NEWS
Plastic overtakes cigarette butts as worst polluters on uShaka Beach IN 2021, plastic pollution found on uShaka Beach has surpassed the concerning levels of cigarette butts that made the top of the same list in 2019, says the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr). In 2019, the item with the highest count during the KZN International Beach Cleanup was cigarette butts. This year, cigarette butts only came in fifth position – after food wrappers, plastic pieces, plastic bottles and plastic bottle caps. While glass pieces and other items had the highest count in Kosi Bay, plastic pieces were the clear ‘winners’ on uShaka Beach. According to Saambr, the total count of bottle caps was higher than a combination of all of the other items in the first five categories.
Two SA companies for Afri-Plastics Challenge semi-final TWO South African companies have been selected from 13 African countries as part of 30 companies nominated for the semifinals of the Afri-Plastics Challenge, a UK innovation and challenge funded by the Government of Canada. The Afri-Plastics Challenge recognises the most innovative ideas in the plastic recycling space across Sub-Saharan Africa and aims to reduce marine plastics in Sub-Saharan African countries by developing and scaling innovative solutions to plastic mismanagement. South Africa is represented by SCRAB Tech, and Rantsilo. The 30 semi-finalists will be supported with grants and capacity building expertise to develop and prove the effectiveness of their solution in pursuit of the three final prizes of, £1 000 000, £750 000 and £500 000 in March 2023. The remaining 28 companies are from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda, Nigeria, DR Congo, and Ethiopia. At the end of January 2022, 15 finalists will be selected to move forward in the Challenge and continue their journey to win one of the three final prizes.
Injection Technik opens mould assist centre in Rosslyn Allows better support customers in the automotive supply sector INJECTION Technik of Uitenhage has opened its third toolroom, this time in Rosslyn in Gauteng, in a move which will allow the company to better support its customers in the automotive supply sector in the area, one of the biggest auto OEM centres in South Africa. Injection Technik is a specialist mould repair and maintenance business, for injection moulds, established by Stephan Aucamp and Renier Hechter in 2014. Its success in the mould maintenance area has resulted in Injection Technik attracting attention from some international mould makers, for which it now handles the specific activity of final checks on moulds prior to installation and then the commissioning thereof. It represents mould makers in China, Japan, Portugal, Germany, Spain and most recently Malaysia, which is a feather in the cap for the company. Besides Uitenhage and Rosslyn, Injection Technik operates a tool support operation/depot in East London, where the focus is likewise mainly on automotive moulds. In Rosslyn it has taken up a 400m2
site where it has 5 and 8-ton gantries and CNC and EDM machinery. The plant is run by Henry Lesley (ex-MCG) and can do work on all moulds used by the automotive suppliers in the area. Users of moulds sometimes blame the the mould maker when they have problems, and when the mould is from a foreign toolroom, this can be complicated. Technicians would then have to be sent out, and with Covid that situation began to be even more problematic. Enter the picture Injection Technik, whose service is designed specifically for such situations. “Sometimes users blame the tool, and we’ve been able to sort out the problem within a day or two,” said Aucamp. Injection Technik is also the local licensee for Synventive (hot runners), Airtect (systems for preventative maintenance), and SST Micro Welding. Micro welding is an important aspect of mould repair and design change work, and to this end Clyde Erasmus of Laser Mould & Die is now based at the Injection Technik plant in Uitenhage, handling this work.
Injection Technik is a specialist mould repair and maintenance business, for injection moulds
www.injectiontechnik.co.za
24 DEC 2021 / JAN 2022
Mera Clas
