Plastics

Smart cities are now much more ambitious. That means new materials are their biggest enabler, with information and computer technology dropping to an important support role.

Printed/flexible electronics is extremely well suited to wearable skin patches due to its low weight, flexibility/conformality, and potential for high-throughput, low-cost manufacturing of these disposable items.

IDTechEx have released a brand new report, "Smart Cities Emerging Materials Markets 2021-2041" - a comprehensive analysis of multifunctional smart materials, bioplastics, structural electronics, composites, 3D printing, graphene, 2D and 3D molecules, 5G, 6G, IOT, new recycling.

The 3D electronics market is diversifying and is forecast to reach around $3bn by 2030. Find out more in the IDTechEx report, "3D Electronics 2020-2030: Technologies, Forecasts, Players".

Without doubt, the impact of COVID-19 is being felt at a pivotal point in the evolution of 3D printing.

3D printed electronics, here explored in detail, is an emerging technology that enables a new manufacturing paradigm.

In 2018, China enacted its "National Sword" policy, effectively banning the import of most waste plastics and materials heading for the nation's recycling processors in an attempt to stop the wave of soiled and contaminated materials that were overwhelming the country's processing facilities and threatening it with a major environmental problem.

Mention an electronic circuit and you are likely to picture a printed circuit board (PCB): a rigid rectangle in a characteristic green color with copper lines and a bewildering array of components soldered onto it. But does adding electronic functionality means using a PCB and thus requires shoehorning a rigid rectangle into the product?

Bioplastics, plastics made from a biological feedstock, could be a renewable and more sustainable alternative to fossil-based plastics. Unlike the vast majority of fossil-based plastics, many bioplastics are biodegradable, which could help provide a solution to the dizzying escalation in plastic waste seen across much of the world. And although bioplastics have historically struggled to deliver the same performance as fossil-based plastics, technology is increasingly closing the gap, creating highly functional plastics that do not cost the Earth. "Bioplastics 2020-2025", the recent report by IDTechEx, explores the emerging technologies around bioplastics and forecasts the future of the industry over the next five years.

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.