof measurement experience.”
SG SmartCapture software offers a direct PolyWorks Plug-In for streamlined workflow, GD&T measurements and fitting with SmartProfile integration, and STEP file reverse engineering for automatic CAD conversion. Fully supported robotic integration is available for automatic part handling and sorting.
David O’Connor, Director of Sales and Marketing at ShapeGrabber, said “I am excited to showcase these vast improvements to ShapeGrabber systems at IMTS in Chicago. Both current ShapeGrabber users and manufacturers that have not yet landed on a laser scanning system will find advantages in the simplicity of the system and its robust features.”
For more information about OGP ShapeGrabber Automated 3D Laser Scanning Systems, and to schedule a demo with your local OGP Authorized Representative, visit www.ogpnet.com/ shapegrabber. R
Myers Industries Announces Quarterly Dividend
AKRON, OH, USA – Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE: MYE) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.135 per share, payable on October 3, 2024, to shareholders of record as of September 13, 2024.
Myers Industries Inc., based in Akron, Ohio, is a manufacturer of sustainable plastic and metal products for industrial, agricultural, automotive,
commercial, and consumer markets. The Company is also the largest distributor of tools, equipment, and supplies for the tire, wheel, and undervehicle service industry in the United States.
Visit myersindustries.com to learn more. R
Penn College Recruitment Days
WILLIAMSPORT, PA, USA – Pennsylvania College of Technology, a special mission affiliate of Penn State focused on applied technology education, invites you to attend the Fall Career Fair! Hundreds of students and alumni will be there, ready to talk about how they can enhance your workforce.
If you have not registered yet, there is still time to register for Wednesday, October 2 – Tuesday is currently filled.
Please register online. Registration for the Career Fair is first-come, firstserved and fills quickly. The registration deadline is Friday, September 18th at 4:30 p.m. Should the event sell out prior to the deadline, your company can be added to the waitlist.
Once your registration is received, you will have the opportunity to reserve a table at our Interview Days on Wednesday, October 2 or Thursday, October 3.
If the Career Fair dates do not align with your recruitment calendar, we encourage you to explore alternative recruitment opportunities offered by the Center for Career Design. R
Plastics Hall of Fame Gala to be Held Outside of the U.S. for the First Time
The next “Plastics Hall of Fame Class” will take place at the K 2025 trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany. Outstanding achievements by individuals in the plastics industry will be honored. Nominations can be submitted now.
For the first time, the induction ceremony of the “Plastics Hall of Fame Class of 2025” will be held outside the U.S. The ceremony will take place on October7, 2025, the night before K 2025, the world leading trade fair for plastics and rubber, in Düsseldorf, Germany. Induction into the Plastics Hall of Fame is a recognition of both living and deceased individuals who made major contributions to influence and drive the plastics industry.
Maureen Steinwall, President Hall of Fame, commented: “K in Düsseldorf offers the ideal platform to further promote the internationalization of the Plastics Hall of Fame and to honor individuals from all over the world who have made a special contribution to the international success of the plastics industry.”
The Plastics Hall of Fame was brought to life by the magazine Modern Plastics in cooperation with the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) in 1972. At the beginning, only important individuals from America were recognized in the Plastics Hall of Fame. With the increasing globalization of the plastics industry, the
need to also acknowledge the global accomplishments and innovations in this area was recognized. This is why in 2004 the Plastics Hall of Fame started accepting international nominations. This step made it possible to recognize outstanding achievements and pioneering developments by experts from all over the world and stress the global importance of the plastics industry. The Plastics Hall of Fame currently has 235 members from 10 countries.
“We are delighted that the Plastics Hall of Fame has chosen K as the venue for its first gala outside the U.S. This means there will be another glamorous highlight on the eve of K 2025,” said Thomas Franken, Director K at Messe Düsseldorf.
Every 18 months the newly elected members are honored as part of a ceremony. The board of the Plastics Hall of Fame Inc. acts as a screening committee for the nominations, which are then checked and voted upon by the current members.
Nominations for the “Plastics Hall of Fame Class of 2025” are now open until late February 2025.
For information on visiting or exhibiting at K 2025, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America; Telephone: (312) 781-5180; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit www.k-online.com and www.mdna.com. Follow us on https://www.linkedin.com/company/mdnachicago/ R
Submit your photos to RotoWorld® magazine for inclusion in future issues.
L-R: Costello extended family in Chianti region of Tuscany; Costello family in Cefalu, Sicily; Cindy & Vince Costello in Sorrento; Costello men in Canicatti,Sicily; Sally, Nick, Tessa and Kate Moldan attend a wedding in South Africa; Alvin Spence, Adam Webb, and Matt Bushman visit the Duomo in Milan; and Celal Beysal shows visitors new Floteks product
OPERATION CLEAN SWEEP®
RESIN MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Operation Clean Sweep is an international program designed to prevent resin pellet, flake, and powder loss and help keep pellets, flakes, and powder out of the marine environment. OCS materials are designed to provide maximum utility for all types of plastic handling and transporting operations. None of the guidelines are intended as a mandate. Compliance with state and local regulations is mandatory.
This document serves as a summary of the full Operation Clean Sweep manual and gives suggestions for each step of the resin-handling process in order to reduce pellet, flake and powder loss. Consider the guidelines as one available resource as you establish management practices suited for your company’s conditions and operations. Several approaches can be taken based on individual situations.
Implementation
1. Conduct a site audit
• Ensure your worksite is properly set up to prevent loss and assist cleanup
• Identify potential spill areas and causes, and brainstorm solutions
• Implement simplest effective solution and follow up to measure success
OPERATION CLEAN SWEEP
2. Make necessary upgrades in facilities and equipment as appropriate
• Assess and install containment systems
• Ensure that employees have ready access to cleanup equipment
3. Raise employee awareness and create accountability
• Establish written procedures (OCS procedures and checklists may need to be modified to suit your needs)
• Identify what training is needed to help ensure procedures are being followed
• Conduct regular employee training and awareness campaigns on Operation Clean Sweep procedures
• Use workplace reminders such as stickers, poster, etc.
4. Follow up and enforce procedures
• Conduct routine inspections of facility grounds-production areas and parking lots, drainage areas, driveways, etc.
Worksite Setup Steps
☐ Choose whether to pave or not: A paved area facilitates cleanup, but allows pellets, flakes and powder to be carried into storm drains and the environment by wind and water. Unpaved areas are more difficult to clean, but pellets, flakes and powder tend to stay where they fall and can be easily recovered.
• Include a slope or a berm to contain pellets, flakes and powder within paved areas.
☐ Install area-specific containment systems in each pellet, flake and powder handling
ENSURE EMPLOYEES HAVE READY ACCESS TO EQUIPMENT.
area. Area-specific containment systems would be the primary pellet, flake and powder containment systems and the facility-wide system would serve as a backup.
• E.g. storm drain screens
☐ Install facility-wide containment systems, which are effective in controlling pellet, flake and powder releases from facilities covering a large area and handling large volumes of pellets, flakes and powder.
☐ Ensure employees have ready access to equipment at all locations where spills might occur
☐ Determine participant reaction to the training, how much they learned and to what degree the department goals were met. Re-evaluate all procedures to assess the effectiveness of the OCS program annually.
Prevention, Containment, and Cleanup Procedures
There are many steps involved in the movement of plastic pellets, flakes and powder from the resin production facility, through the distribution network, to the processor. Spills and pellet, flake and powder loss to the environment can occur at any step. Below are common pellet loss challenges and examples of management practices that have been implemented to address those challenges:
☐
Transport and Packaging
• Cleaning empty hopper cars and trucks.
- Use air lance to help make total pellet, flake and powder removal easier.
- Ensure hopper car and truck cleaning areas have wastewater collection and pellet, flake, and powder filtration systems installed.
• Top loading hopper cars and trucks
- Operate the conveying system properly to avoid clogging and necessitating the opening of lines.
- If a line must be opened to clear blockage, anticipate the potential for pellet, flake, and powder loss and always place a catch pan or tarp under the connection.
• Sealing loading cars/trucks
- Close all outlet caps properly before cars/trucks are moved (and request customers to do the same when returning empties).
- Apply seals on all outlet caps (e.g.,1/8” stranded steel cable or its equivalent is common).
• Storing at intermediate sites
- Establish security procedures as necessary (e.g. fencing and lighting).
• Unloading hopper cars and trucks
- Contain possible spill during hook-up by placing a catch pan under the unloading valve before opening.
- Surges in unloading lines can cause pellets, flakes and powder to be vented into the environment. To help prevent this, install a bag house, filter bag assembly or other control device at the unloading system vent.
• Completing unloading
- Visually confirm that each compartment is empty.
- Purge the line before disconnecting.
• Sealing valves
- Close all valves and secure outlet caps and top hatches.
• Sampling
- Use wide-mouth containers or polybags for samples.
- Use a funnel collection system to effectively channel pellets, flakes, and powder into containers.
