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Canadian Plastics -
February 2010
Features
The annus horribilus of 2009 may finally be gone, but it's definitely not forgotten -- least of all by a hard-hit plastics industry. Our latest Injection Molders' Benchmark Survey offers a backwards glance at some of the damage done, as well as a look ahead, hopefully to brighter days. Markets served, buying intentions, investment policies -- it's all here. Let's turn over the cards.
Today, better health care equals more patients receiving invasive surgical treatment equals increasing demand for flexible tubing products. But if you're an extruder looking to move into the medical tubing market, there's more to the equation than this. Higher levels of accuracy and ever-tighter tolerances make for more chances to fail. The right formula for success? Improving process performance and reducing variability with high precision equipment.
Actually, it's far from a game -- it's a serious opportunity to cash in on the "green" movement. For entrepreneurs, post-consumer plastics can be gathered, cleaned and sold for profit on the open market. Plastics processors who use post-industrial scrap, meanwhile, can enhance product appeal by having a "Made with recycled materials" label slapped on their goods. However they do it, it's being done now more than ever. Here's an inside look.
Plastics can't go "green" without a lot of help from biodegradable polymers -- in particular, polylactic acid (PLA). But will nagging concerns about PLA's toughness, melt strength and heat resistance keep it out of the spotlight as a replacement for petroleum-based resins? Not if additive suppliers can help it. Find out about the latest efforts to transform PLA from processing pushover into tough guy on the block.
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