Serious About Sustainability? Make Plans to Attend Extrusion 2023

There isn’t a day that passes when my inbox isn’t full of press releases from companies talking about some aspect of sustainability. Some of these are from resin companies, others from additive suppliers, still others from the machinery/equipment side. And plenty from processors of all types.

I tell this story a lot, so feel free to hop to the next paragraph if it starts to sound familiar. During a trade show maybe 15 years ago, I had dinner with a sales and marketing executive with a prominent machinery supplier. He told me that more and more of his customers were talking about sustainability, asking about what his company was doing to make its machinery more efficient, more green. I kind of chuckled, remarked that “sustainability” was the industry’s latest shiny new toy, and in a few months’ time we’d be talking about something else entirely. He disagreed, saying “no, no, no, this is just the start.” We went back and forth a bit in a friendly bickering session. 

He was right, I was wrong. Dead wrong. Faced with deadlines imposed by governments, big box retailers, brand owners and OEMs, plastics processors are taking sustainability very seriously. And not just those in the single-use packaging market, but across almost every conceivable industry and application. 

In extrusion, sustainability can mean a lot of different things. In this very issue, we highlight an extruder of foam that touts its products and production methods as sustainable. Others in extrusion are making use of more production scrap; some are bringing in PCR. Still others are utilizing biomaterials as options to those based on fossil fuels. And yet still others are opting for machines that consume power more judiciously. 

In is with those trends in mind that we decided to adjust our annual Extrusion Conference to focus in its entirety on helping you make your operation more sustainable. Sustainable practices, processes and supply lines are fundamental to the ongoing success of extrusion, and presentations at Extrusion 2023, Oct. 10-12, in Indianapolis, will offer unprecedented access to new technology, processing techniques and best practices aimed at boosting efficiencies to help you meet demands for more sustainable products.

At Extrusion 2023, our intention is for all presentations to hone in on sustainability in a meaningful way. You’ll find sessions on recycling, scrap reclaim, biopolymers, energy efficiency and more. Allow me to share some specifics:

• The Drive Toward Recycled Content 

• Economics of In-Plant Recycling of Extruded Scrap for Improved Sustainability

• Advancing Sustainability in the Plastics Machinery Industry: Current Status, Trends and Actionable Steps

• Achieving Sustainability: Innovations in the Auxiliaries Market

• Great Mixing and Sustainability

• Extrusion PET for Recyclability and Post-Consumer Recycling Content Requirements

• Energy-Efficiency Considerations for Extrusion

• Waste Reduction Through Blending and Material Handling

• Twin-Screw Extruder System Design and Case Studies for PLA, PHA, and TPS

• Overcoming Common Challenges when Compounding Recycled Materials

• Bioresin Material Handling - Processes and Best Practices in Extrusion

• Increasing Value PCR through Compounding and Reactive Extrusion

• Recycling Plastics with the Twin-Screw Extruder — Challenges and Solutions for Mechanical, Chemical and Advanced Recycling

• The Benefits of Processing PHA with a Continuous Mixer

• AI Revolution: Combining AI and Engineering Knowledge for Rapid, Sustainable Product Development

• Predicting Size and Shape Changes in Extrusion of Noncircular Profiles

• Implementing Sustainable Polymers into the Tubing/Profile Extrusion Process

• Regrind Use for the Everyday Profile Extruder

• Case Study: Reuse of Side Trim and Changeover Scrap in Sheet Is Necessary for the Environment and Good for Business

• A Holistic Approach to Scrap Reduction in the Blown Film Process

• Managing Melt Temperature in a Twin-Screw Extruder for Bioplastic Formulations

This is just a taste of the program, as we have more than 50 presentations across two-and-a-half days. I’ve omitted speaker names here just to save space, but I’m confident that if you log on to extrusionconference.com and navigate to Agenda you will recognize the names as among the foremost thought leaders in extrusion. And while you are there, click on Register to sign up.

What’s the status of your sustainability toolbox? A little light? Let us help you fill it up.