☐ Spills and Packaging
• Clean up any spills immediately
• Use proper packaging, filling and material-handling
- Use packaging designed to minimize the possibility of breakage and pellet, flake and powder leakage. Use puncture-resistant shipping containers where possible.
- Consider reinforced bags, such as woven polypropylene bags, and line larger containers with punctureresistant material.
• Bag filling
- Inspect all pallets for protruding nails or broken boards.
- Use bags that are not easily punctured.
• Bag emptying
- Collect, handle, store, and transport the empty bags to avoid/contain the escape of pellets, flakes and powder.
- Recycle plastic resin bags, shrink-wrap and stretch-wrap, whenever possible.
• Improving palletizing methods
- Move and stack bags immediately after filling to avoid seepage from valves.
- Stack bags on pallet in tight, interlocking patterns.
• Handling materials
- Train forklift operators so they are skilled in damage prevention as well as proper cleanup.
- Place catch trays between the dock and trailer at shipping and receiving bays.
• Storage
- Consider covering all packaging resin stored outside (gaylords, supersacks, etc.) to prevent photo degradation of the containers.
☐ Transport Vehicles
• Container trucks shipping and receiving
- Carefully inspect empty trailers for damaged interior walls or defective floors that can tear bags.
- Consider refusing to use such containers or cover problem areas with corrugated liner board.
- Inspect truck and rail shipments containing palletized bags of pellets, flakes and powder and document the condition of bags and pallets received. If the shipment is significantly damaged, notify the transporter and manufacturer. Consider refusing to accept delivery.
• Hopper car and truck repair
- Work in a paved area to facilitate containment and cleanup.
• Transport accidents
- Contact the shipper for assistance/advice if a derailment or highway accident results in a spill of resin pellets, flakes and powder.
☐ Marine Transport
• Properly contain and handle any pellets, flakes and powder from previous shipments when cleaning ship holds or ocean containers
- Do NOT sweep pellets, flakes and powder into the water.
- Avoid stowing resin containers on deck. Place resin containers in ship holds.
☐ Waste Recycling and Disposal
• Store waste pellets, flakes, and powder in properly labeled container
- Install pellet-specific waste container (e.g., one or more) in each pellet, flake-and powderhandling area.
• Use separate containers for recyclable and non-recyclable pellets, flakes, and powder
• Preferred disposal methods are:
- Recycle or resell waste pellets, flakes, and powder.
- Approved incineration of waste pellets, flakes, and powder in properly licensed and operated incinerators.
- Deposit in a controlled landfill only after confining pellets, flakes, and powder in such a manner that prevents their loss due to rain, wind, flooding, etc.
- Consider using waste pellets, flakes and powder in a fuelblending program.
☐
Dust and Powder
• Minimizing generation of plastic dust
- When pelletizing or flaking, keep cutting equipment in good condition with sharp blades.
- Use appropriately sized granulators.
- Design conveying systems to treat the plastic gently and take other steps to help avoid collisions and impacts with hard surfaces.
• Minimizing release of plastic dust and powder
- Keep storage silos, tanks and containers in good condition, to help avoid holes, cracks or leaks.
- Place collection trays under
discharge/loading valves and connection points when making or breaking connections.
- Clean up all spills promptly; wind and traffic can quickly disperse dusts and powders.
• Capturing and containing plastic dust
- Use properly designed and sized dust collection equipment in all operations that generate or liberate plastic dust.
- Use the recommended filters for the type and amount of dust generated and clean or replace filters as needed.
applicable to your specific operation and users must satisfy themselves the applicability or suitability of the information contained herein for their intended purpose prior to use. Users are free to implement the sections and steps that help achieve your company’s specific goals. None of the guidelines are intended as a mandate.
Compliance with state and local regulations is mandatory. These guidelines may help you to achieve compliance and avoid penalties. OCS Sponsors do not make any warranty or representation either express or implied, with respect to
THE OCS PROGRAM CONTAINS GUIDELINES TO HELP PLASTICS INDUSTRY OPERATIONS
MANAGERS
REDUCE THE LOSS OF PELLETS, FLAKES, AND POWDER TO THE ENVIRONMENT.
• Disposal
- Review the MSDS for each type of plastic used in the process.
- Dispose of dust or powder using a method that complies with all federal, state and local regulations and guidelines and/or applicable codes and standards.
The OCS program contains guidelines to help plastics industry operations managers reduce the loss of pellets, flake, and powder to the environment. Each procedure contained herein may or may not be
the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document nor do OCS Sponsors assume any liability of any kind resulting from the use or reliance upon anything contained in this document. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations remains the full responsibility of the parties to which the law or regulation applies.
AI IMPROVES KNOWLEDGE WORKER RESULTS, RESEARCH FINDS
KIM HARRISON, CUTTING EDGE PR
AI improves knowledge worker results, including productivity and quality, according to findings of a 2023 US research project. As professional communicators, we are knowledge workers as well, and the results of this study point to potential benefits of using AI for relevant communication tasks.
Researchers from the Harvard Business School conducted the project with 758 consultants from the global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (7% of its workforce) to achieve some impressive results. They said they examined the “performance implications of AI on realistic, complex, and knowledge-intensive tasks.”
The researchers found that “some tasks are easily done by AI, while others, though seemingly similar in difficulty level, are outside the current capability of AI.”
Professional communicators are knowledge workers as well. We need to call on our knowledge of current affairs, including business trends, to solve emerging issues that our organizations are facing. We need to find communicative ways to help solve internal organizational problems like employee engagement. We need to use our professional knowledge to develop creative ways of communicating effectively. Unlike advertising agencies, we can’t just call on our ‘creatives’ to come up with creative solutions – we need to use our own knowledge as the basis for being creative ourselves – as knowledge workers. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions:
1. No AI access
2. GPT-4 access
3. GPR-4 AI access with a prompt engineering overview
The study’s abstract said, “For each one of a set of tasks in a set of 18 realistic consulting tasks within the frontier of AI capabilities, consultants using AI were significantly more productive (completing 12.2% more tasks on average, and completed tasks 25.1% more quickly), and produced significantly higher quality results (more than 40% higher quality compared to a control group). Impressive!
Consultants across the skills distribution benefited significantly from having AI augmentation (increasing their AI knowledge due to the project participation), with those below the average performance threshold increasing
by 43% and those above increasing by 17% compared to their own scores.
However, for a task selected to be ‘outside the frontier,’ consultants using AI were 19% less likely to produce correct solutions compared to those without AI. In other words, the tasks had to suit the capability of AI.
AI use in professional communication
Digital strategist Bruno Amaral wrote an excellent article in February 2024, “AI Adoption in Public Relations – How it started and how it’s going.” He gives good context on the adoption of AI by communication professionals. This includes work by Stephen Waddington, who concludes that
Not sure Which of the following best describes your own current use of generative AI tools?
AI can be useful in the following areas:
1. Production of text and images
2. Editing and summarizing
3. Assessment and model creation
4. Planning and decision making
Also, Waddington published guidelines on how to use ChatGPT to follow all the steps of writing a press release.
He adapted the AI tools to the 4 stages identified by Cutlip et al. in their book Effective Public Relations, (2000).
1. Research
2. Planning
3. Action / Communication
4. Evaluation
Image, opposite: 2024 Global Communications Report, Cision. The chart reflects the perspective of 427 senior level professionals across 10 countries, U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, U.K., Australia, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
If AI improves similar knowledge worker results, why aren’t we using more AI tools in our professional communication?
As proven in the above Harvard Business School study, AI improves knowledge worker results. Participants in the project use very similar skills to communication professionals. So why has our profession been slow at adopting AI? Amaral suggests the following possible reasons for communications professionals not using AI as much as they could:
1. People in PR communications don’t have access to these tools or know how to use them.
2. We still haven’t set up a process for AI use in-house and in agencies.
3. AI doesn’t provide a big amount
of added value.
4. AI still doesn’t have the level of quality that humans provide.
5. We’re at the peak of the inflated expectations of the Hype Curve.
6. PR is a profession where sensitivity to stakeholders, publics, and context can’t be communicated to Large Language Models (LLMs).
1. People in PR don’t have access to AI tools
This isn’t really an issue, we have seen there is an abundance of tools and the real problem is that some of them promise more than they deliver. Some of these tools will fade away, so there is a risk in relying too much on them.
2. We still don’t have a process for AI in professional communication Communications already has a process, from research to evaluation of results. We can try to fit the tools to the process or see where the AI can improve the output for your organization or client. You can surely write a press release for a generic audience; AI can take it and create variations for different audiences or scan it to extract a fact sheet.
3. There’s not enough added value yet Fiction made us believe AI would replace humans; the general response to ChatGPT launch in PR has been that AI would take away jobs from people not using AI to do their job better or faster. Yet, with all the biases and
uncertain quality of output from AI, it is only natural that we don’t feel that added value is present. We are still not at the level of an AI Assistant who executes complex tasks on demand, and we won’t be there anytime soon, according to Bruno Amaral. He says he has seen some experiments on creating an AutoGPT, which is an autonomous AI that runs a series of tasks to reach a described result. From
cables, and some of them are just too perfect to be realistic. Amaral says in his article, that from his experience this also happens if you give ChatGPT a description of code you want it to produce. Descriptions that are too long are more prone to errors. The best approach is to provide small requirements, test, provide feedback, and keep any working version saved so you can go back and try with other requirements.
