The days of disposable plastic products are numbered – alternatives are needed. The success of LastObject’s reusable cotton swabs shows that the market is ready for change. The company’s basic and beauty cotton swabs are both made of high-quality materials. To meet all requirements, the tip is made of THERMOLAST® M, a compound from KRAIBURG TPE that is often used for applications in the health sector.

Every day, 1.5 billion cotton swabs are produced worldwide, each to be used only once. And that’s where LastObject’s mission begins: the Danish company aims to promote the “zero waste” movement to make sure that the next generations will also have a clean and healthy world to grow up in. As the first step, this successful Kickstarter project is supplying reusable, hygienic and reliable alternatives to single-use items we use on a daily basis – with great success, they already sold more than 500,000 LastSwabs to happy customers all over the world. LastObject is thus responding successfully to EU Directive 2019/904, which bans single-use plastic products and will be coming into effect from mid-2021.
The basic requirements for their reusable cotton swab, LastSwab, are durability and quick and easy cleaning. Close attention was given to these qualities during the development process. According to the manufacturer, each individual product is designed for up to 1,000 uses. Another requirement was for the product to be skin safe and not cause any irritation when in repeated contact with the skin. It goes without saying that it meets this standard.
In Denmark, KRAIBURG TPE is collaborating closely with Teknisk Agentur, a trusted local distribution partner. The choice of material for the flexible, soft tip was a compound from the THERMOLAST® M series. This compound was also superior to its competitors in relation to processing options, adhesion and look and has the following properties:

• Hardness: approx. 40 Shore A
• Tensile strength: 8.0 MPA
• Elongation at break: 800%
• Tear resistance: 11.5 N/mm

The compound provides adhesion to polypropylene and polyethylene, high abrasion resistance, weldability and freedom from animal ingredients. It is processed using injection molding and extrusion. The rigid stick is made of polypropylene. The case is made of recycled ocean waste plastic (OWP) from the Danish company Zeaplast who collects plastic from the ocean and rivers in southeast Asia and recycles it. The entire product is molded by AMP, a well-known Danish injection molder.
And LastObject is doing more than just following a trend: The product effectively and measurably helps to save raw materials and waste, while reducing the carbon footprint. “It wasn’t only KRAIBURG TPE’s material that helped us implement the project. The entire process was very straightforward – all the way from identifying the product through to the service. KRAIBURG TPE, Teknisk Agentur, their Danish materials distributor, and the injection molder AMP are reliable partners who are helping us make the future more sustainable,” says Nicolas Aagaard, Co-founder at LastObject.
https://www.kraiburg-tpe.com/

• MobiPOWER – a concept co-created by ZMP, B&Plus and BASF
• BASF’s Creation Center supports the design of a reliable, durable, and safe charging solution

ZMP, B&Plus and BASF have created MobiPOWER, a conceptual autonomous wireless charger, to meet the growing demand for charging infrastructure solutions.

“Over 75 billion connected devices – such as phones and electric vehicles – will need charging by 2025. MobiPOWER enables us to meet this market demand, with a convenient charging solution that is robust enough to house sophisticated components and sensors combining 5G, IoT and AI capabilities, as well as durable enough for the outdoors,” said Dr. Hisashi Taniguchi, Founder & CEO, ZMP Inc. “BASF expanded my creativity and the possibility of our robots.”
Besides the technical challenges of autonomous charging solutions, MobiPOWER’s wireless charging concept also required more advanced material considerations and design support by BASF’s Creation Center to enable more reliable and highest safety standards charging.
“There are multiple considerations that go with wireless charging,” said Atsushi Kameda, President & CEO, B & Plus. “By combining our technology and expertise, we are creating a new future.”
Driving new applications by exploring co-development opportunities
BASF’s broad portfolio of advanced material solutions have been used in the creation of MobiPOWER.
Ultradur PBT and Ultramid PA are best-in-class materials to be applied for MobiPOWER’s radar housing, lidars, protective films and other electrical devices.

