Author: Riya Kadam

LSU Researchers Create Low-Cost Method to Recycle Plastic LSU researchers have created a new, low-cost way to break down plastic, a potential Kerry Dooley breakthrough that could save billions of dollars and eliminate billions of tons of plastic pollution. “Getting plastics to the recycling plant is only half the battle. The other half is reusing that plastic waste to create new products,” said James Dorman, program manger with the U.S. Department of Energy and former LSU Chemical Engineering professor. “Some estimates show as much as 95 percent of plastics in the U.S. ends up in landfills and incinerators. Our process…

Absolute Haitian To Sell, Service Niigata Machinery In US And Canada Customers will gain access to a broader range of horizontal and vertical presses and enhanced customer support, said the company. Niigata Machinery Co. Ltd. announced just before the Christmas holiday that it will transition sales and service of its injection molding machines in the United States and Canada to Absolute Haitian Corp., effective March 1, 2025. Niigata Machinery has been a subsidiary of Haitian International since March 1, 2023. The strategic move enhances product diversity, strengthens customer support, and aligns with the construction of state-of-the-art facilities in Japan to…

Plastics Firm PJW Upbeat On New Business Prospects Thailand’s growing demand for healthcare products and services is expected to lift revenue for plastic moulding operators, with SET-listed Panjawattana Plastics (PJW) aiming to scale up businesses to serve the healthcare industry. The company’s two new businesses — industrial laundry services and single-use plastics for medical purposes — are expected to increase the company’s total revenue by 15% in 2025. PJW wants the new businesses to generate one third of total revenue in the long term and help it achieve a total gross profit margin of 20-30%, Wiwat Hemmondharop, chairman of the…

Catalysts & Adsorbents: Accelerating The Circular Plastics Economy New ways of plastic recycling are at the heart of our EcoCircle platform. By pioneering innovative methods, EcoCircle is transforming the traditional linear plastics value chain into a dynamic circular economy, all while making a meaningful impact on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recycling plastic waste significantly supports quite several SDGs. First, SDG 12: ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. While avoiding plastics is ideal but often impractical, and mechanical recycling has its technical limitations, chemical recycling emerges as a crucial solution for achieving a more sustainable plastics economy. Reducing plastic…

This Water-Resistant Paper Could Revolutionize Packaging And Replace Plastic A groundbreaking study showcases the creation of sustainable hydrophobic paper, enhanced by cellulose nanofibres and peptides, presenting a biodegradable alternative to petroleum-based materials, with potential uses in packaging and biomedical devices. Researchers aimed to develop hydrophobic paper by leveraging the strength and water resistance of cellulose nanofibers, creating a sustainable, high-performance material suitable for packaging and biomedical applications. This innovative approach involved integrating short protein chains, known as peptide sequences, without chemically altering the cellulose nanofibers. The result is a potential alternative to petroleum-based materials, with significant environmental benefits. The study,…

Stretchable, Flexible, Recyclable – This Plastic Is Fantastic Princeton engineers have developed an easily scalable 3D printing technique to manufacture soft plastics with programmed stretchiness and flexibility that are also recyclable and inexpensive – qualities not typically combined in commercially manufactured materials. In an article in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, a team led by Emily Davidson reported that they used a class of widely available polymers called thermoplastic elastomers to create soft 3D printed structures with tunable stiffness. Engineers can design the print path used by the 3D printer to program the plastic’s physical properties so that a device…

Afroplast Exhibition to Showcase Plastics Industry Technologies in Cairo The “Afroplast” exhibition, an international trade fair for the plastics, rubber, and non-woven industries, will take place from 16 to 19 January 2025, at the Cairo International Conference and Exhibition Center in Nasr City. The event is under the patronage of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, and the Chemical and Fertilizers Export Council, with backing from the Chemical Industries Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries. The exhibition is expected to host over 300 exhibitors from 15 Arab and international countries. It will showcase a…

Easily Recyclable and Compostable – A New Plastic With Excellent Mechanical Stability A new polyester balances durability and biodegradability, decomposing rapidly in composting conditions. How can plastics be designed so that they maintain their useful properties while also being more easily recyclable? Chemist Stefan Mecking and his research group at the University of Konstanz are focused on studying eco-friendly solutions for plastics. In their recent paper in the international edition of Angewandte Chemie, the team introduces a new polyester that exhibits material properties that are suitable for industrial use and environmentally responsible. Normally Hardly Compatible Plastics are made of long…

Dutch Recycler Stiphout Plastics Files For Bankruptcy LyondellBasell had a 50% stake in the company Stiphout Plastics, a plastics recycler based in the Netherlands, filed for bankruptcy in mid-December 2024. The Montfort based mechanical recycler started operations in 2013 and, as of 2023, had a recycling capacity of 18,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year. The facility consisted of three recycling lines specialised in HDPE and PP household waste processing. It employed around 30 workers. Stiphout Plastics is one of six Dutch plastics recyclers to close doors in 2024. Low recyclate prices, pushed lower by cheap imports, drove the company…

Andrea Grandi is the New General Manager of the SACMI Group He succeeds Mauro Fenzi, whose tenure ended on 31st December 2024. A 49-year-old electronics engineer, Mr. Grandi has been with SACMI almost 25 years. During that time he has displayed outstanding technical and managerial skills, most notably in mechatronics and industrial automation Imola, 2nd January 2025 – On 1st January, Andrea Grandi took on the role of SACMI Group General Manager. He succeeds Mauro Fenzi, whose mandate ended on 31st December 2024. Andrea Grandi – a 49-year-old electronics engineer – joined SACMI in 2001. In a career spanning almost…