Molds that can change configuration, automated tape laying and winding, robotic sprayup, and faster prepreg molding processes highlighted the focus on productivity at the international composites show in Paris. RTM innovations round out this news report.
Prices of PP, PVC, and PET moved up last month and new price hikes were under way for PE, PP, PS, PVC, and PET. PE prices up 3¢Polyethylene prices moved up 3¢/lb in March, bringing the total increase this year to 6¢/lb.
Recycling news from the Society of Plastics Engineers’ Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC) in Orlando, Fla., in March focused on PET, nylon, and waste plastics in electronics—in other words, mainly on higher value engineered resins rather than commodities.Carpet recycling claimed two of the show’s big environmental awards.
Medical tubes are becoming ever smaller and thinner while adding new features like high-tech material combinations, more wire braiding/wrapping, and heat-shrink sheathing for strength and kink resistance.
Polyolefins, PET, and PVC were on the way up last month, as resin suppliers sought to recover margins shrunken by lackluster demand and higher feedstock costs.
Plastics made from renewable carbon chains, not fossil carbon from oil or gas, are suddenly a solid commercial reality. The draw isn’t just “green” marketing, but the “green” of stable prices not linked to petrochemicals.