Page 55 - Plastics News July 2026

FEATURE NEWS

ment and machinery. Today’s premium motors, ing. And an especially notable example of how
such as those that use synchronous reluctance these technologies combine to contribute to
(SynRM) technology, offer unparalleled levels of sustainability is in the extrusion process.
performance, energy efficiency, and reliability Making plastic production more sustainable
for the various applications used in plastic pro- The mission to make plastic production more
duction both as quadric and constant torque.
sustainable is making promising progress, with
Pairing motors with variable speed drives brings exciting advances from mechanical recycling
next-level results. Direct online motors can only and scrap-free machinery, through to the crea-
be on or off, and will run at a fixed speed, re- tion of bioplastics from vegetables and pioneer-
gardless of the process requirements. Con- ing chemical recycling.
versely, when motors are combined with drives
like ACS580 general purpose drives, they have While these new approaches are a giant leap
the ability to control and regulate the speed, towards reducing our reliance on single-use
torque, and position of the motor shaft accu- plastics and curbing the pollution of our planet,
rately. Eventually, this allows for synchronisation
with the motion of other equipment and motor
shafts. By enabling such precision control, VSDs
can significantly cut energy usage and its as-
sociated carbon emissions, as well as reduce
costs.
Adding PLCs, such as the AC500 - a digital
computer that executes actions via user-de-
signed logic programs - can automate a broad
variety of industrial processes and machinery
for further productivity gains and cost savings.
Furthermore, the sensors incorporated in the
motor-drive system can gather and evaluate the industrial processes involved can, paradoxi-
data to pinpoint production process inefficien- cally, contribute to environmental problems.
cies. This enables continuous enhancement and
decreased resource usage, supporting circular To mitigate these negative consequences, it is
economy objectives with the optimal machine vital that plastic product manufacturers of all
productivity ratio. varieties invest in energy-efficient technologies
to perform their operations. Only then can this
Whether applied to flat dye cast machinery,
blown film lines, or injection moulding, these revolutionary, yet environmentally challenging
game-changing technologies are pivotal to ad- material live a truly sustainable life.
vancing sustainability in plastics manufactur- Source sustainable plastics ABB; FAUSTO BELOTTI

July 2026 PLASTICS NEWS 59