Do Soy-Based Foams Put Ford in the Driver’s Seat?
In the summer of 1941, Henry Ford unveiled a plastic-bodied car that connected industry to agriculture. According to Lowell E. Overly, the former tool-and-die designer tasked with building Ford's "Soybean Car", the vehicle's panels were made of "soybean fiber in a phenolic resin with formaldehyde
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Fight the Power
European packaging trade associations are fighting the Italian ban on non-biodegradable single-use bags, citing insufficient scientific evidence to support it. Opponents contend the ban does not consider existing European Union law or the recyclability of plastic packaging. Since biodegradable bags
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Are You Ready for Electroactive Polymers?
Electroactive polymers (EAP) exhibit significant shape or size displacement in response to electrical stimulation. They can induce strains up to two orders of magnitude greater than electroactive ceramics (EAC), specialty materials that can move with a high degree of precision, but are both rigi
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Floating Fact or Fiction?
If an Oregon State University researcher is correct, the Pacific plastic garbage patch is a fraction of the size that's been reported in the media. Instead of covering an area twice the size of Texas, as has been widely reported, this researcher contends that the flotilla of trash is less than 1% th
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Packaging Social Media
"The packaging community has been slow to embrace social media," explains JoAnn Hines, "but any company that plans to be successful with new product introductions must engage in social media". A self-described "packaging diva", Hines is a leading packaging consultant and LinkedIn power user whose
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Profitable Pollution?
What are the implications of large-scale carbon dioxide conversion to plastics? While most pollution has too many contaminants to be of use in manufacturing, will industrial waste become a new, valuable commodity?
The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Plastics & Resins, a newsletter from Glo
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Battle Over Bioplastics
"They have made a mess that others now have to clean up," complains Bruce Dale, professor of chemical engineering at Michigan State University. "It is simply not credible to come up with one number for a bioplastic evaluation." The object of Dale's ire, a study from the University of Pittsburgh,
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Once is Not Enough?
Watchdogs are upset following a Canadian exposé that over 80% of plastic waste collected in Winnipeg is sent overseas to be used for non-recyclable products. The materials are shipped to China and converted into products that can't be recycled again. Are Canadians justified in feeling "betrayed
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Profitable Plastics
"There's a great future in plastics", Mr. McGuire told young Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate, a coming-of-age movie from 1967. Today, pressure-treated wood remains the most popular building material for decks and railings. Yet plastics still look promising. That's the word from Principia Partne
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Ditch It or Defend It?
The biodegradable SunChips bags billed as 100% compostable have proven too noisy for consumers, so Frito Lay Company is returning to quieter packaging that can't be recycled. Should the company have bagged the SunChips sustainable bag? With sales down since its introduction and Web pages for and aga
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