“WE ARE STILL NOT AT THE LEVEL OF AN AI ASSISTANT WHO EXECUTES COMPLEX TASKS ON DEMAND, AND WE WON’T BE THERE ANYTIME SOON,” ACCORDING TO BRUNO AMARAL.
his experiments using the opensource version, it’s still in a very early stage.
As noted above in the Harvard Business School study of AI being used by a similar profession, AI improves knowledge worker results quite emphatically, and therefore we should work with more intent to explore the ways that AI can be used to make professional communication more effective.
4. AI still doesn’t have the level of quality humans provide AI image generation still can’t draw hands, it gets confused with
5. We’re at the peak of the inflated expectations of the Hype Curve
This argument is undeniable, Gartner presents it on their website.
Source: What’s New in Artificial Intelligence From the 2023 Gartner Hype CycleTM, August 2023.
6. PR is a profession where sensitivity to stakeholders, publics, and context can’t be communicated to Large Language Models
IBM says that large language models (LLMs) are a category of
foundation models trained on immense amounts of data making them capable of understanding and generating natural language and other types of content to perform a wide range of tasks:
LLMs are designed to understand and generate text like a human, in addition to other forms of content, based on the vast amount of data used to train them. They have the ability to infer from context, generate coherent and contextually relevant responses, translate to languages other than English, summarize text, answer questions (general conversation and FAQs) and even assist in creative writing or code generation tasks.
Here is a list from IBM’s LLM web page that notes some of the most important areas where LLMs benefit organizations:
• Text generation: language generation abilities, such as writing emails, blog posts, or other mid-to-long form content in response to prompts that can be refined and polished. An excellent example is retrievalaugmented generation (RAG).
• Content summarization: summarize long articles, news stories, research reports, corporate documentation, and even customer history
into thorough texts tailored in length to the output format.
• AI assistants: chatbots that answer customer queries, perform backend tasks and provide detailed information in natural language as a part of an integrated, self-serve customer care solution.
• Code generation assists developers in building applications, finding errors in code, and uncovering security issues in multiple programming languages, even “translating” between them.
• Sentiment analysis: analyze text to determine the
“Language translation provides wider coverage to organizations across languages and geographies with fluent translations and multilingual capabilities.”
customer’s tone in order understand customer feedback at scale and aid in brand reputation management.
• Language translation: provides wider coverage to organizations across languages and geographies with fluent translations and multilingual capabilities.
The question remains as to how we can further adapt LLMs to the greater sophistication needed for human relationships, interactions, and context.
How can we accelerate the adoption of AI tools?
Amaral believes we first need
to do a better job at identifying the concrete needs of the PR profession. Where are our pain points? Once those are identified we can look at the existing tools and filter out those that are mere interfaces to OpenAI’s tools. Most of all, he feels we need to share more with the community:
This should not be a race to find the best tool and gain competitive advantage, there is always a better tool around the corner, a new shiny object. My belief is that by sharing more we can provide better service, grow the profession, and make it rise to the C-level of companies.
Helpful reading
• Research findings published in July 2023 have revealed that participants using ChatGPT were able to write business documents faster, at a better quality. The improvements were made on the basis that a person needs to check the AI-generated text, then edits and corrects it, according to Jakob Nielsen, international expert of user experience (UX) techniques.
• My article, “ChatGPT lifts workplace writing productivity and quality,” also discusses the positive way AI improves knowledge worker results, with strong implications for our communication profession. R
The mission of the Association of Rotational Molders is to promote, educate, and inspire the rotomolding industry. For more information, visit ARM’s website at www.rotomolding.org or contact the Association at 630.942.6589 or info@rotomolding.org.
ARM Announces a New Webinar Series on Wall Thickness Control in Rotomolding
The Association of Rotational Molders is excited to introduce a new series of four webinars led by ARM Technical Director Dr. Nick Henwood. This series will provide an in-depth exploration of wall thickness control, a critical aspect of the rotomolding process.
Starting in October, Dr. Henwood will guide participants through various aspects of wall thickness control, including:
October 16: Introduction to Wall Thickness
November 6: Methods for Controlling Heat Variation
November 20: Methods for Controlling Powder Flow
December 16: Conclusions, Troubleshooting, and Case Histories
Each session will include practical examples and case histories from real-world rotomolding applications, offering valuable insights for both beginners and seasoned professionals.
Dr. Henwood, a 2022 inductee into the Rotational Molding Hall of Fame, brings a wealth of knowledge in materials development and process control. His extensive experience ensures that attendees will gain practical knowledge.
ARM members can sign up for these webinars for free through the links provided in ARM’s email newsletters. Recordings will be added to our library of 100+ webinar titles. R
Testimonials: ARM Training Academy’s Impact on Rotomolders
The ARM Training Academy has been a valuable resource for members of the Association of Rotational Molders for over a year. Designed to enhance skills and safety in the rotational molding industry, the academy offers two comprehensive courses: the Operator Training Program and the Health and Safety Training Program.
Since its launch, these courses have provided members with in-depth training through a series of videos and quizzes, all available for free to ARM members. The Operator Training Program covers essential aspects of rotational molding, while the Health and Safety Training Program focuses on critical safety practices within the industry. Both courses allow participants to track their progress
and earn certificates of completion.
The true testament to the academy’s value comes from the feedback of our members who have integrated these training programs into their daily operations. Here’s what they have to say:
Testimonials
“We are extremely grateful for the training resources, and we believe that the content has already made a positive impact on the success of our molders. Completion of the operator training program is mandatory for all new hires joining the molding department. Starting next month, we will be including the Health and Safety training course as a requirement for all senior operators, in addition to
their OSHA 10 certification.
“The training programs available on the ARM website offer significant value to our rotational molding department employees here at API. These programs not only serve as an introduction to rotational molding but also provide comprehensive material geared towards mastering this craft. The Operator Training Program, in particular, equips our team with extensive knowledge on processes, materials, equipment handling, and safety procedures, all of which have contributed to the success of producing high-quality outputs. By upholding industry best practices, our API molders continue to refine their expertise through training and development, thus becoming valuable contributors to the future of rotational molding.”
— Melissa Derheim, API
“The course was excellent; it helped us revisit the most important and fundamental aspects of rotational molding. It also enabled us to solve problems quickly and efficiently. I’m grateful for the information shared, which will benefit us both now and in the future.”
the ARM Academy training. Before that, he was struggling with visualizing the material flow. We sat down and talked about reversing rotation, and away he went to apply it and solved a flow problem around a difficult-to-fill molded-in insert feature. The ARM Academy training works!”
— Daren Balderson, Myers Industries
— Jorge Humberto Serrano, Operadora MPK
“Within our platform of roto sites, we have a lot of new teammates and new leaders within our plants that we had enroll in the ARM Academy training and found it to be very valuable! One of my new plant managers that came from the blow molding industry completed the training module, and within a few weeks, he was showing me root causes for scrap related to fundamentals with venting that he learned through the ARM Academy training! Another one of our new supervisors, who came from an injection background, was talking with me about how he now understands the rotation cycles after going through
“Taking the ARM accreditation was a very satisfying experience for me. It helped me reaffirm my knowledge of rotational molding, and I also found it very interesting to learn new concepts, topics, and situations that I was previously unaware of. This will help me broaden my experience with practical tips that I can apply in my daily work to meet objectives like reducing scrap and ensuring all necessary precautions are taken.”
— Juan Pedro García Alcántar, Operadora MPK
These testimonials highlight the real-world impact of the ARM Training Academy on our members’ operations. If you haven’t explored these resources, log in today with your rotomolding.org credentials and take the next step in training your team. R
Ask Dr. Nick: Should You Switch from Powder to Pellets?
Is it a common strategy to use pellets instead of powder for rotomolding? Are there any advantages to using pellets over powder during processing? I want to move away from powder and its potential to become airborne.
Dr. Nick: The main raw material used for rotomolding (polyethylene, PE) is originally produced in the form of pellets; small (average diameter approx. 3mm, 1/8 inch) spheroids, which are generally produced from a large extruder.
For rotomolding, these pellets are pulverized to produce a powder. This powder has a wide size distribution, but the average particle size is usually around 300-350 microns, 50-45 US mesh. Therefore, powder represents an average of 10 times the size reduction from the original pellets.
Can you rotomold PE pellets and what will you produce? Yes you can, but you would encounter two main problems.
Firstly, although the pellets would probably fuse together, they are unlikely to fully melt and flow to form a cohesive and contiguous solid layer. Put simply, there would still be a lot of holes and voids in the part you produced. By the time you heated the pellets long enough, to get everything to melt out properly, the PE would probably have started to degrade and break down.
