Plastics

The world has a problem with plastic waste. Despite global plastic production continuing to accelerate, recycling rates remain stubbornly low, with only about 15% of the 400 million tonnes of plastic currently produced annually being recycled.

23rd July 2020 - The webinar includes: An overview of the state of plastic recycling; An introduction to the emerging technologies across the world of plastic recycling; and A discussion of the economics of plastic recycling technologies in view of global oil prices.

Which Is Better for the Environment? In recent years, plastic production has accelerated, with global plastic set production to reach 600 million tonnes by 2030 if production continues at its current rate of growth. Most of this plastic is not biodegradable, with 30-50% of it being produced for single-use applications.

Picture a flexible circuit board (FPCB) and you will almost inevitably visualise a sheet of orange/brown plastic, probably with a few copper traces and maybe some soldered components on it. This plastic is PI (polyimide/Kapton), and its ubiquity is primarily due to its temperature resistance and general durability.

IDTechEx, host of the world's largest event series on Printed & Flexible Electronics, broadcast this virtual event last week featuring Coca-Cola, Swarovski, Electrolux, Neotech AMT, Ynvisible, Roartis and IDTechEx. Watch on-demand.

An important new trend is buying electrics and electronics you customise to function not just shape. See the new IDTechEx report, "Complete Electronics as Smart Material, User-Customized 2020-2040". Builders, textile manufacturers, those doing home improvement and others are starting to buy electrically-smart materials direct from materials companies, bypassing the electronics industry.

Bioplastics, polymers derived from biological feedstocks, are a potential solution to the environmental problems caused by plastic - they are made from renewable resources and often biodegrade. Despite this, bioplastics have historically struggled to compete with fossil-based plastics, which are often far cheaper. But, are things beginning to change?

Metallization of 3D surfaces is a growing field with diverse applications. In this article, we briefly discuss some techniques and applications thereof. More specifically, we discuss and critically benchmark laser direct structuring, aerosol, 3D printed electronics, two-shot molding and In-Mold Electronics.

The world has a plastics problem. Every day, approximately 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into the world's oceans and plastic pollution can now be found on every beach in the world, from busy tourist beaches to uninhabited tropical islands.

Plastic pollution is rapidly becoming one of the world's biggest environmental issues as increasing production of single use plastic products far outweighs the world's ability to deal with them.