Page 68 - Plastics News Issue March 2024

IN THE NEWS

by 2027. Employing a multi-pronged products saw a significant growth and Africa, in a pioneering move, Plex-
strategy to boost exports, we are of 139.1% in December 2023. This concil led a delegation to RUPLAS-
focusing on existing markets and ex- growth was primarily due to higher TICA, Moscow, Russia at the end of
ploring opportunities in Latin Ameri- sales of tableware and kitchenware of January 2024 to explore a market that
can countries, the Commonwealth of plastics; wallets, purses and similar ar- imports plastics worth USD 14 billion
Independent States (CIS), and Africa. ticles; safety headgear and sunglasses. each year. Despite our limited re-
" In December 2023, the Indian export "The primary purchasers of Indian gional presence, we see opportunities
landscape witnessed diverse trends plastic products are the US, Europe, even in turmoil," Sribash Dasmohapa-
across various product categories. and the UAE. However, recognizing tra, Executive Director of Plexconcil,
Exports of Consumer & houseware the potential in Latin America, CIS, said in statement.

Time for Change: Lasers in the Plastic Industry

• Laser Micro-Machining plastics. ‘With the right setup and la-
• Surface Stripping ser parameters a cut edge with little
• Surface Texturing or no discolouration can be achieved
on most plastics, and on plastic mate-
Probably the most popular and widely rial thicknesses of up to 25mm. With
used of these technologies is Laser less dense materials thicker sections
Marking – where laser systems with can also be cut’, states Lee Popplewell
different wavelengths can be used to of Luxinar - a UK-based company
Christopher Ogden, founder of Laser mark almost all plastic materials. Fast specialising in CO2 laser technology,
Partners UK Limited, based in Shef- marking times of just a few seconds based in Hull.
field, explores the plastic industry’s are achieved for most basic marking
hesitancy to introduce laser technol- applications. Companies typically use CO2 laser technology creates a long
ogy and why it could be something to laser marking systems to mark com- wavelength of 10.6µm, by electri-
consider. pany logos, part numbers, date codes, cally charging gas contained within a
Growth in Industrial Laser Uptake serial numbers and machine-readable sealed tube. Mirrors and lenses al-
low the system to build up sufficient
The uptake of industrial laser process- codes such as 1D barcodes and 2D power that can then be focused to
ing since its inception into the main- barcodes such as QR and DataMatrix. perform different tasks. The longer
stream industry in the 1970s has been ‘The wide range of plastic materials CO2 laser wavelength means that it
nothing short of phenomenal, with and their different colour additives is readily absorbed by most polymers.
$5.7BN worth of lasers sold in 2018 and glass fibre content can make it Acrylic is one material where a neat,
and a prediction that this will increase difficult to mark some materials with almost polished edge quality, is gen-
to $14.5BN by 2026. a high contrast mark. But by using erally achieved, and many other ma-
So, what can laser technology offer the right laser technology, almost all terials will also give excellent results.
the plastics industry? In summary, of these can be marked with a really With laser de-gating, the simple appli-
quite a lot. good quality mark - whether the plas- cation of laser cutting eliminates the
Here’s a brief list of the laser process tic is dark, light or colourless,’ stat- need for mechanical cutting blades,
ed Masahide Okano from laser sys-
options available today: tem supplier Datalogic. that eventually wear and require
• Laser Marking Laser Plastic Cutting and De-gat- scheduled maintenance. As with many
laser processes, there is no mechani-
• Laser Plastic Welding ing cal load resulting from the laser beam,
• Laser De-Gating Most people are aware of laser cut- so parts don’t need to be clamped in
• Laser Cleaning ting for steel-based applications, but position for laser processing.
• Laser Cutting using longer wavelength CO2 lasers Laser Mould Tool Repair
• Laser Drilling also gives good results on thermo- Laser welding is used for the repair

70 PLASTICS NEWS March 2024