Secondly, you might find that the wall thickness distribution of rotomolded pellets was non-optimum compared to using powder.
Despite these difficulties, the use of pellets is attractive from the point of view you mentioned in the question, i.e. issues involved in material handling. There is also the potential for cost reduction, by eliminating the whole pulverizing step.
In the late 1990’s and 2000’s, several suppliers experimented with PE micro-pellets. This was a technology borrowed from the precolor (aka masterbatch) industry, where much smaller-sized pellets were produced using a special underwater die system. To begin with, they experimented with PE micropellets of approx. 500-600 micron (25-20 US mesh) diameter, but producing rotomolded parts that were pin-hole free was challenging. Acceptable parts
were finally able to be produced when the micropellet size was reduced somewhat (to below 400 micron, 40 US mesh).
Whilst rotomolded parts made with smaller-sized micropellets were acceptable, there was a commercial penalty in most cases. The problem is that installing a micropellet die on a normal commercial extruder (whether twin- or single-screw) will significantly reduce the machine output, usually to the point where the additional cost of extrusion is greater than the running cost of the pulverizer. So micropellet technology has not been widely adopted for the production of PE materials for rotomolding. It may be commercially suitable for producing very small quantities of PE custom colors (<2000 lb runs). In addition, I recently experimented with coarser micropellets and even “mini-pellets” (size approx. 1000 microns) for colored polypropylene (PP); my motivation was fuelled by the relative high cost of pulverizing PP (usually requires expensive cryogenic grinding).
Bottom line: unless you have a major incentive, you’re probably going to be stuck with using PE powder!
Dr. Nick Henwood, Technical Director of the Association of Rotational Molders, is a 30+ year expert in materials and process control. He operates Rotomotive Limited as a consultant, researcher, and educator in the UK and was inducted into the Rotational Molding Hall of Fame in 2022. R
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HYDROGEN
SOLUTION TO ENVIRONMENT PROBLEMS OF FOSSIL FUELS
CELAL BEYSEL, FLOTEKS
Future prospects for rotomolding.
The automotive industry is experiencing immense changes, because of the growing environmental concerns about fossil fuels. Numbers of battery-driven electrical vehicles (BEV’s), Hydrogen driven fuel cell electrical vehicles (FCEV’s), and lately (although still in experimental stage) Hydrogen internal combustion vehicles (HICEV’s) are increasing every day. This technology is particularly well-suited for heavy-duty vehicles like buses and trucks, where the high energy density of pressurised Hydrogen can provide longer driving ranges and faster refueling compared to battery-electric vehicles. This change is a challenge and an opportunity for rotomolders who are producing fuel tanks to various small series vehicles.
BEV’s
The number of battery-driven electric vehicles is growing throughout the world. However, are the BEV’s really environmentally friendly? This question can only be answered by following the lifespan of the BEV’s “from cradle to grave”. Although BEV’s reduce emissions during their operational life, their production and end-of-life stage have high carbon footprints, offsetting the environmental benefits. Besides, EV batteries require rare earth elements like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which are energy-intensive and environmentally problematic to mine.
While offering many benefits, BEV’s also come with other negative aspects. They generally have a shorter range than fossil fuel vehicles. This is a concern for drivers, particularly on long trips. Charging stations are rare, particularly in rural areas. Even at the stateof-the-art charging stations, recharging a battery needs more time than filling a tank. So, city drivers with private overnight charging stations are happier with BEV’s than long distance drivers.
As the number of BEV’s grow, electric grid demand and electricity sources will be another headache to the infrastructure, requiring a lot of investment.
Another problem is the degradation of expensive batteries over time. This reduces their capacity and consequently, the vehicle’s
range in time. State-of-the-art batteries last longer, but they still need replacement after a certain number of years. High initial and maintenance costs must be added to the negative aspects of BEV’s. EVs are heavier than fossil fuel counterparts due to the weight of the battery packs. This is the main concern for heavy trucks and busses. Although rare, lithiumion batteries can catch fire or explode under certain conditions, such as accidents, damage, or manufacturing defects. The OEM’s producing BEV’s are working vigorously to resolve these problems.
In spite of the disadvantages and concerns related to BEV’s, the number of BEV’s are growing every year.
Summary (Approximate Figures for BEVs Globally)
• Passenger Cars: 16–18 million units
• Buses: 750,000–850,000 units (over 600,000 in China)
• Trucks: 150,000–200,000 units
China leads the BEV truck market, especially in the light-
duty and medium-duty categories, followed by Europe and the United States. Some future expectations show that the growth rate will slow down with more advantageous Hydrogen solutions.
Categorizing BEV Trucks Globally as of 2024:
• Light-Duty Trucks: 150,000–200,000 units (120.000 in China, IEA, ICCT)
• Medium-Duty Trucks: 30,000–40,000 units (25.000 in China, IEC)
• Heavy-Duty Trucks: 30,000–40,000 unit (30.000 in China, IEC)
FCEV’s
Hydrogen driven vehicles have taken some important inertia proving that in the near future, they will enter the competition between BEV’s and internal combustion fossil fuel vehicles. Today, it seems that Hydrogen driven vehicles as a zero-emission alternative to traditional fossil fuels, producing only water vapor as a byproduct, may be a serious alternative to BEV’s. The biggest challenge is the
production of economically viable green Hydrogen from sun or wind energy. Otherwise, the math of carbon footprint will not allow Hydrogen to be used as environmentally-friendly fuel for vehicles. Advances in green Hydrogen production, storage, and refueling infrastructure plus governments’ ambitions to develop this environmentally neutral fuel is critical to making this technology more accessible and economically viable.
Obviously, like batteries, Hydrogen systems also need a lot of development. Another challenge with Hydrogen gas is the volume based energy density, which is very low. At 1 atm pressure, 1 kg of Hydrogen can be stored in a 12.000 liter tank. This will make a small car move a maximum of 100 km. only. So, the simple solution is fitting more Hydrogen into small volumes at high pressures. Today, 350 and 700 atmospheres are being the common standards used in Hydrogen tanks for vehicles. One of the other problems, among many others, lies in the number of fuel stations needed.
The high pressure tanks needed for Hydrogen storage as fuel tanks for vehicles is a headache for safety reasons. Questions like what the rules will be for such vehicles to enter the underground garages, ships, and trains. We still have no clear answers yet. So, the near future for fuel cell-driven long range buses and trucks looks more promising than for Hydrogen driven small vehicles. As countries invest in green Hydrogen and set ambitious emission reduction targets, fuel cell-driven buses and trucks may become mainstream, contributing to cleaner urban transportation and helping to
decarbonize the logistics industry.
The main stream of H2 driven vehicles use fuel cells to produce electricity from H2 gas to drive the electric motor of the vehicle. Today, there are many companies throughout the world producing various FCEV’s.
The growth in these numbers is expected to accelerate as Hydrogen infrastructure develops, particularly in regions like Europe, South Korea, Japan, and the United States, where governments are pushing Hydrogen initiatives for cleaner transportation.
(Approximate Figures, as of 2024)
• Personal Cars: 50,000–60,000 units
• Buses: 5000–6,000 units (3,500–4,000 in China)
• Trucks: 1,500–2,000 units
HICE’s
Hydrogen ICE technology is still in its early stages, with notable growth in heavy-duty sectors like trucking and construction. The number of operational vehicles across all categories is relatively small but poised to grow as more pilot programs and real-world trials are conducted.
Several companies are actively experimenting with Hydrogen internal combustion engines, aiming to develop cleaner alternatives to traditional internal combustion engines (ICEs). Some of the notable ones include Toyota, BMW, Mazda, Kawazaki, Yamaha, and Ford. These companies are exploring Hydrogen combustion as a transitional technology that leverages existing engine designs while providing cleaner
emissions compared to fossil fuels. However, most long-term industry strategies lean towards Hydrogen fuel cells or batteryelectric powertrains.
In summary, the change of the fossil fuel systems of the OEM’s to environmentally-friendly fuel systems is a treat and a challenge, but at the same time an opportunity for the rotomolding industry. Today, there are many rotomolders researching, investigating, and investing in Type IV tank systems, which can have a rotomolded liner, wrapped with carbon fiber to resist the pressures needed in this application.
References
*All figures about produced vehicles are taken from ChatGPT R
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Revolutionizing Rotomoulding: How Sustainability and Innovation Are Shaping the Future
Attending conferences and seminars is invaluable for expanding horizons through interactions with industry leaders and field experts. After a long hiatus, I am thrilled to reconnect with colleagues and friends from around the world at this year’s Rotoplas event in Chicago. The event provides an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest industry advancements
in areas such as automation, materials, and machinery. What stands out most is the frequent mention of one word: “sustainability.”
Matrix Polymers Commitment to Innovative PCR Solutions
At Matrix Polymers, we present material solutions based on PostConsumer Recycled (PCR) waste content, showcasing how different
polymers can be successfully integrated into rotomoulding materials. These innovations have a wide range of potential applications, from generalpurpose products to gardening items, industrial parts, toys, and even automotive components. However, I notice that, compared to other plastic sectors, the rotomoulding industry is slow to adopt these innovative solutions.
