Marketing

On March 21 this year Solvay celebrated the official opening of its new Research, Development and Technology Centre (RD&T) at Solvay Specialty Polymers in Bollate (close to Milan, Italy), where the company has the head offices that control its global operations employing a staff of 450. The ribbon was cut by Bollate’s Mayor, Stefania Clara…

Plants manufactured by the Italian company Saip Equipment will be sold in the United States and Canada by Foam Supplies, Inc. (FSI), one of the most important distributor of polyurethane systems in North America. The partnership will allow the two companies to provide complete turnkey production solutions to...

With the new TRK/C 2500, joining the TRK/C 2000 and TRK/D 2000 models, Sica has extended its range of planetary saws for large-diameter, thick-wall HDPE pipes for pressurized fluid transport. The machine has been especially designed for in-line cutting of polyethylene pipe with diameters ranging from 710 to 2540 mm, with no chips or...

On March 11, Coim, the Italian polyurethane producer operating on the global market, announced it will break ground to expand its capacity of aliphatic and aromatic polyester polyols in Offanengo, near Cremona, Italy. The investment is expected to be completed by September 2015 and will increase the facility capacity by...

The Plasmec High Temperature Bonding System (HTBS) project is the result of a request, by a leading company in the industrial surface treatments industry that specialises in the creation of non-stick and anti-wear coatings, to develop a small-scale plant capable of creating a special bonding cycle to produce a new type of fluoropolymer...

A record number of exhibitors (over 1,200) and visitors (over 32,000) from 88 countries has definitely settled JEC Europe (Paris, March 11-13) to be the first event for composites worldwide, covering the whole value chain and every application sector. Moreover, the event increased its surface area to 54,400 sqm...

This year, once again plastics played a key role in winter sports and as the season came to an end a key role in the most prestigious event of them all - the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Polymers played a part in all 92 events and were decisive in many cases. From alpine skiing to the biathlon and luge, athletes and...

On March 13, the Sheraton Milan Malpensa provided the venue for the fourth Polymer Insights conference, an annual event organised by ChemOrbis Italia. Over 70 participants from Italy and other countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey) listened to the various reports...

On 10 March, the European Parliament Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Commission approved a directive aimed at reducing consumption of disposable plastic bags. The directive had been proposed on 4 November 2013. This provision introduces a number of interesting developments for the compostable...

Developed by SB Plastics Machinery, the Moby IR and vacuum technology can decontaminate recycled PET, making it suitable, once again, for use in contact with foodstuffs. This is what was shown by formal tests, performed for the purpose, by Fraunhofer-Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung...

According to the 2013 balance sheet developed by Assocomaplast (the Italian plastics and rubber processing machinery and moulds manufacturers’ association) - also on the base of Istat data related to the foreign trade - the recovery in the exports, which gained momentum particularly in the last quarter of 2013...

Since 2008, Arburg bestows this award each year to a company for outstanding activities in the field of energy efficiency. Officially presented on March 18, the winner for 2014 is Festo, global supplier of technology for automation. The company has won the award for the conception of its new plastic parts production...

On 6 and 7 March, BFM opened the doors to its Solbiate Olona (near Varese, Italy) facility to feature an 8-colour Marte flexographic printing machine and a BF 106 HS 800 automatic bagmaking machine. The flexographic printing machines features gearless technology with a temperature-controlled, dimensionally...

The competition for The Worshipful Company of Horners prestigious Bottlemakers Award in conjunction with the British Plastics Federation (BPF), is now declared open and entries must be received by the deadline of July 25, 2014. Entries for this award must be a plastic bottle, jar or hollow container, made by any...

The innovative thermoplastic composite Xecarb 17 C30, which is being introduced at JEC Europe Composites (Paris, March 11-13, 2014) from the Italian company Xenia, is based on the thermoplastic elastomer Pebax, from the chemical company Arkema, reinforced with carbon fibres frequently used in aeronautics. The goal was...

One assembly machine, able to process closures having very different dimensions. Flexibility, reliability and high speed are the key words featuring the latest solution from Gefit. This “lining machine” recently developed by the Italian company presents many innovations, that will certainly draw the attention of all...

According to the information and statistics recently published by the trade association Abiplast regarding the trend in the Brazilian processing industry, 2013 ended on a positive note with production, foreign trade and investments all recording positive figures. Expectations are thus high for 2014. However...

Following the prestigious award for Technological Innovation in North America received by the Flexographic Technical Association in 2013 for its revolutionary flexographic printing system applied to the new and completely servo-driven Servocup printer, Omso has hit the bull’s-eye again in the field of dry-offset printing, and...

A paradigm for the reliability of Italian technology and of the made in Italy, a Dolci extruder is still in full operation after 44 years of service with the British company Luxus. As explained by the company’s Chief Operating Office, Ian Pigot, it is a 35-mm single-screw extruder that was put into operation in the Louth production facility in…

Understanding and modelling the environmental impact of manufactured products is becoming increasingly important in many industries - and the composites industry is no exception. Consequently, many manufacturers either want or are required to assess this aspect of their products...