Engineering Plastics Business
Development of Sustainable Products
Development of Sustainable Technology
Development of Sustainable Products
Innovative Engineering Plastics Recycling Business
DURACIRCLE™ Re-compounding Service
As many manufacturing companies are working toward Circular Economy to realize Carbon Neutrality, we need to start actively using recycled materials in our products.
Issues for Customers
In recent years, Polyplastics has received feedback from our customers asking us to develop products using recycled materials and to provide technical know-how. These include the issues, anxieties, and requests of customers such as “We have to use recycled materials, but we are concerned about the quality,” “We want to use materials with a low carbon footprint,” and “We want to reduce the waste generated in the manufacturing process,” etc.
New Solution: Re-compounding Service
In order to solve such customer problems, we have started a new Re-compounding Service. This service is an effort to give new life to molding scraps (sprues, runners, and crushed pieces) generated in the customers’ manufacturing process as a new product without discarding them.
Different from the conventional simple process cycle (regrinding), we work with our customers to manage the quality of the molding scraps, and use the manufacturing technology we have cultivated over many years to manufacture recycled materials through process control and strict inspections.
The quality of this recycled material dispels any concerns customers may have. By partially using recycled materials, customers can reduce the amount of virgin materials while maintaining product quality and functionality. Therefore, this is a great business opportunity for us.
In addition, the use of these recycled materials leads to a reduction in the carbon footprint of the product, and also reduces the amount of molding scraps that customers have trouble disposing of.
- *1Recycled materials are made by adding an appropriate amount of virgin material to the crushed pieces.
Creation of Recycling Schemes for All Engineering Plastics in the Future
Besides this, we are also conducting the research and development related to the recycling of used engineering plastics, which are difficult to collect as a mono material when they are mixed with other materials. Specifically, we are working on chemical recycling, energy recovery,*2 and technologies to reuse the CO2 generated during combustion. Through these efforts, we are striving to offer recycling solutions for all of our engineering plastics in the future.
- *2Incineration of combustible waste, alone or with other wastes, with heat recovery.
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3D Printing as a New Option for Engineering Plastics
New Solutions That Balance Economy and Environment
By establishing 3D printing technology to produce POM, we have been able to shorten our customers’ product development processes, reduce energy consumption, and dramatically reduce the amount of materials and the amount of engineering plastics waste generated during the product manufacturing process.
Until now, the development of trial products by making molds multiple times generated many labor and other costs for manufacturing and storing molds and also consumed a large amount of energy during machine operation. However, the introduction of 3D printers without molding has significantly reduced costs and energy requirements. Furthermore, waste is also reduced and products can be manufactured using a minimal amount of materials. The amount of materials needed can be reduced by as much as half that used when die molding or cutting, depending on the situation.
It has been difficult to control warpage and shrinkage during 3D-printed POM modeling, but we have succeeded in creating optimal conditions.
We will continue to pursue research and development to increase the types of resins that can be used for 3D printing.
More Environment-friendly “Low GHGE Grade PLASTRON® LFT” Now Available
Polyplastics manufactures PLASTRON® LFT, which is strengthened with a plant-based regenerated long cellulose fiber. In FY2022, we successfully developed a new low GHGE grade PLASTRON that emits less CO2 during manufacturing.
PLASTRON® LFT long fiber reinforced resin uses cellulose, a biomass material, which makes the product environment-friendly. However, the production process for regenerated cellulose fibers requires multiple complicated steps, which poses the issue of high CO2 emissions. Polyplastics solved this issue by creating the Solvent Method for manufacturing regenerated cellulose fibers. This method cuts CO2 emissions by approximately 40% compared to conventional products.
Manufacturing Process of Regenerated Cellulose by Solvent Method
In addition to reducing CO2 emissions, the "Solvent Method" is an environmentally friendly production process because the solvent can be reused in the manufacturing process. The conventional method uses cellulose, solvent, and multiple chemicals, while the solvent method uses only cellulose, solvent, and water, resulting in almost no waste. Therefore, the newly developed low-GHGE grade product generates very little waste during manufacturing while offering almost the same reinforcing strength as glass fiber-reinforced resins, making it both environment-friendly and highly functional. We will continue to expand our lineup of environment-friendly products as well as to create sustainable products for its customers.
- *Viscose is an intermediate product formed during the process of making viscose rayon (a type of regenerated cellulose fiber) from natural cellulose fiber.
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Development of Sustainable Technology
A Full Range of Approaches to Development of Customers’ Products for Environmental Load Reduction
We are a highly specialized engineering plastics manufacturer, and we provide technical support throughout every phase of our customers’ products from conception to mass production, including in material development, processing, and performance evaluations. Using this knowledge, we provide a variety of environmental technical support to our customers to reduce CO2 and waste generated at every stage of product development.
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- *1Our unique technology for bonding different materials
- *2Adhesive-free metal and resin bonding technology through insert molding of surface-treated metal
- *3Technology to extract rough shapes that maximize strength and rigidity within given design parameters
- *4Technology to reduce the weight of products by molding resins using foaming agents to create porous products
- *5Computer Aided Engineering
POM Void Prediction Technology
Voids, air bubbles that form inside the molded product due to shrinkage during molding, are a cause of molding defects that increase waste during product development. Conventionally, predictive analysis was performed based on flow analysis, which analyzes the state of filling of the resin injected into the mold. However, there were many problems in terms of accuracy, and customers were asking for analysis technology with even higher accuracy. By combining flow analysis with structural analysis, we have developed a completely new void prediction method based on the strain that occurs within the molded product based on the shrinkage rate, elastic modulus, and pressure distribution during the resin solidification process.
Predicting the occurrence of voids with high accuracy before molding eliminates defective products and contributes to waste reduction.
Going forward, we will pursue further technological development covering non-reinforced POM and reinforced resins as well as such other resins as PBT and PPS.
Assessment of Gas Generated during Molding
Gas generated during molding is one cause of defective products and a major factor contributing to product waste and energy loss in production. Previously, most approaches included releasing the gas generated from the mold or molding machine—no real solution was offered. We, however, developed a new assessment method to determine the cause
of gas generated during molding. To ensure highly accurate assessment under customer manufacturing conditions, we collect gas directly from the molding machine to analyze and assess. If that is not possible, we can alternatively create optimal conditions at our facility to evaluate the customer’s manufacturing process. Based on the results
of the assessment, we then make proposals tailored to each customer to reduce gas generated during molding, thereby reducing product defects stemming from molding conditions or the shape and design of the mold gate.
In this way, our analysis technology and assessment method both reduces waste in the customer’s product development process and helps shorten the development cycle, reducing energy used during simulation and production. Through our technical support, we offer a variety of options to help customers develop products that reduce the
environmental load.