ALDO QUARATINO Matrix Polymers
This raises an important question: Is the hesitation due to a lack of confidence or an insufficient material supply?
Challenges in Adopting PCR in the Rotomoulding Industry
This is a common dilemma we face at Matrix Polymers during the development of novel materials. We understand the challenges that rotomoulding poses on materials, including the intense heat that can trigger thermal degradation and the limited shear that restricts the choice of materials. Incorporating PCR materials from blow-moulded bottles, injection-moulded caps, and residual films adds complexity, given the different chemical compositions and the inadequate levels of thermal and light stabilizers. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of academic research demonstrating the long-term durability of these materials, with only a few universities and independent labs focusing on rotomoulding applications. Through our PhD program, we continuously learn from our studies and apply these insights to the development of these polymers.
The Importance of Consistent and Reliable PCR Feedstock
One of the toughest challenges is ensuring that the PCR feedstock is consistent and
reliable enough to define a workable range of density and Melt Flow Index (MFI). Developing rotomoulding materials with variations in these parameters from batch to batch is impractical and would significantly impact how feedstock is sourced. According to a McKinsey & Company study, the gap between demand and supply of recycled materials is expected to reach 30 million tons by 2030, driven by the continuous demand for such materials. The study highlights several approaches to managing supply and reducing manufacturing costs, including product analysis, design, innovative technical solutions, and partnerships. The emphasis on partnerships is particularly significant, prompting strategic reflections on how to approach these challenges.
Strategic Partnerships: A Key to Sustainable Progress
From my experience, there is no single solution that will be universally adopted. Instead, multiple approaches will be necessary. At Matrix Polymers, we are in discussions with a select number of companies that share our ethos, values, and ethical approach to business. These companies are well advanced in recycling techniques, and together, we are exploring innovative methods to ensure that integration with our rotomoulding materials is both applicable and suitable for the process.
Navigating the Complex Landscape of PCR Certification and Regulations
An often-overlooked aspect is the certification and approvals that
PCR polymers, or the companies producing them, must carry. This can be a significant barrier in certain regions due to the lack of appropriate certification or misalignment with local regulations. The landscape of regulations related to recycled content is extremely complex in both the EU and the UK, with potential taxes on these materials further complicating the situation.
Introducing EcoMould: Matrixs Sustainable Polymer Range
We believe that the rotomoulding industry is under increasing pressure to deliver sustainable solutions that are both environmentally friendly and economically viable. At Matrix Polymers, we recently introduce EcoMould, a new line of polymers featuring up to 33% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. EcoMould is versatile, suitable for a broad spectrum of applications, including general-purpose products, gardening items, furniture, toys, and select automotive components. We collaborate with moulders worldwide who share our commitment to environmental responsibility and our scientific approach. Recovering plastic from landfills is not only an ethical obligation but also something we believe is essential for the health of our planet.
The Necessity of Recycling for a Greener Future
Recycling is no longer an option; it is a necessity for suppliers and converters. With our expertise and technical support, moulders can benefit from cutting-edge material solutions that pave the way for a greener future. R
GET IT BACK!
The European Union (EU) has adopted several rules and measures to address the environmental and economic challenges posed by packaging and packaging waste, especially plastic packaging. These rules aim to harmonise national measures, prevent the production of packaging waste, promote reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery, and reduce the impact
of packaging and packaging waste on the environment.
Plastic Packaging Waste Directive
The main legal instrument for regulating packaging and packaging waste in the EU is Directive 94/62/EC, also known as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD). The PPWD covers all types of packaging
and packaging waste placed on the EU market, regardless of the material, sector or product involved. The PPWD sets out essential requirements for packaging design, such as weight and volume reduction, reuse and recyclability, and limits for heavy metals content. The PPWD also establishes targets for reuse, recycling and recovery of packaging waste that EU countries
RONNY ERVIK, NORNER AS AND NORDIC ARM
must achieve by specific deadlines.
The PPWD has been revised and amended several times to adapt to new challenges and developments. For instance, in 2015, the EU adopted Directive (EU) 2015/720 to amend the PPWD regarding reducing the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags. This Directive requires EU countries to take measures to achieve a sustained reduction in the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags, such as setting national reduction targets, introducing charges or bans, or ensuring that such bags are not provided free of charge.
In 2018, as part of the circular economy package, the EU adopted Directive (EU) 2018/852 to amend the PPWD regarding enhancing prevention and increasing recycling of packaging waste. This Directive introduces new measures to prevent packaging waste generation, such as promoting reusable packaging and improving packaging design. It also sets higher and more specific targets for recycling of different packaging materials by 2025 and 2030. Moreover, it provides for mandatory setting up of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes for all packaging by the end of 2024. EPR schemes are systems where producers of packaging are required to take responsibility for the management of their products once they become waste.
Plastic Packaging Waste Regulation
On 24th of April 2024 the European Parliament adopted the PPWR (change from directive to regulation). The top five goals of the new regulation are:
1: Reduction of packaging waste: The regulation sets clear targets for reducing the quantity of packaging waste. For example, by 2025, 65% of all packaging waste must be recycled, increasing to 70% by 2030. Specific goals for materials such as plastic, glass, metal, and paper are also defined.
2: Design requirements for recyclable packaging: Specific
4: Labelling and transparency: Packaging must be clearly labelled to inform consumers about recyclability and proper disposed packaging waste.
5: Promotion of more sustainable packaging solutions through EPR systems: The Extended Producer Responsibility obliges companies to consider the entire lifecycle of their
design requirements are imposed to enhance the recyclability of packaging. This means companies are encouraged to eliminate unnecessary packaging and, where possible, use reusable packaging.
3: Use of Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) materials: The regulation builds upon the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive and establishes stricter rules for the use of single-use plastic. The draft includes a ban on certain singleuse packaging.
packaging, including design, use, and disposal. Manufacturers must ensure their packaging is easily recyclable and bear the costs of collection, recovery, and recycling. Concurrently, businesses are encouraged to develop and utilize more environmentally friendly packaging solutions.
Plastic Packaging Definition
Plastic packaging is defined as “Plastic packaging means all plastic-containing materials which can be used for the containment,
protection, handling, delivery and presentation of other products, from raw materials to processed goods, from the producer to the user or the consumer.” A lot of rotational moulded products may be categorised as plastic packaging products. The new regulations also states that plastic packaging placed on the market must be reusable or recyclable in a cost-efficient way. This
a plastic material that can be obtained from various sources and processed into new products. Depending on the origin and quality of the PE, it can be classified into different types:
Post-consumer waste (PCR): Material generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product which can no longer be used for its
and then collected for recycling, such as plastic bottles and packaging. These materials are processed to create recycled resins that can be used in new products. PIR, on the other hand, comes from the waste generated before being used by consumers, which is then recycled back into the production cycle. Rework is not considered a part of PCR or PIR because it involves the
might restrict use of expanded polystyrene and polyurethane foam and multilayer products consisting of different polymers. The reasoning behind is many, one is that non-polyethylene polymers being recycled together with polyethylene will lower the material quality. In 2021 the European recycling capacity was 11,3 million tons, but only 60% was sold. The remaining 40% is uncertain were it ends up but might have been sent to incineration due to low quality. Recycled polyethylene (PE) is
intended purpose. This includes returns of material from the distribution chain.
Post-industrial waste (PIR): Material diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process.
Rework: Regrind or scrap generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed within the same process that generated it.
In the recycling industry, the terms PCR and PIR represent different sources of recycled material. PCR refers to materials that have been used by consumers
reuse of materials generated in a manufacturing process that can be reclaimed without the need for a full recycling process. This distinction is important for sustainability reporting and certification, as it affects how recycled content is quantified and categorized.
These definitions will restrict moulders in reporting the use of rework as recycled material. To get the rework to count as recycled material, it is normally sold to an external recycling company, and compounded
and ground, or just ground into powder. It is recommended to get the material compounded and to add antioxidants during the compounding step. During compounding it is also possible to filter out any contamination and to vent out volatiles (smelly stuff). Studies performed at Norner Research AS shows that recycled polyethylene pipes that have been in use for 12 years have lost more than 50% of the antioxidant package. It is therefore necessary to add more antioxidants, if the material should be used for similar applications. The same is valid for polyethylene rotational moulding. The thicker the product is, the more antioxidant is used during processing and therefore less antioxidant is remaining when recycling.
documented information about recycling and rotomoulding and conclude that “there are four reasons why a rotomoulder will use recycled resins: (1) his environmental beliefs, (2) to meet customer requirements, (3) to satisfy laws/regulations and/or (4) to save money. Neither of the latter two factors provide a major incentive today, but they will in the future. Like the well-known comment about “death and taxes,” resin prices will rise, and more legislation and regulations are coming.” I am sure that items 1, 2
“THE THICKER THE PRODUCT IS, THE MORE ANTIOXIDANT IS USED DURING PROCESSING, AND THEREFORE LESS ANTIOXIDANT IS REMAINING WHEN RECYCLING.”
