PIAE - Plastics in Automotive Engineering’s Post

Herbold Meckesheim has been thinking about the circular economy from the very beginning. When the special machine builder offered its first solutions for plastics recycling some 40 years ago, not everyone understood its mission. Today, a world without plastics recycling is hard to imagine – and certainly not the future. From the very beginning, Herbold Meckesheim's recycling solutions also took into account the life cycle of the machines themselves. They should not only contribute to a functioning circular economy, but also be part of it. #sustainablepackaging #recyclability #packagingmachinery #sustainability #circulareconomy #recycledmaterials #resourceefficiency #plastic

Plastic or paper? Continues dilemma with numerous pros and cons Here is an interesting article I spotted in Stanford Magazine. https://lnkd.in/dCgh2Hju #plasticpollution #recycling #consumerawareness

Earlier this year, we started using recycled plastic in the production of casting shields. What is a casting shield? Floor drain is fitted with a casting shield which is intended to prevent grout and filler from entering the floor drain. Now these blue lids, that are familiar to professionals around the Nordics, are made of recycled plastic. One of Vieser’s key objectives is the transition from using virgin plastic to recycled plastic which can also be recycled. Casting shield change influences Vieser’s carbon footprint positively. Due to the change the use of virgin plastics in the production will degrease with 4 000 kg. Since the casting shield is just a part of the entire floor drain, this has an equally small impact on the total emissions, but still, it is a step into the right direction on our sustainability roadmap. “Regarding our main product category, the drains themselves, we are looking forward to the results and progress of the durability tests of the recycled plastics. Floor drains must last at least as long as the bathrooms, even longer, therefore the durability of the materials used in manufacturing the drains must be really high”, Janina Ollberg, Head of Portfolio & Sustainability at Vieser explains.

The consequence of making “vegan leather” is that we are creating a new material that includes a high percentage of plastic. No matter whether it’s virgin plastic or recycled, the impact of producing plastic on the planet is significant. These alternative leather materials are shown to have limited performance and, therefore, a reduced life span. These composite materials can’t be recycled and will inevitably end up in landfill, where it will take hundreds of years to decompose and release toxins and greenhouse gases into our land and oceans. https://zurl.co/4vHj #leather #sustainability #upcycle #tellthetruth

National Geographic found that 91% of plastic waste is not sent to a recycling facility, and instead, ends up in general waste collections 🗑️   What steps can brands take to address this issue, increase the quantity of recycled plastics, and promote the transition towards a more circular economy?   Discover the answer in our blog, where we discuss the increasing demand for on-pack recycling labels and scannable 2D codes 👇   #DominoDoMore #Recycling #Labels #Recyclability #Packaging

🌐 Neste, Borealis, and Covestro are taking a sustainable leap forward by collaborating to recycle tyres into polycarbonate for the automotive industry. 🔍 Through a meticulous process, old tyres are chemically recycled into base chemicals, refined by Neste into high-quality raw materials, and further processed by Borealis to produce phenol and acetone for Covestro's polycarbonate manufacturing. 🔄 This innovative approach not only closes the loop for the automotive sector but also showcases the potential of chemical recycling beyond plastics. 🚗 The end products from this collaboration have already hit the market, offering recycled solutions for new car parts, highlighting the power of circularity in manufacturing. 🌱 Guido Naberfeld from Covestro emphasizes the importance of cooperation in achieving circularity, stating that such initiatives provide viable options for turning old tyres into new car components. 🔄 The project partners are also exploring the possibility of using polyurethanes, expanding the scope of sustainable materials that could be integrated into car interiors. ℹ️ Collaborations like this pave the way for a greener automotive industry, addressing the demand for high-performance materials with recycled content. 🌿 Sustainability meets innovation as Neste, Borealis, and Covestro redefine the future of automotive manufacturing through circular solutions. #Sustainability #CircularEconomy #AutomotiveIndustry #Recycling #Innovation #chemicals

Sustainability is a very popular topic of conversation these days and for good reason. Not every decision in a manufacturing plant can be easily converted into a carbon footprint though. Every day, we produce PET flake as a by-product of making thermoformed trays. That material gets placed in a polybag that is placed inside of a triple walled corrugated container that goes on a wood pallet. The wood pallet will eventually get recycled, as will the carton which can be used several times and the polybag is single use before being recycled. We have made the purchase recently of more of these large bins. We are able to eliminate the polybag. The boxes that were prone to puncture and spills is gone, as is the wood pallet, preventing debris from getting into our production. The benefits don’t stop there though. Our stack heights improve as we are able to get more material in the same footprint as the boxes. They hold roughly 66% more material, reducing our changeovers when a box is filled (or emptied), eliminating forklift movement which lessens how often we need to charge a forklift, or purchase a new battery for it, etcetera, etcetera. Sometimes an operational efficiency can also have a positive effect on our environmental efforts. While these bins will wear out at some point, we have not retired one of them yet in the past 12 years that we have been using them and with more on the way, we look forward to being a cleaner, more efficient operation that doesn’t lose sight of how plastics can improve our lives and help drive our decisions. Reduce and Reuse are perhaps more important than recycle and this is a great example of how small tweaks help make our company and planet a better place. Sometimes, it can start with just a bin. #Sustainability #GreenManufacturing #RecycledPlastic #MercuryPlastics

National Geographic found that 91% of plastic waste is not sent to a recycling facility, and instead, ends up in general waste collections 🗑️   What steps can brands take to address this issue, increase the quantity of recycled plastics, and promote the transition towards a more circular economy?   Discover the answer in our blog, where we discuss the increasing demand for on-pack recycling labels and scannable 2D codes 👇   #DominoDoMore #Recycling #Labels #Recyclability #Packaging

National Geographic found that 91% of plastic waste is not sent to a recycling facility, and instead, ends up in general waste collections 🗑️   What steps can brands take to address this issue, increase the quantity of recycled plastics, and promote the transition towards a more circular economy?   Discover the answer in our blog, where we discuss the increasing demand for on-pack recycling labels and scannable 2D codes 👇   #DominoDoMore #Recycling #Labels #Recyclability #Packaging

National Geographic found that 91% of plastic waste is not sent to a recycling facility, and instead, ends up in general waste collections 🗑️   What steps can brands take to address this issue, increase the quantity of recycled plastics, and promote the transition towards a more circular economy?   Discover the answer in our blog, where we discuss the increasing demand for on-pack recycling labels and scannable 2D codes 👇   #DominoDoMore #Recycling #Labels #Recyclability #Packaging