• Ultradur used in the wireless charger enables more reliable and highest safety standards charging, owing to its high mechanical and chemical resistance, good weatherability, EMI shielding, and heat insulation.
• Ultradur used in radar housing provides dimensional stability, low warpage, and heat resistance. It is also laser weldable with excellent mechanical properties. As for the lidar, BASF’s material solutions provide good mechanical properties, flowability, high rigidity, and impact strength.
• Ultramid and Ultradur in the body housing provide good surface finish, better scratch, chemical resistance, and colorability. BASF’s Ultramid Advanced N for MobiPOWER’s LED lighting offers good surface finish and aging performance, as well as low moisture absorption. The innovative material solution enables freedom of design as it is moldable and is easy to process and color.

The paint protection film made of Elastollan® thermoplastic polyurethane provides good hydrolysis resistance, excellent weatherability with anti-abrasion performance properties, and scratch resistance behavior. Its properties can be further optimized to enhance their durability, insulation, and chemical resistance.
Partnership to create value for businesses, the environment, and society
“Through this co-creation, we once again demonstrate the potential of BASF’s material solutions and competencies in supporting customers to overcome emerging challenges for demanding applications,” said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF. “Further, the co-creation helps demonstrate our ability to empower greater sustainability with energy efficiency and long-lasting material solutions that improve the shelf life of end products.”
The charger made of high-performance plastics instead of metal is lighter in weight, hence, consuming less energy. It enables the charger’s energy-efficient operation.
https://www.basf.com/

As part of its mission to tackle plastic pollution in the marine environment, The Ocean Cleanup project plans to sell goods made from the waste it recovers to fund its ongoing operations, and has just unveiled its very first product. Each pair of Ocean Cleanup sunglasses are made with plastics hauled in from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and are designed to be easily recycled themselves once they reach the end of their life.

After years of development and testing, the Ocean Cleanup Project finally set sail for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch towards the end of 2018, looking to use its giant floating booms to passively gather plastic waste in the area. Its first batch was hauled back to shore at the end of 2019, with the team then calling an end to a successful first mission.
The waste it collected throughout that mission has now been sorted, washed and compounded into certified high-quality plastic, which was used to build sunglass frames. These are paired with polarized lenses and stainless steel hinges, with the parts designed to be easily disassembled and recycled again at the end of their life. The glasses also come with a case made from recycled components of the first trash-catching system, and a pouch made from recycled PET bottles.
Using proceeds from the sales of these sunglasses, The Ocean Cleanup plans to fund its forthcoming missions to clean plastic waste from the marine environment. The group estimates that each pair sold will enable it to clean up an area spanning 24 football fields from the garbage patch, and if it sells every pair made from this first batch of recovered plastic, it will be able to clean 500,000 football fields worth of plastic.
That sure does sound impressive but somewhere between 5 and 12 million metric tons of plastic flow into the ocean each year, with that rate expected to triple in the next two decades, which equates to a whole lot of sunglasses. The Ocean Cleanup team will of course be very aware of this, but as a manifestation of its efforts so far and an example of a “circular” economy for plastics, its new eco-friendly eyewear isn’t a bad place to start.
 
https://newatlas.com
 
 

A custom-formulated thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) from Teknor Apex Company has helped China’s ANTA Sports Products Limited to develop a running shoe that exhibits outstanding rebound resilience, enabling wearers to run for longer distances.

One of the world’s largest sportswear companies, ANTA collaborated with Teknor Apex to develop a high-dampening material for the midsole of a new line of running shoes. The midsole is a thick layer between the insole and outsole that is typically composed of a soft cushioning material. For its new running shoe, they collaborated to draw upon technology from outside the footwear industry to develop a midsole construction incorporating Monprene TPE. The companies carried out 40,000 running impact tests to identify the optimum solution that delivered the best rebound performance over extended periods of time.
The key property for this performance is rebound resilience, a measure of the energy returned to the runner in comparison with the energy applied for deformation of the midsole upon the impact with each of the runner’s strides. While standard midsoles on the market achieve 50% rebound, according to ANTA, this new midsole achieves a rebound of 70%. The reserved energy is transformed into running power, enabling the runner to go for longer distances.
“The collaboration between ANTA and Teknor Apex challenges conventional thought about running shoes by focusing on the resilience of the midsole, not just its cushioning property,” said Serene Cheng Sook Ee, Business Director for Teknor Apex’s Thermoplastic Elastomer Division. “The customized Monprene solution adds more spring back into each stride of the running shoe, and it also provides added comfort in ANTA leisure shoes.”
According to Teknor Apex, the customized Monprene is a 60 Shore A TPE that provides wrinkle-resistance, low compression set, tear resistance, and kink resistance. It exhibits excellent elasticity and remains flexible at low temperatures.
http://ir.anta.com / www.teknorapex.com