Processing Recycled Polyethylene
Processing recycled materials has been well documented by Einar Voldner during a series of articles in RotoWorld (previously known as the “Rotation” magazine) dated back to 1993 and onwards. These articles provide well-
and 3 are still valid. In Europe item #3 will be a strong motivation for European rotomoulders, but I do not expect item #4 to be valid in the years to come.
When it comes to processing the recommendations from Einar Voldner are still valid, with a few comments for producing high quality products. Do not dry-blend virgin and recycled materials, not even low (<5%) amounts. The difference in morphology between virgin materials and recycled material will weaken the mechanical properties. The best option is to use 100% recycled PE
or to make 2- or 3-layer products, where one of the layers consist of 100% recycled PE. Remember that recycled PE might need different processing time and temperature, always check the products for air bubbles and pinholes. If any are present, make sure to increase oven time or oven temperature.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
The EU rules on packaging and packaging waste have significant implications for the European plastic producers, both in terms of opportunities and challenges. On one hand, these rules create incentives for innovation and investment in more sustainable packaging solutions, such as biodegradable or compostable plastics, recycled plastics, or reusable plastics. These solutions can help reduce the environmental impact of plastic packaging, increase resource efficiency and circularity, and create new markets and jobs in the green economy.
On the other hand, these rules also impose costs and obligations on the European plastic producers, such as complying with stricter design requirements, meeting higher recycling targets or contributing to EPR schemes. These costs and obligations can affect their competitiveness and profitability, especially in comparison with nonEU producers who may not face similar regulations or standards. Moreover, these rules can create uncertainty and complexity for the European plastic producers due to different national implementations or interpretations across the EU. Therefore, it is important for the European plastic producers to
adapt to the changing regulatory environment and to seize the opportunities offered by the transition to a more sustainable and circular economy. This may require enhancing their cooperation and coordination with other actors in the value chain, such as retailers, consumers, or waste management operators; investing in research and development to improve their products’ performance, and environmental footprint; or engaging in dialogue with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure that their views and interests are considered.
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation requires Member States to set up systems for the return and/or collection and reuse or recovery (including recycling) of used packaging from the consumer to meet the EU recycling targets. Thus, the EU imposes the legal obligation of meeting the recovery and recycling targets on Member States. However, national governments may, and often do, delegate this legal obligation to producers/importers through the setting of EPR schemes.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy tool that extends the producer’s financial and/or operational responsibility for a product to include the management of the post-consumer stage, to help meet national or EU recycling and recovery targets. EPR policies thus generally shift the waste management cost or physical collection partially or fully from local governments to producers. This means that all rotomoulders need to create an extended producer responsibility
declaration (EPD) for all their products used as packaging or used in fishery or aquaculture. The EPD will need to contain information about content of recycled materials, where to dispose the product after use and how to recycle the product (end of life management).
By 2030, all plastics packaging placed on the EU market will be either reusable or can be recycled in a cost-effective manner.
Changes in production and design enable higher plastics recycling rates for all key applications. By 2030, more than half of plastics waste generated in Europe will be recycled.
What does it mean for Rotational Moulding?
In rotational moulding in Europe, we are fortunate (?) that more than 90% of material processed is polyethylene. So rotational
Recyclability performance grades
Recyclability per unit, in weight
Packaging is considered as recyclable; EPR licence fee to be modulated according to grades Banned from 2030
moulding is almost equal to polyethylene, RM=PE. Therefore, it is mostly straight forward for rotomoulders to meet the design for recycling guidelines in the EPR. The only issue might occur when mixing two types of plastics in one product, for instance by using multilayers. Multilayers with polyethylene in all layers is not an issue, but when combining PA and PE or when foaming PU and EPS, it might be an issue. The regulations states that products shall be recyclable in an economical matter. This means that the different layers in one product needs to be separated with the recycling methods that are existing like for instance float - sink. So, a doubled layer product consisting of PA and PE, might be ok if there are no adhesion between the layers, as the layers will be separated in a float sink process. However, EPS and PU foaming, might be an issue. If polyethylene is contaminated with PU or EPS, the mechanical properties will be significantly lowered. EPS and PU foaming might be an issue if used in rotomoulded products in the future.
Most of the PE found in PCR collected from household is coming from bottles or film. This polyethylene has a broad molecular weight distribution (MWD) and a high viscosity (low melt flow rate), and it is not suitable for rotational moulding. Trials done at Norner indicates that when adding more than 2530% of PCR into virgin rotational moulding polyethylene the oven time increases by 20-30%. The easiest route to produce material with high loading of recycled polyethylene, >70%, suitable for producing high quality
rotational moulding, is to recycle rotomoulded products. Projects done with Nordic Plastic Recycling, a company that recycles rotational moulded products and produces high quality rPE, shows that the accessibility of rotomoulded products are limited. These products often get mixed together with other polyethylene from pipes, blow moulding and film, and makes it not usable for rotational moulding.
Nordic Rotational Moulding Market Study
In a recent study conducted by the Nordic ARM, the Nordic ARM members are using approximately 20,000 tons of polyethylene. Out
1: Mark your products, not only as polyethylene, but as rotomoulded polyethylene. The company Replast in Norway has developed a marking system for different processing techniques, so that you can separate e.g. PE for pipe and PE for RM.
2: Get it back. Offer your customers to take back their rotomoulded products after end of life and promise them that these will be recycled into new products. Then you will:
A. get access to high quality RM materials
B. helping your customer get rid of potential problem waste
C. achieving you and your customer’s recycling goals
“IN A RECENT STUDY CONDUCTED BY THE NORDIC ARM, THE NORDIC ARM MEMBERS ARE USING APPROXIMATELY 20,000 TONS OF POLYETHYLENE.”
of this 1% is reworked (200 tons) and 4% is recycled polyethylene (800 tons). This means that the Nordic area is lacking 5,200 tons of high-quality recycled polyethylene to reach 30% usage. These 5,200 tons are not available, not produced, not planned to be produced, not existing, and this is just in the Nordics!
Therefore, you as a moulder should (at a minimum) immediately implement two strategies:
You might also be able to reuse some of the products assembled to your reclaimed products, e.g. metal parts and electronics and reduce weight of non-recyclable materials (for instance if your product contains foamed PU).
On longer term (before 2030) you will need to implement a recycling policy at your company and act according to the upcoming regulations. But you will need to start already now to Get it back! R
TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
IAN HANSEN RotaConsult
In today’s fast-paced business environment, ensuring that you and your team have industry knowledge, ahead of your competitors, is critical for the success of your business and the future career development of your staff. In RotoWorld Issue 3, 2024, Susan Gibson highlighted the many reasons why attending conferences matters. The continuous learning process introduces new concepts, methodologies, and practices, allowing you and your team to keep pace with the dynamic manufacturing environment. However, rotomoulding conferences are typically attended by owners, managers, and executives, and cover a wide range of business learning topics to cater to a wide spectrum of attendee interest.
Technical rotomoulding knowledge
Rotomoulding seminars (and workshops) are typically designed to be more process and technical information based, compared to industry conferences, and they are a perfect training opportunity for everyone from the factory floor upwards to learn about the how and why of rotomoulding. Much more than work instructions to safely and effectively service (demould & reload) a mould. Seminars bring together smaller groups than conferences, to focus on a particular learning topic, usually led by an industry expert, offering opportunities for attendees to gain new perspectives and discuss practical problems with industry colleagues.
Rotomoulding employers need to take advantage of process and technical training seminars as these are an excellent way for rotomoulders in the factory to gain theoretical knowledge, which, when combined with practical knowledge improves their problemsolving skills. This education opportunity available to factory floor team members is just as important as that offered to executives at rotomoulding conferences.
I want to take the opportunity to highlight the regular, but typically annual, opportunities which are globally available for manufacturing personnel to attend in-person rotomoulding seminars. In RotoWorld Issue 3, 2024, I highlighted the Wenling, China (RPC-CPPIA) rotomoulding technical seminar held in April, at which I was the leader. This optional, all day seminar had about 60 participants, from China and other Asian countries, providing attendees practical rotomoulding processing and technical knowledge. The unusually high participation in China reflects the desire for greater technical knowledge of the rotomoulding process. There is a growing awareness that there is more to know than just quickly servicing moulds.
In June 2024 there was a half-day technical workshop held prior to the Gold Coast, Australia (ARMA) Rotomould conference. I also led this training workshop, which was held at PARTEC, the vocational training organisation for the Plastics and Composites industry in Australia. This workshop with about 20
Attendees at April 2024 China technical seminar
participants included the recently commissioned and fully electric Rising Sun CS 1000 shuttle machine to help give attendees more of a factory floor experience.
