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JUNE 2021 CONFRONTING THE CHALLENGE OF GENDER BIAS IN DESIGN INTEREST GROWS IN CHEMICAL RECYCLING The process, also called advanced recycling, could bring circular sustainability to plastics if implemented on a large scale. PLUSINSIDE PLASTICS ENGINEERING VOLUME 77 NUMBER 6 JUNE 2021 10 OVERCOMING GENDER BIAS IN DESIGN The lack of input by women in everyday product designs can have unintended, even deadly, consequences. Circular Economy INTEREST GROWS IN CHEMICAL RECYCLING The process, also called advanced recycling, could bring circular sustainability to plastics if implemented on a large scale. Circular Economy WASTE PRINTING POWDER AND PARTS ARE BORN AGAIN ON FORD PICKUPS HP, the automaker and vendors solve circular challenge by creating a closed-loop—and valuable—materials stream. 16 20 GET YOUR OWN! Plastics Engineering keeps plastics industry professionals informed of the latest news and in-depth reporting on state-of-the-art and emerging technologies that impact the R&D and processing of plastics products. This is the magazine every plastics industry professional NEEDS to read. 4spe.org/Subscribe 4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR COVER STORY www.plasticsengineering.org | JUNE 2021 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 126 | Circular Economy STATES VEER TOWARD EPR Laws mandating extended producer responsibility for packaging are gaining momentum. 30 | COVID & Plastics RETHINKING THE UNTHINKABLE Single-use plastics were out of favor for a while, but the pandemic and health concerns changed that—at least for now. 5 | Set Point Teijin solar roof charges electric vehicles, urban air mobility creates demand for plastics, entrepreneur invests in women’s businesses. 9 | Data Point Consultant forecasts 5-year growth trend in key polymers, composites and additives, with some results posting double digits. 24 | Infographic Here are the economic and production benefits Bausano cites for electromagnetic induction heating of its extruder barrels. 34 | Profile Extrusion PRECISION PRODUCTION Raising the bar of extrusion quality and efficiency requires controlling the variables. 47 | Calendar 42 | As I See It THE BIG EASY Interview with Mitch Dupon, Business Director, Hirebotics cobot welding systems. 38 | Disruptors A NEW ERA FOR COMPOSITES Arris Composites’ Additive Molding process uses 3D printing and compression molding to mass produce advanced composite parts. 48 | Ad/Editorial Index 26 INSIDE PLASTICS ENGINEERING VOLUME 77 NUMBER 6 JUNE 2021 24 44 | New Product News 46 | SPE News 2 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | JUNE 2021 | www.plasticsengineering.orgPatrick Toensmeier Editor-in-Chief (203) 777-1474 ptoensmeier@4spe.org Michael Greskiewicz Director, Sales & Advertising (203) 740-5411 mgreskiewicz@4spe.org Ryan Foster Art Director (203) 740-5410 rfoster@4spe.org Sue Wojnicki Director of Communications (203) 740-5420 swojnicki@4spe.org Editorial & Publishing Staff President Jaime Gómez CEO Patrick Farrey President-Elect Jason Lyons Vice President – Chapters ScottEastman Vice President – Professional Development Bruce Mulholland Vice President – Sustainability & Treasurer Conor Carlin Vice President – Member Engagement Lynzie Nebel Vice President – Publications & Secretary Raymond Pearson Vice President at Large Gustavo Lidzki Past President Brian Landes SPE 2020-2021 Executive Board Contributing Editors NANCY D. LAMONTAGNE ndlamontagne@gmail.com Nancy D. Lamontagne reports on science, technology and engineering. Topics she covers for Plastics Engineering include thermoforming, blow molding, medical plastics, packaging, and education and career development. ROBERT GRACE bob@rcgrace.com Robert Grace has been in B2B journalism since 1980. He covers design and business for Plastics Engineering and is editor of SPE’s Journal of Blow Molding. Professional memberships include the Industrial Designers Society of America. JENNIFER MARKARIAN technicalwritingsolutions@comcast.net Jennifer Markarian focuses on technology. A chemical engineer, she began her career in product development with Mobil Chemical’s polyethylene group. She is also newsletter editor for SPE’s Palisades-New Jersey Section. MATT BECHTEL mjb@matt-bechtel.com MattBechtel has been covering product and technology developments for Plastics Engineering, along with regulatory issues that affect materials suppliers, converters and brand owners. www.plasticsengineering.org | JUNE 2021 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 3 PEGGY MALNATI peggy@malnatiandassociates.com Peggy Malnati has over 30 years’ experience covering plastics, composites and automotive. She has organized technical conferences for SPE and served as board member and communications chair for SPE’s Automotive Division. GEOFF GIORDANO geoffgio@verizon.net Geoff Giordano has been a contributor to Plastics Engineering since 2009, covering a range of topics, including additives, infrastructure, flexible electronics, design software, 3D printing and nanotechnology. FROM THE S uccessful people reinvent themselves regularly, as should magazines. The best part of reinvention is that it begins with an idea, and proceeds from there. “Wherever you are is the entry point,” said Indian philosopher Kabir Das. Plastics Engineering reinvents itself with this issue. I am adding departments and features, working with my art director on layout and broadening coverage to increase