Industry Trends

December 2022

See what has been happening in Asia’s plastics & rubber industries over the last weeks. What are experts and industry magazines talking about?

What has been happening?

The future of packaging, What plastics are recyclable, Smart plastic material eyed for next-generation soft robots and electronics, and more. Find out what plastic & rubber journals and industry experts have been discussing in the last four weeks.

Latest Plastics & Rubber Articles

Here's what the future of packaging looks like
Gulf Business

While the plastic industry struggles to close its circularity loop, there are other sustainable options available in the packaging industry. There are 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics in the world – 6.3 billion tonnes constitute trash. Plastic represents 44 per cent of global packaging consumption. Its production started in the 50s and has been exponentially growing for the past seven decades, under the motto “Plastic is Fantastic”. Yet, in 2020, there was a sudden change – plastic production started to go down…
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Kickstart: Let's be clear about what plastics are recyclable
Plastics News

Despite what you may have heard, plastics recycling is not dead. There are plenty of successful companies that recycle post-consumer and post-industrial plastics. I’ve been seeing a lot of news stories declaring that plastics recycling is a myth. They are the result of a Greenpeace report, released in October, “Circular Claims Fall Flat Again.” The reports cite low recycling rates and issues facing recyclers.
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Smart Plastic Material Eyed for Next-Gen Soft Robots, Electronics
PlasticsToday.com

Researchers have taken inspiration from living things such as trees and shellfish to create a new plastic material that is both flexible and strong, showing a toughness that’s 10 times more than that of natural rubber, they said.
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Toymaker Mattel secures biobased ABS
Biofuels Digest

In South Korea, LG Chem has supplied California toy company Mattel with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene based on vegetable feedstocks. LG Chem can produce about 2 million tons of transparent ABS annually, according to Aju Business Daily. The thermoplastic biopolymer is certified by ISCC PLUS, a program verifying biobased and circular raw materials. LG Chem says the biobased ABS results in far less carbon emissions compared to fossil-based ABS.
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Mars switching from plastic to paper in Australia for certain candy bars
Plastics News

Mars Inc., the company behind many iconic candy brands, is switching to paper-based packaging for three of the company’s well-known chocolate bars in Australia and New Zealand. While the decision move only transitions about 396 tons (360 tonnes) of packaging from plastics to paper starting in April, the move is receiving significant attention as the company is vowing to continue seeking change.
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#TECH: Sony to begin plastic packaging phase-out next year
NST Online

From April, plastic packaging will not be used for some new products weighing one kilogram (2.2 pounds) or less.
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Technique Prints Flexible Circuits on Curved Surfaces, From Contact Lenses to Latex Gloves
NC State University

Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new technique for directly printing electronic circuits onto curved and corrugated surfaces. The work paves the way for a variety of new soft electronic technologies, and researchers have used the technique to create prototype “smart” contact lenses, pressure-sensitive latex gloves, and transparent electrodes.
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Engineering Plastics Are Becoming Sustainable, Attaining Circularity
PlasticsToday.com

Renewable and recycled engineering plastics with mechanical performance as good as fossil-based polymers are now real. But they may represent only a drop in the ocean of global plastic waste.
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Plastics by the Numbers
PlasticsToday.com

Plastic market reports for PHA, injection-molded plastics, monomaterial packaging, chemical recycling, blow-molded plastic bottles,and more are featured in this slideshow.
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Cast Polyurethane Is on a Roll

Covestro Thailand

Covestro recently started production of naphthalene diisocyanate (NDI) for synthesized Vulkollan polyurethane (PU) elastomer at its Map Ta Phut site in Thailand. The investment is part of several investments the company has poured into cast polyurethane raw materials, for example at its Spanish site near Barcelona and at its site in Caojing, near Shanghai, in China.

 

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Vietnam's Hoa Phat produces high-carbon steel for car tire production
Steel Orbis

Vietnam-based steelmaker Hoa Phat has announced that it has produced high-carbo steel at Hoa Phat Dung Quat to be used in the production of car tires. Right after successfully producing the new products, the company received orders for over 3,000 mt per month from its partners.
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It’s Cheaper to Manufacture Plastic Products in Ohio than in China, Report Claims

Plastics Today

The long-held belief that it is cheaper to import plastic products than to make them domestically is no longer true, according to Shale Crescent USA. “Close proximity to low-cost raw materials coupled with direct access to consumer markets provide US manufacturers with significant cost advantages over China-based competitors.”

 

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Thailand Is the New Front in the Global Plastic War
Bloomberg

For decades, the plastic industry has promoted recycling as an effective solution to dealing with used packaging. The reality is only 9% of plastic trash is recycled, and when it is, things get complicated. Melting or burning plastic releases noxious fumes — and in Thailand, where much of the world’s trash ends up, residents are fighting back. It’s a new front on the global war on plastic.
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Malaysia’s natural rubber output down 5.9pc in September
The Malay Mail Online | All

Malaysia’s natural rubber (NR) production decreased by 5.9 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) in September 2022 to 35,460 tonnes. The Department of Statistics Malaysia said that on a year-on-year basis, the output fell by 13.9 per cent. The smallholders sector was the main contributor to production at 87.9 per cent while the estates sector contributed 12.1 per cent, it said in a statement today. Total NR stockpile shrank by 5.
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Rubber market sees gradual decline in prices

Global New Light Of Myanmar

The price of rubber is sinking to around K1,200 per pound, according to the rubber market in Mon State. Global demand for rubber, rubber production of the Southeast Asian nations and the market supply are contributing factors to the rubber price condition of Myanmar. The rubber price in Mon State, a major rubber production state in Myanmar, is positively related to those factors as well, the traders elaborated.

 

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Laws proposed to regulate electric vehicle chargers in Singapore, require operators to be licensed
Straits Times

New buildings and those undergoing substantial renovation will have to install a minimum number of electric vehicle (EV) charging points, which is the equivalent of about one in every 25 parking spaces, and put in sufficient power supply to support more chargers in the future. These were among the features of the Electric Vehicles Charging Bill, which will give the Land Transport Authority (LTA) powers to regulate EV chargers used in Singapore, impose a licensing regime on EV charging operators, and require EV chargers to be provided in buildings.
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Using AI for tire inspection, Packaging suppliers convene to talk PCR and recyclability, Material suppliers find alternative markets amid softening auto demand, and more. Find out what plastic & rubber journals and industry experts have been discussing in the last four weeks.

Plastics & Rubber Trends – October 2024

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The road to net zero: Powering sustainability in tyre manufacturing, Scientists develop novel method for strengthening PVC products, Tyre factory with zero carbon dioxide emissions, and more. Find out what plastic & rubber journals and industry experts have been discussing in the last four weeks.

Plastics & Rubber Trends – September 2024

Plastics & Rubber Trends – September 2024

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‘Eco-Friendly’ foaming agent masterbatch, Masterbatch bossts sustainability and recyclability, Chemical recycling studies for end-of-life tires, and more. Find out what plastic & rubber journals and industry experts have been discussing in the last four weeks.

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