ARMA also conducted their all-day Masterclass seminars during August 2024, held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Auckland. These are biennial – every 2 years. Dru Laws was this years presenter. The objective of holding these around Australia and New Zealand is to bring the learning opportunity closer to factory team members, encourage participation and keep the groups smaller to encourage questions and group discussions.
In September there is a 2-day Masterclass in Lyon,
France (AFR). This is also a technical focused seminar, held at Polyvia Formation, which is the vocational training organization of the Plastics and Composites industry in France.
Rotoplas 2024, the largest rotomoulding exhibition in the world, is being held in September at Rosemont, (Chicago) in conjunction with the ARM conference. This conference is preceded with two optional all-day technical seminars suitable for lead operators, team leaders, supervisors, and engineers. One seminar is an introduction to the essentials of Rotomolding led by Dru Laws, while the other seminar covers more advanced Rotomoulding topics led by Dr. Nick Henwood. These processing and technical seminars are always well attended, and I am sure 2024 will be no different.
The Penn College® twoday intensive Rotational Molding & Hands-On Workshop in Pennsylvania, USA, is now being advertised for October 2024. This year it will be led by Matthew Tornow and is aimed at supervisory, lead operators, technicians, and engineers. The workshop has 14 instruction hours enabling a significant amount of information to be communicated to the attendees. This Plastics Innovation & Resource Center workshop features the STP Rotomachinery LRM 1500 shuttle machine to give attendees handson experience in combination with classroom training.
PARTEC in Australia and Penn College in America are amongst the only teaching institutions in the world, which offer accredited plastics degrees or rotational moulding apprenticeships and include within their curriculum the operation of their own
June 2024 Australia technical workshop
August 2024 ARMA Masterclass, Melbourne
commercially available biaxial hot air ovens. This allows them to offer both classroom education as well as hands on experience to better develop a learners understanding of rotomoulding theory and practice.
eLearning
Some rotomoulding associations have developed their own proprietary online training tools. ARM members can access ‘Operator Training Program’ (www.pathlms.com/arm) which consists of 25 video modules.
BPF members have ‘Fundamentals of Rotational Moulding’ which consists of 10 video modules, which are also available to anyone around the world from their E-Learning platform (www.polymercourses.com) for around £99.
ARMA plans to launch their online training portal with ‘Masterclass technical training” videos. This will also include ‘at the machine’ videos filmed at 3 different rotomoulding plants covering moulds, types of machines, graphics, safety, and recycling.
Online learning can be more effective than face-toface learning. People want to learn as needed, anytime and anywhere. They do not want to be constrained with a date and time, which is required by seminars. However, I believe face-to-face interaction with an experienced rotomoulding professional and learners enables more effective non-verbal communication. Positive body language in a classroom setting has the ability to motivate, inspire, and engage. Whether it’s eye contact or posture, being able to read people’s body language and adapt the content and approach leads to better learning results.
The other key advantages of face-to-face learning come from being synchronous or all together. Synchronous learning occurs when a group is engaged in learning at the same time and location. While I lead industry organised seminars and workshops, I also deliver small technical training programs to individual rotomoulding companies around the world. This enables the option to deliver short and sharp half-day seminars at the learners
place of work with their co-workers in attendance or more detailed, but less intensive seminars spread over three days. This onsite training can be tailor made to suit every different company’s requirements.
Learning Online or Face-to-Face
It is not a matter of choosing one learning method or another. A combination of self-paced online learning and face-to-face learning typically delivers the best of both worlds. The best training for an individual will blend the opportunities offered by the different modes of learning.
Reluctance to invest in training
While there are rotomoulding learning opportunities available, it is a common problem within many manufacturing industries, including rotomoulding, that while they want to hire staff with prior experience, they are reluctant to invest in training their own staff. Rotational moulding is such a small part of the plastics industry it is difficult to find anyone with prior rotomoulding industry experience. It is imperative that we invest time and money to teach rotomoulding process and technical skills.
In RotoWorld Issue 3, 2024, Aldo Quaratino, Matrix Polymers, highlighted the skills shortage in the UK with a 35% decline in engineering related apprenticeships. He also wrote that there was a reduction in investment in skills development by businesses as individual companies do not always
Seminars allow non-verbal interaction
realise immediate returns from such investments.
From 2003, Australia has had a Rotomoulding trade apprenticeship. Unfortunately, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research has reported that the apprenticeship and traineeship system in Australia is under pressure, not due to a shortage of potential apprentices and trainees, but due to the reluctance of employers to take them on. There is a very similar problem to that in the UK, and I suspect in many other parts of the world.
I often hear that the fear of employee turnover is a major reason for this reluctance to invest in training. Employers worry that staff training will only benefit other companies if employees leave. Another reason is that in the current unstable economic climate training is seen as a luxury rather than a necessity.
Training is essential
Employers have a responsibility to hire staff and facilitate their training. There are pros and cons – however it is ultimately the employers choice whether they’re going to enjoy more of the pros than the cons.
Training is an essential tool for competitiveness and the transformation of companies.
By investing in your on-site education programs, online rotomoulding training, attendance at process and technical seminars (or rotomoulding apprenticeships if available in your region), we can create pathways for young talent and ensure a great future for our manufacturing industry and society in general.
“TRAIN PEOPLE WELL ENOUGH SO THEY CAN LEAVE, TREAT THEM WELL ENOUGH SO THEY DON’T WANT TO.” – RICHARD BRANSON
Knowledge is power. Knowledge comes from education. Without knowledge of the rotational moulding process, nothing is possible and with knowledge every impossible thing becomes a possibility, wherever in the world you are. R
President’s Report
Chris Glenn, Bushmans Australia
The past year has been another successful period for ARMA, marked by a fantastic conference on the Gold Coast in June, a membership growth of 12%, and a continued commitment to providing exceptional value for our members.
Achievements and Initiatives
ARMA has steadfastly focused on our core vision of delivering real benefits to our members through high-quality training, technical and business information, standards and codes, referrals, and continuing to foster relationships both locally and internationally.
Key initiatives from our strategic plan have been successfully implemented or are underway. These include, the Masterclass Training Series led by Dru Laws, expansion of our membership base, our major events, including the annual industry conference and Rototour, a safety project to support our tank manufacturing members, and ongoing efforts to address environmental issues within our industry.
The Gold Coast Conference set a new benchmark, providing valuable business and technical insights, a conducive environment for networking, and a memorable experience for all attendees.
The Board
I would like to extend my gratitude to my fellow board members Ian Gough, Mark Medew, Trudi Duncan, Andrew Currie, Brad Smyth, Ben Hopley, Varun Chand, and Paul Ayres for their time and contributions have been invaluable to both the board and ARMA as a whole.
We experienced some changes on the board this year with Kate McKie and Karen Durkin stepping down, and I thank them for their significant contributions during their tenure. We also welcomed Paul Ayres from the Galloway Group in Auckland, who joined the board in December 2023.
A special thank you to our immediate past president, Trudi Duncan, who steps down in December after
ARMA Board
ARMA President, Chris Glenn
10 years of dedicated service. Her leadership and enthusiasm will be greatly missed.
Our Professional Team
Our ARMA team, including Zoe Perrington (Membership & Marketing), Andrea Glenister (Bookkeeper), Alyce Wood (Events & Admin), and Karly Gneil (Conference) have performed exceptionally over the past year. I want to acknowledge their hard work and commitment. Michelle Rose, our CEO, has led the team with professionalism and strong leadership. Her proactive
ARMA’s Masterclass Series
In August, ARMA hosted five Masterclass sessions across Australia and New Zealand, all met with resounding success. Presented by the renowned Professor Dru Laws, the sessions offered an immersive and engaging experience for all attendees.
Dru’s deep passion for rotomoulding was evident in every aspect of his teaching. His dynamic presentation style captivated participants, while the comprehensive attendee workbook and a followup online session ensured that all questions were thoroughly addressed.
The enthusiasm and eagerness of the 130+ participants were evident at each session, with rotomoulders keen to both learn and share their knowledge. The collaborative spirit among attendees highlighted the strength and unity within our industry.
Thank you to everyone who participated—your dedication and passion for rotomoulding are what
approach has supported the board and our members and helped achieve our goals. Michelle, along with the entire team, have worked tirelessly to enhance the level of professionalism within our industry.
Looking Ahead
With our recent achievements and plans, ARMA is wellpositioned to continue to grow and develop, providing even better support to our members. I am confident that our platform will keep evolving, ensuring our continued success in the years to come. R
drive our industry forward! We also extend our deepest gratitude to our sponsors, PSI Brand, Vision Plastics, and Matrix Polymers, whose support made these sessions possible.
Testimonials
Scott Magill, Plastic Tanks Qld: “Another brilliant session from Professor Dru Laws. A lot of information for those attending from beginners to experts, everyone increased their knowledge.”