the news and developments my writers and I deliver to readers. I am also highlighting the interpretive quality of information and perspective gleaned from sources and, importantly, the global members of SPE, a unique source of knowledge. Some topics that I want to expand coverage of are obvious: sustainability, regulation, product developments, process technologies, end-use trends and market opportunities. Others will analyze the impact of social concerns on products and plastics. One example is the cover story on the challenges designers face in developing products that fully meet the needs of women. This issue is generating debate within the design community—which is mostly male— and will influence future products and the use of plastics. The new Infographic department this month highlights one extruder manufacturer’s use of electromagnetic induction to heat barrels. The claimed benefits include faster ramp-up of heat compared with conventional heaters and, as a result, lower energy costs over the life of the extruder. Another new department, New Products, highlights cobots— collaborative robots—as platforms for an industrial welding system that is programmed with a smartphone app, an example, the developer says, of how adding consumer-based technologies to the shop floor makes many operations easier for workers. My editorial mission is to bring as much value as possible to all Plastics Engineering readers, whether SPE members or nonmembers, long- time veterans or newcomers to the business. Plastics is a fascinating and vital industry. The products it makes possible improve the quality of life everywhere. Anyone who doubts this should ask: How well would the world have dealt with the COVID pandemic without plastics? My role and that of my team at Plastics Engineering is to thoroughly cover all facets of this ever-changing industry and give readers the information they need to make informed and profitable business decisions. Welcome aboard. PAT TOENSMEIER Editor-in-Chief, Plastics Engineering ptoensmeier@4spe.org P lastics Engineering’s premiere issue was published in 1945. Today’s most senior SPE members were barely young professionals back then! And while we acknowledge our magazine may be “getting older,” we refuse to let it grow old! Here’s what’s new at Plastics Engineering this month: A new Editor-in-Chief, Pat Toensmeier. Pat isn’t “new” to the industry or to journalism—he’s been covering the plastics beat for 35 years. But he is the new captain of this ship. Under his navigation you’ll see even more in-depth reporting about the people, companies and innovations leading the plastics industry today. A fresh design. SPE’s Ryan Foster has been designing the magazine for some time, but this issue showcases his new ideas to keep the look fresh, with more quotes and sidebars to highlight the topics from the stories in a visually appealing format. A portable, sharable, searchable e-magazine version. Complimenting, not replacing, the printed magazine, this new e-version is the perfect way to read Plastics Engineering on the go. Don’t want to carry the magazine with you? Read it on your phone, tablet, e-reader or laptop. Plus, the e-magazine has easy links to the people and companies featured in the issue— just one click away! A bi-weekly companion e-newsletter, SPE News. Written and produced by SPE’s Chris Barry, this newsletter will cover breaking industry developments, as well as the news about SPE’s people, events, Chapters and more. More ways to support our advertisers. Our new sales team, led by SPE’s Michael Greskiewicz, will deliver more ways to connect buyers and sellers. With an enhanced portfolio of advertising and marketing opportunities, Michael G. will create even greater value, at an even lower cost, than ever before. Tell us what you think. Reach me at pfarrey@4spe. org. Learn more about what’s new at www. PlasticsEngineering.org. Thank you for your support of SPE and Plastics Engineering! PATRICK FARREY CEO, SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals MOVING FORWARD You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old. -George Burns 4 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | JUNE 2021 | www.plasticsengineering.orgSET POINT Automakers around the world continue to invest billions to advance electronic vehicles (EVs) as sustainable and desirable transportation options. Despite their efforts, two nagging problems persist: how to rapidly recharge a battery—ideally in 5 minutes or less—and extend range beyond several hundred miles. Think what you will about the internal combustion engine—pro, con or indifferent—but most personal vehicles gas up in minutes and can travel many hundreds of miles without stopping. One potential solution to the need for rapid recharging and extended range might be solar panels on vehicles, which maintain a full charge during bright or mostly sunny days and hold power in reserve for nighttime travel or overcast or stormy weather. A handful of companies are looking at this approach, two of which are resin producer Teijin Ltd. of Japan and Applied Electric Vehicles of Australia. Both collaborated to develop a polycarbonate (PC) solar roof for mobility applications. The solar roof uses Teijin’s Panlite PC resin glazing for its surface. The material has the strength and rigidity required for a vehicle roof and can be molded into a curved shape. Conventional PC resin offers high impact resistance but must be specially processed to