A better alternative to disposables for non-medical situations 
Aquila offer the benefits of low-cost hand protection in their NR3006 nylon gloves with nitrile coated palms, which may be frequently cleaned in use, and laundered between wearings. They provide a robust and comfortable, longer life alternative to disposable gloves for many general non-medical situations. Their light weight nylon liner allows the hand to breath and reduces fatigue while the flexible nitrile palms enable good grip and dexterity with chemical and abrasion resistance for a wide range of handling and personal interaction tasks.
Wearing gloves means no hand touching to reduce infection risks and reduced personal skin problems from frequent hand washing, plus the breathable qualities of the coating make them more comfortable than completely sealed disposables such as Nitrile, Vinyl or latex gloves. NR3006 gloves offer flexibility, with puncture and tear resistance in a light weight glove which is comfortable to wear for extended periods and permits sufficient sensitivity to serve in many cases as a cost and environment saving alternative to using many pairs of disposables.
The Aquila range of coated gloves includes different dips and finishes, such as latex, nitrile, sand – by dipping the whole glove or just the fingers and palm to achieve a balance between grip, protection, dexterity and all-day comfort.

AMI Consulting has published its authoritative report mapping the global Single Serve Capsules industry. The report aims to support the development of robust participation strategies by equipping industry players and investors with a comprehensive understanding of scale of potential for future development, growth dynamics per system, market drivers and competitive pressures.
All compatible capsules (both plastic and Aluminium variants) accounted for over a third the single serve capsules market worldwide in 2020, a staggering increase of over 9 billion units in comparison with 2018. There is a clear trend towards rationalisation of systems, with a clear focus on Nespresso and Dolce Gusto in Europe and K-cup in the US. Those 3 systems account for 81% of the global market.
Smaller systems may still offer reasonable returns but have limited growth potential beyond home markets. To this end, virtually all proprietary systems fillers have now diversified their brand presence to accommodate Nespresso and Dolce Gusto compatible variants, either in-house or via contract-packing agreements.
Nespresso system is the biggest global capsules platform. In 2020, the production of original Nespresso (including VertuoLine and Starbucks Nespresso) was almost matched with the magnitude of Nespresso compatibles. This compatible system was the main contributor to growth, most via Aluminium packaged variants. Its original platform is struggling to sustain its previous dynamics. The deal with Starbucks, whereby Nestlé now fills and markets Starbucks branded Nespresso capsules, opened the door for global mainstream retail rollout platform to mitigate the risks.
The compatibles’ need for differentiation resulted in capsule material and barrier specification adjustments, impacting positioning. The (Nespresso) market is now in the process of dramatic transition from plastic to Aluminium. As a result, the industry has been gearing up to accommodate the change, both on the filling side – with investment in Aluminium filling lines and retrofits; and on the empty capsule supply side, whereby compatibles suppliers are having to diversify their portfolio to include Aluminium. There are very high barriers to entry with Aluminium, so the competitive context has been intense, and the ‘Aluminium game’ will determine new winners and losers.

Nespresso has put all the efforts in establishing the collection and recycling infrastructure for its used capsules. Following its open invitation in March 2019 to join in forces in its recycling scheme. Further milestone announced by them is an increase in material circularity with using 80% recycled Aluminium content.
Meanwhile, innovation in plastic capsules focuses on recycling-ready PP solutions, including polyolefin based lidding film. Provided that other materials in the multilayer structure do not exceed 5%, used capsules can in theory be recyclable in the PP stream.
 
In parallel, bio-resins have developed a meaningful presence in the value chain. Albeit their penetration is still small considering global volumes, the current market context is attractive and facilitating further developments.
 
www.ami.international