John Adin, PARTEC: “As an industrial trainer in polymer processing, I found the Masterclass highly useful to my ongoing knowledge. I have taken several notes that will be added to learning resources for our future training. I would highly recommend engagement in these events to increase your expertise.” R
Participants soaking up the knowledge at the Sydney Masterclass
Justyna Elliott: A Spotlight
Rebecca Shortland
Next in our Employee Spotlight series is one of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) most recognisable... Justyna Elliott
- not only a staple member of our team, but a staple of the plastics industry as a whole. In a male dominated industry, she is strong-willed, hard-working, wellconnected, and also a whole lot of fun. With a reputation as a fiercely diligent worker across the entire sector, let’s find out how Justyna Elliott got to where she is today.
Justyna came to the UK in 2004 after completing her bachelor’s degree, and though initially only planning to stay for a year or so, she fell in love with the British culture, sense of humour, and how welcome she always felt here. So here she is twenty years later! Justyna didn’t waste any time, and joined the BPF in 2005, meaning next year will be her 20th work anniversary!!
stand arrangements at the UK exhibitions.
“I love travelling and I love to plan things. My friends always laugh at me for needing to have a plan for everything, but that’s just the way I am! A quote I love is: “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. So, my role of coordinating the British exhibitors at foreign trade shows essentially just combines the two things I love,” Justyna said.
“Sounds crazy, but it really doesn’t feel so long. It only shows how lovely the BPF is is to work for. I have grown so much throughout the years and the BPF has always supported me in my personal development,” Justyna said.
After a few years of working at the BPF, she enrolled for a master’s degree in international business, completing it in two years - studying part time, whilst working full time.
She is now our Senior Business Development Executive. Justyna’s role covers a vast range of BPF operations. A large part of her job is looking after the BPF Equipment Group, which has been growing year on year and now has nearly 70 members! She also manages the BPF Associate Members, which are service providers to the UK plastics industry giving help to all BPF Members. Her responsibilities also include coordinating the British Pavilion of exhibitors at foreign exhibitions - such as K Show, Chinaplas, and many more, as well as organising the BPF
Justyna also always excels at liaising with show organisers/ stand builders/ the exhibitors to make sure there are no surprises when the BPF team arrives to the foreign country with a group of delegates. The BPF has been organising the British Pavilion at foreign trade shows for decades and helping UK plastics exporters in their export journey has been very important for us, so ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience is always Justyna’s highest priority.
And she’s learnt from experience. Having grown up dreaming of visiting India, Justyna was elated to find out she would be overseeing the British Pavilion at Plast India in New Delhi – where she had to coordinate a group of seventeen exhibitors. However, Justyna landed in India to discover that all the BPF colleagues who were meant to join her had been snowed in, with no flights leaving Heathrow for days! Justyna welcomed all exhibitors on the BPF stand to the show for the first time and completely on her own; and thanks to her organisation and pre-show preparation, everything went smoothly. Talk about being thrown into the deep end!
One of our favourite things about Justyna is that even after a long day on a stand, she will always try to arrange a spot of sightseeing for exhibitors after the show hours. Whether it’s an old town in Istanbul, or an off-beatentrack restaurant in Shanghai, Justyna always prioritises the group’s cultural experience and adventure.
Outside of work, Justyna loves running - having completed two half marathons so far with her sights set on a full marathon soon.
“I have also taken up tennis and I enjoy playing with my two boys. They are getting better than me though, so I have to try rather hard to keep up with them. I also really enjoy cooking, and my specialty is hearty Polish soups. Some of my bests are a gherkin soup and a beetroot soup called Barszcz,” Justyna said.
When asked about Justyna, her colleagues described her as ‘a force to be reckoned with and a true inspiration to women across the entire industry’.
What’s Next for Justyna?
“The BPF is growing every year, and we now have around 600 members and counting. This means there are always new challenges and projects to be involved in, and I really enjoy being part of the BPF. I learn something new every day and the company culture is second to none,” Justyna said.
Justyna has truly grown with the BPF and crafted the company into what it is today. We are always grateful for Justyna’s attention to detail, organisation, and warm personality. R
Employer Standards for Careers Education – Get Involved!
The BPF is pleased to share with you the Career and Enterprise Company’s new framework and tool to evaluate and improve your approach to careers education outreach. The Career and Enterprise Company (CEC) are the national body for careers education in England, supporting schools and colleges to deliver modern, 21st century careers education. Their mission is to help every young person find their best next step. To do this, they work with both primary and secondary schools, colleges, and employers to improve careers education and secure better outcomes for young people.
Their work is at national scale and delivered through our network of Careers Hubs that bring together schools, colleges, employers, and apprenticeship providers in local areas across England, working in partnership with Mayoral and local authorities to connect with local skills needs.
Businesses today are facing similar challenges when it comes to recruiting people with the right skills:
• How do I build a strong talent pipeline?
• How do I increase diversity in my workforce?
• How do I best deliver against our ESG or social value commitments?
Employers who work with the education sector say it is helping them develop talent pipelines, close skills gaps, increase diversity, and attract job and apprenticeship applicants. You too can be part of the solution, make a difference and develop the skills of your future workforce. CEC’s Employer Standards is a simple framework to help you ask the right questions up front, cut through complexity, evaluate impact, improve performance, and create the impact you are looking for.
How it works
The Employer Standards are a free on-line selfassessment that enables you to:
• Assess current activities, receiving a ranking of ‘aspiring, achieving or exceeding’ for each Standard
• Benchmark against sector, national averages, and business size
• Track progress over time, with historic submissions saved in our secure portal
• Improve by learning from best practice
By completing the employer standards questionnaire, you will receive:
• A real-time results and recommendations report
• An evidence pack underpinning each Standard to support your business case
• Inspirational case studies from other businesses already ‘achieving or exceeding’ in each Standard
• Curated resources* to improve the quality of your careers education outreach.
By following the recommendations, participants will contribute to a world class careers education system whilst meeting key business objectives, including talent attraction, highlighting career opportunities within your sector and business, and giving back to the local community. The BPF are encouraging members to complete the self-assessment. It does not matter where you are in your engagement with the schools’ journey. You can be part of inspiring the next generation to consider a career in plastics. Visit the Employer Standards for Careers Education page to learn more and use the tool. It only takes 25 minutes, and you receive your results and recommendations instantly. R
Productivity Redefined: Competitive now and into the future
British Plastics Federation (BPF) launched a new initiative that aims to support the UK plastics industry compete in a world-wide market, by improving efficiency and outlining best-practice methodology in a technology driven factory of the future.
The culmination of two years of collaborative work by key stakeholders, “Productivity Redefined” launches with the first of a series of inter-related documents focusing on specific themes that form the foundation to manufacturing operations in the plastics industry.
Available as free downloads to BPF members, these documents pull together a wide range of expertise from the UK plastics industry and have been peer reviewed to deliver:
• Industry best practice
• State of the art developments
• Data backed evidence
• Case studies
• ROI plans
Guides will be released in phases with the first set of documents available now:
Three more guides are expected by the end of the year:
• Automation
• Digitalization (Part I: Real Time MES, Part II: ERP/MRP)
• Waste Minimisation
Guides will be revised annually to ensure they keep up with industry standards and innovation. Phase II is already underway with more documents in the pipeline for 2025.
To stay competitive now and into the future, visit bpf.co.uk R
ASSOCIATION OF ROTATIONAL MOULDERS AUSTRALASIA LTD
Michelle Rose, CAE Chief Executive Officer PO Box 237 Moonee Ponds VIC 3039 Australia
3 Powder King, LLC 41780 N. Vision Way Unit 120 Bldg. 2 Anthem, AZ 85086 USA 623.551.9897 sales@powder-king.com www.powder-king.com
15 Rotaloc
100 S. CP. Avenue Lake Mills, WI 53551 USA 303.948.5434 sales@rotaloc.com www.rotaloc.com
2 Roto Polymers 26210 Emery Road, Suite 202 Cleveland, OH 44128 USA 1.844.POLIMER (1.844.765.4637) info@rotopolymers.com www.rotopolymers.com
67 Rotomachinery Group Via Crosa, 53 28065 Cerano (NO) Italy +39.0321.772021 polivinil@polivinil.com www.rotomachinerygroup.com
23 VMP, Inc. 24830 Avenue Tibbitts Valencia, CA 91355-3404 USA 888.4.VMP.INC 661.294.9934 info@vmpinc.com www.vmpinc.com
45 Wittmann Battenfeld Canada Inc. / ROTOLOADTM 35 Leek Crescent Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4C2, Canada 905.887.5355 Toll Free: 1.888.466.8266 info@wittmann-group.ca www.wittmann-group.ca
17 Xcelerant Growth Partners
624 W. Washington Avenue, #411 Madison, WI 53703 440.384.7654 info@xcelerantgrowthpartners.com xcelerantgrowthpartners.com
625
Jerico Plastic Industries
Jerico’s experience in the rotational molding industry has uniquely positioned us to address the material challenges faced by molders today. We understand your compounded resin requirements and provide the quality, consistency, and support necessary to help you grow and achieve your production goals.
Jerico’s three North American plants are strategically located and we are poised to deliver on any size job, anywhere in North America!