realize the level of weather resistance needed for long- term outdoor use. Teijin says that Panlite glazing can be given a proprietary hard coating to achieve the 10-year weather durability required for automobiles. Teijin and Applied EV deployed the new roof on a Blanc Robot, a prototype zero- emission EV passenger pod on an autonomous robotic platform, which was developed by Applied EV with materials and technical support from Teijin. In testing conducted by Applied EV, the solar cells mounted on the Panlite roof achieved an output of about 330 watts, the equivalent of a conventional solar panel housed under glass. Because the vehicle is light and energy efficient, the benefits of solar charging are much greater than on a typical electric vehicle. Tests by Applied EV suggest that the solar array could contribute up to 30 percent of the vehicle’s energy budget in ideal conditions and 15 to 20 percent on a typical day, extending vehicle range for the Blanc Robot by between 30 and 55 km (18.6 to 34.1 miles). CHARGING AHEAD: TEIJIN DEVELOPS SOLAR ROOF FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES Air taxis and delivery vehicles—whether piloted or autonomous—could be ready for daily use as soon as 2023, according to some forecasts. If so, this urban air mobility (UAM) market will create growing business opportunities for suppliers and processors of specialty polymers, foams and composites that have the strength, stress-resistance and lightweight properties needed for such platforms. The ability to routinely, and safely, fly one or several people or light cargo over a congested city has been a dream of visionaries for some time. The dream seems very near to becoming reality as investors and developers fine-tune vehicles they believe to be the best fit for operations. Most prototypes and developmental platforms trend toward eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) designs since these can land and ascend in tight urban spaces. While proponents need to win over regulators and, of course, convince the public that such travel is safe, congested traffic conditions in major cities worldwide demonstrate that this is an idea whose time has come. In April, specialty chemicals producer Evonik highlighted traffic congestion in a report on the suitability of its Rohacell polymethacrylimide foam as a lightweight, heat-resistant core for carbon fiber-reinforced composites (including eVTOL blades) in UAM platforms. Analli de Souza Carvalho, business development manager for air taxis and commercial aviation at Evonik, observed that “If everyone has a car, nothing moves.” She added that in London, Paris, New York and St. Petersburg, Russia, drivers and passengers spend an average of 150 hours per year in traffic jams. In SHAZAM! DEMAND MATERIALIZES FOR URBAN AIR MOBILITY VEHICLES AND MATERIALS Continued on p. 7 The Blanc Robot’s PC solar roof, developed by Teijin and Applied Electric Vehicles. Courtesy of Teijin Ltd. Continued on p. 8 www.plasticsengineering.org | JUNE 2021 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 5The cover story in this issue on gender gaps in design makes the point that product developers and brand owners often overlook the specific needs of women—an audience who can be one-half or more of their target market—when designing consumer and other products (see p. 12). More voices are being raised about this since gender-based shortcomings in product design can negatively affect women. One prominent voice is that of Ananya Chandra, a Singapore- based technology investor and entrepreneur who is active in promoting opportunities for women. A lawyer with a master’s degree in innovation and entrepreneurship from the HEC Paris international business school, she offers a compelling set of statistics about the buying power of women: » Women control over $70 trillion dollars of global wealth. » More than 70 percent of domestic purchasing decisions are made by a woman. » In healthcare alone, the market for female-focused technologies (“femtech”) exceeded $18 billion in 2019. Chandra is the founder and CEO of Women Prosperity Lab, an initiative of early-stage investment firm Innopact (www.innopact.vc) of Singapore. “Women are increasing their wealth faster than ever before,” she says, “and redressing gender bias in design is a moral imperative, backed by a huge commercial opportunity—the ‘womentech’ opportunity.” Womentech, she explains, is a new category that represents technologies that are consciously designed to meet women’s needs. Chandra calls this “the flipping of the design switch from ‘gender-neutral’ to ‘gender-aware.’ This gender awareness in design is unlocking economic opportunities that target women’s underserved needs across finance, healthcare, insurance, consumer products and the consumer internet. Chandra cites the example of Innopact’s investee company Sheroes Money, a digital financial platform for women in India. “The financial WOMENTECH SEEKS TO OVERCOME GENDER DISPARITIES IN DESIGN Arkema is acquiring Agiplast, an Italian compounder and recycler that specializes in the regeneration of high-performance polymers. Agiplast has been Arkema’s partner in recycling operations since 2019. Agiplast of Casalbuttano, Cremona, has annual sales of around €15 million ($18.3 million) and operates a plant that employs 32. The company’s know-how in mechanical recycling technologies and upcycling will enable Arkema to supply high-quality recycled polymers. In October 