Page 10 - Plastics News October 2016

FROM THE EDITOR's PEN

Raining October Ajay Desai

This October has been meant special not only for having the K show but we have two of the
manufacturers bagging awards this month.

For many decades now, K has been and still is the largest international trade fair for plastics and
rubber. Taking place once every three years, it is the preferred place for the leading raw material
producers, semi-finished product suppliers and machinery manufacturers to offer an overview
of the latest technical developments, procedures and techniques, as well as future trends. By
the time you would be reading this all of us would be at the trade fair during 19-26 October.
The fact that 218,000 trade visitors from over 120 countries expressed their full satisfaction
at the last staging of K in 2013 is perhaps the factor the guarantees the future success for all
those involved in the industry. We at AIPMA will be present in all strength of over 200 delegates
at the K 2016 and hope this trade fair enlighten our fellow members equally.

Raining Awards

While Covestro has bagged green award for using carbon dioxide in the production of plastics,
Profile Plastics Inc. was the big winner at the parts competition at the Society of Plastics
Engineers’ Thermoforming Conference, picking up two awards for heavy-gauge parts and the
People’s Choice Award.

Covestro, Materials manufacturer, has won the green award for using carbon dioxide in the
production of plastics Covestro has been recognized by the European Chemical Industry Council
(CEFIC) for its successful use of carbon dioxide in plastics production. The company received
the CEFIC’s Responsible Care Award in the Environment category at an award ceremony recently
this month in Florence on October 7. Research at the CAT Catalytic Center, funded by the two
partners Aachen University and Covestro, saw CO2 used as a building block for polyols which,
with polyisocyanates, are polyurethane foam feedstocks. The partners developed a catalytic
process enabling CO2 to react with propylene oxide.

Whereas a housing for a surgical waste management system used in hospital operating rooms
netted Profile Plastics the gold in the heavy-gauge pressure formed category, plus the People’s
Choice, which is voted on by conference attendees. Profile Plastics’s this new model of waste
system hit the market in Illinois earlier this year. Profile Plastics made one big manufacturing
change and that was using negative pressure forming tools instead of the positive vacuum forming
tools resulting in improved cosmetic appearance, fewer parts, faster assembly and lower cost.
This proved to be more economical cost-wise and also a nice appearance like an injection
molded part. In short the whole concept by going from vacuum forming to pressure forming.

Most of us would agree that such innovations and also its recognition shows we are on the right
track .Be it using carbon dioxide as an alternative raw material or implementing the change
from vacuum forming to pressure forming instead and playing a pioneering role in such focused
development for the future generation.

Wishing all our readers Happy Diwali and A Prosperous New Year !!

Hon.Editor
Ajay Desai

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