October 2020

The annual report from the Flexible Packaging Association notes that flexible packaging represents approximately 19% of the $177-billion US packaging industry.

PlasticsToday.com

Traditionally, plastic injection molding is a difficult application for machine vision. The highly reflective surfaces of molded plastics is hard to illuminate correctly, and the fact that the same production line can create items of different colors and shapes is problematic for traditional solutions, only capable of inspecting one product at a time.

Plastics Technology

A new report from MakerBot, a subsidiary of Stratasys, says that nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents are planning to invest in 3D printing technology in 2021, with 50% planning to spend up to $100,000. The report includes over 1,200 responses from professionals across multiple industries, including aerospace, industrial goods, military & defense, medical, and automotive.

The plastic-like casing is edible and biodegradable within six weeks, compared to several hundred years for synthetic plastics. Single-use plastics account for more than half of the 300 million tons of plastic made every year.

An alternative to carbon black in challenging applications. Nigrosine is an oil-soluble bluish black dye obtained as the free base by heating aniline and aniline hydrochloride and nitrobenzene or nitrophenol in the presence of iron and used chiefly in coloring waxes, shoe polish, lacquers and wood stains.

ALPLA Group introduces the world’s first carbon-neutral recycled PET production using green electricity and offsetting unavoidable emissions with carbon certificates.

Key attributes for molders to evaluate and brands to know when considering adding recycled PET to your packaging.

Microplastics are a growing concern for the textile industry, compounding the complexities of the broader sustainability discussion.

Hyundai has begun construction of its new innovation centre in Singapore, which will act both as an open innovation lab for the company’s future mobility research and development as well a manufacturing plant for electric vehicles (EVs).

Paul Tan’s Automotive News

The Thailand government’s push for electric vehicles continues, as the country’s ministry of industry is looking to reduce the prices of EVs to bring them closer to cars with conventional internal combustion engines (ICEs). It aims to achieve this by reducing the import duty on automotive parts used to assemble EVs in Thailand, reports Bangkok Post.

Paul Tan’s Automotive News

Indonesia says that it is in early talks with Tesla about a potential investment by the electric car maker in the ASEAN country. This is according to Ayodhia Kalake, a senior official at the republic’s coordinating ministry for maritime and investment, reported by Reuters.