2019, Arkema, a producer of high-performance biobased polymers, launched Virtucycle, a program with Agiplast aimed at developing loops for the collection and regeneration of performance polymers while minimizing CO 2 emissions. With the acquisition, Arkema becomes a fully integrated high-performance polymer manufacturer offering biobased and recycled materials. The acquisition is in line with Arkema’s corporate social responsibility initiative and sustainable growth strategy, and transition to a circular economy. The deal is expected to close in June. ARKEMA BUYS RECYCLING SPECIALIST AGIPLAST OF ITALY Continued on p. 8 Ananya Chandra SET POINT The global market for injection molding is forecast to increase by a compound annual growth rate of 6.2 percent from 2021 to 2026, according to a new report from BCC Research LLC of Wellesley, Mass. This growth will raise the value of the market to $169.81 billion from $125.95 billion in 2021, the researchers state in the report, “Injection Molding: Global Markets and Technologies.” The use of polypropylene in molding is expected to increase to $57.38 billion in 2026 from $40.87 billion in 2021, a CAGR of 7 percent. Packaging will remain the dominant end-use market for injection molding, specified for a range of industries, particularly medical. BCC PEGS INJECTION MOLDING MARKET GROWTH AT 6.2 PERCENT Medical packaging will be a key driver in the growth of injection molding through 2026. Courtesy of BCC Research 6 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | JUNE 2021 | www.plasticsengineering.orgASIA | AMERICAS | EUROPE Organised by ASIA July 15-16, 2021 AMERICAS October 7-8, 2021 EUROPE January 20-21, 2022 BENEFITS OF ATTENDING » 2 days of networking, knowledge sharing and ideation across plastics ecosystem » Exhibitors within the plastics supply chain from suppliers to traders » Overcoming challenges during the pandemic and complexities within the recycling industry » Discussions on the best recycling practices www.raceconferences.com Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd., a major U.K.- based global manufacturer of graphene nanoplatelets, has joined the Graphene Engineering Innovation Center (GEIC) at the University of Manchester as a Tier 2 partner. Thomas Swan was an early volume manufacturer of graphene. The GEIC is the U.K.’s leading applications innovator in composites, coatings and other markets. Tier 1 membership offers partners a dedicated laboratory within the facility, plus access to specialized application labs and equipment, and the chance to work with academic partners. Tier 2 membership is a lower-cost route to rapid feasibility studies, with access to an application area designed for small- to-medium-size companies and startups or larger firms investigating opportunities for incorporating graphene into their business. GEIC is a £60 million ($85.26 million) industry-led facility that works in collaboration with commercial partners to create, test and optimize concepts in graphene for delivery to market, along with the processes required for scale up and supply chain integration. GRAPHENE MAKER JOINS U.K. RESEARCH CENTER The GEIC facility at the University of Manchester. Courtesy of GEIC The companies began joint development in 2019 and are working on the use of other Teijin materials for additional EV components, among them structural elements, glazing and exterior body panels. Teijin and Applied EV look to commence high-volume production in the latter half of 2022. These initiatives, together with ongoing efforts to enhance the solar roof, are expected to contribute to the ultimate goal of achieving Japan’s “Well-to-Wheel Zero Emission” policy, which calls for a 90 percent reduction in 2010-level greenhouse gas emissions per passenger car by 2050. “Now that we have proven the technology on a passenger EV, it is easy for us to roll out solar charging for a range of other vehicle types,” says Julian Broadbent, chief executive officer of Applied EV. Meanwhile, Teijin plans to install a composite compression molding line at Benet Automotive s.r.o, its automotive composites business in Milovice, Czech Republic. Teijin will invest €10 million (about $12.2 million) in the new glass-fiber sheet molding compound (GF-SMC) line, which is slated to begin operation in fall 2022. Benet Automotive is a Tier 1 supplier of automotive composite components. The new GF-SMC molding line will strengthen Teijin’s response to market demands for greater design freedom, productivity and cost efficiency, as well as weight reduction and strength. This is Teijin’s latest move in automotive composites. Amid the shift toward connected, autonomous, shared and electric (CASE) automobiles, Teijin acquired Continental Structural Plastics Holdings Corp. (CSP) in 2017 to become a Tier 1 supplier of multimaterial automotive composites. The company later acquired Inapal Plásticos SA in Portugal and Benet Automotive and plans to build a GF-SMC compound at the CSP facility in Pouancé, France. The producer also established Teijin Automotive Center Europe GmbH in Wuppertal, Germany, near Düsseldorf, in 2020 as a base for research and development within its multimaterial automotive composites business. Teijin, p. 5 Do you have an article that you would like to submit for Set Point? Contact Pat Toensmeier, Editor-in-Chief, Plastics Engineering, at ptoensmeier@4spe.org. www.plasticsengineering.org | JUNE 2021 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 7Next >