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Good plastics design is essential to innovative product development, as well as to quality-of-life advances and progress in virtually every application that affects the comfort and well-being of individuals and society.   But it’s counter-productive when otherwise good designs and products…

The U.S. has ample access to affordable food. Much of this is due to plastics packaging, which has made more foods available, long-lasting, economical and safe. Americans, however, discard millions of tons of good food every year. Discarded food ends…

Extruder manufacturer Bausano of Turin, Italy (North American office is in Houston), offers electromagnetic induction heating on its machines as an option to conventional ceramic band resistance heaters. Called the Smart Energy System (SES), benefits include the ability to reach…

Bioplastics and biopolymers will post the largest compound annual growth rate by 2025 of nine materials surveyed by Plastics Engineering for this inaugural installment of Data Points. According to research consultant Markets and Markets Inc., of Northbrook, Ill., global demand…

The Celanese Foundation, part of Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE), (NYSE: CE), a global specialty materials and chemical company, recently granted $50,000 to fund the SPE Foundation’s work in Detroit and Dallas. This grant allows the two groups to expand on…

Last issue, we discussed the FTC’s plans to update its Green Guides, which are designed to help companies avoid misleading consumers when they tout the environmental attributes of their products and packages on labeling or in advertising, promotional materials or “any…

Goal is for all packages to meet environmental standards and to significantly reduce virgin plastics use PepsiCo Inc. continues to strive to move “beyond the bag and beyond the bottle” in the quest to minimize the impact of its packaging…

AI Yai Yai The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is investigating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in hiring and whether this discriminates against job applicants. AI programs are of some value in machine-learning applications. Many new plastics process machines…

SPE has acquired 3Dnatives, a French company that produces international events and media platforms for professionals in 3D printing, additive manufacturing (AM) and related market applications.

Industry icon Glenn Beall stamps an indelible legacy on the growth of plastics and of SPE Recently, I had the privilege of spending a day with Glenn Beall, who joined SPE in 1960 and is the Society’s oldest active member.…

UC San Diego researchers use SEBS copolymer to develop a wearable ultrasound patch Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), are using a styrene-based triblock copolymer to help enable the development of a wearable ultrasound patch that could…

Sal Monte continues to challenge conventional thinking about coupling agents and catalysts.