Materials
Recycled PET/PE Alloys Show Promise In Monofilament, Pallets, Pipe
Alloys of polyethylene and recycled PET were the highlight of the annual SPE Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC) in Detroit in February.
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Lightweight TP Composite Takes the Driver's Seat
A lightweight version of Azdel glass-reinforced polypropylene sheet is gaining ground in a host of new automotive applications.
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They've Been Working on the Railroad
Composite RR ties could finally be on their way to becoming the next big thing in plastic lumber. They are attracting interest from makers of marine pilings, another category of structural wood replacements.
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Automotive Innovation Trend-Setting Technologies Garner SPE Awards
Paintless in-mold film decorating and carbon-fiber composites are making inroads in appearance and structural parts. Blow molding is finding new interior applications. And long-fiber thermoplastics are cutting weight and cost on the inside and outside of new passenger vehicles.
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Disposable Packaging Goes 'Natural'
A compostable "natural" composite developed by EarthShell Corp. is likely to have a broad impact on disposable packaging markets, company sources say.
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Additive Masterbatches Make Polyolefins Degrade
Two masterbatch suppliers claim to have found effective ways to make polyethylene and polypropylene products degrade like paper or wood while remaining cost-competitive with conventional LDPE or PP.
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PVDF Latex Foam CompositesProvide High Flame Resistance
A new patent-pending technology developed by AtoFina Chemicals in Philadelphia creates highly flame-resistant foams of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fluoropolymer without the use of blowing agents or melt processing.
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Long-Glass PP Makes InroadsIn Automotive Front Ends
Injection molded, long-glass-reinforced polypropylene appears to be the staple of new automotive front-end systems (FES) designed with a high degree of parts integration.
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Long-Glass Leader-How Faurecia Helped Put TP Composites In the Driver's Seat
Europe's third largest automotive molder, Faurecia, uses five different long-glass thermoplastic molding processes, more than any other molder in the world. It invented half of them, including the world's first in-line compounding- and-injection process.
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Low-Cost Process Makes Crosslinked PE Foam
A new way to make closed-cell, crosslinked polyolefin foam buns uses far less expensive equipment and less energy than conventional processes.
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