October 2004 Issue
October 2004
Features
Featured articles from the latest issue of Plastics Technology
Costs of Doing Business
Everyone seems to agree that U.S. plastics processors are being beaten up by foreign competition.
Read MoreFrom Paper-Mill Sludge to Plastic Decking
Kadant Composites’ self-appointed mission for the past eight years has been to find commercial uses for paper sludge, a soggy mix of short cellulose fibers, calcium carbonate, and clay that is the copious byproduct of paper recycling.
Read MoreNew Software Aids Composite Processing and QC
Several recent software introductions for composites design, processing, and quality control offer more sophisticated predictions of both processability and finished part properties.
Read More'Cleaner,' More Efficient Additives for Flexible and Rigid PVC
New vinyl additives designed to be more environmentally friendly while offering improved performance are available from Crompton Corp., Middlebury, Conn.
Read MoreSix-Axis Robots: Where They Fit in Injection Molding
Injection molded parts are typically demolded with simple pick-and-place automation—a top-mounted, gantry-style (also called Cartesian, linear, or traversing) three-axis robot.
Read MoreHow to Turn Auto Shredder Waste Into 60 Million Lb of Plastic Pellets
While much of the world is studying the possibility of getting any economic value out of auto shredder residue—for example, as fuel for cement kilns or power plants—Europe’s second largest scrap-metal reclaimer cranks out polyolefin and polystyrene pellets made from shredder residue at 20,000 to 100,000 lb/hr, or about 40 million lb/yr.Galloo Plastics, the recycling unit of the Galloo Group in Halluin, France, has been so successful at supplying automotive markets with its black PP compounds that it built a second auto shredder residue (ASR) recycling plant this year next to the first, inside its huge scrap yard.
Read MoreTrouble with Your Dryer?
Although pellet drying is a relatively simple process, it is occasionally a source of consternation.
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