News 2014

Modern vehicles are being increasingly equipped with automated gear boxes and dual clutch transmissions because they ensure higher driving comfort and lower fuel consumption.

Its name is “Strati” and it came to life after 44 hours of printing and 2 days of assembly at Chicago's International Manufacturing Technology Show, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs.

On 26 November, PlasticsEurope organised a panel discussion in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The event, hosted by Ms Bonafè, MEP, brought together policy makers from the Commission and the European Parliament and representatives from the packaging industry and the food and drink industry. The topic: food waste and how packaging can help reduce such waste. The event took place during the European Week for Waste Reduction.

3D printing perfectly fits into “eco-friendly” consumer trends. It is well known that the additive manufacturing method significantly reduces waste, often promoting the use of bio-based plastics like PLA, a sugar-derived polymer very commonly used in 3D printing industry.

PlasticsEurope together with EuPC, the association of European Plastics Converters, launched a “Manifesto on the competitiveness of the plastics industry in Europe” at a press conference held in Brussels on 4 November, calling on EU policy makers to join the industry in its efforts to keep a strong plastics sector in Europe.

24 September - SPE (Society of Plastics Engineers, Benelux section) announced the winners of the first Polymers and Plastics Innovations Awards 2014 at the “Kunststoffen Veldhoven” trade show in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

A large Japanese company is planning to install one of the world's largest floating solar power plants in their home country. Using a floating mounting system from a France-based company, the solar panels can easily be installed on the water. The mounting system is made out of high-density plastics which are resistant to ultraviolet light and corrosion, and 100% recyclable.

Statistics by PlasticsEurope show that the UK is amongst the poorer performers among European member states for diverting plastics from landfill. PlasticsEurope have joined a number of key retailers, Local Authorities and brand owners to stimulate public engagement to increase recycling rates through thePledge4Plastics initiative.

Durable, sustainable and quiet: Three good reasons to support the production of railway sleepers made from recycled plastic.

The short clips highlight the many ways plastics inspire innovations that improve our lives, solve big problems, and help us design a safer, more promising future.

Inspired by the human blood clotting system, the polymer contains a network of capillaries that deliver healing chemicals to damaged areas.

Tour de France: Plastics on the right track!

On Monday 16 June, the Primary Earth Summit, an annual event dedicated to addressing environmental issues, was jointly organised by Wastebuster and PlasticsEurope, sponsored by Bayer MaterialScience. Hosted by Zac Goldsmith MP, the Summit gathered children, government leaders, and industry experts in the House of Commons in Westminster to promote responsible plastic waste management.

Launched in 2006 as an initiative of the European Commission, the EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) has become a reference ...

Plastics: The winners of the 2014 Football World Cup!

Captain Busta, a blue space monkey from the Intergalactic Wastebuster Federation (IWF)

In January 2014, Wastebuster - a famous UK based environmental education programme - launched the Primary Earth Summit which gives children the opportunity to present their ideas on plastic waste. The Summit is open for entries from all primary and secondary schools in England, including community groups.

Littering causes serious harm to the environment. Therefore it is important to inform people all over the world and let them know that at the end of their life cycle, plastics are too valuable to be thrown away. Two campaigns supported by PlasticsEurope are raising awareness on this global topic.

PlasticsEurope welcomes "Let's Clean Up Europe!", the campaign against littering happening on 10 May 2014 and around. The event was developed in the scope of the "European Week for Waste Reduction” (EWWR), involving ACR+, AICA, ARC, IBGE-BIM and OHÜ, with the support of the European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potočnik.

For the first time ever surgeons in The Netherlands replaced most of a human’s skull with a 3D-printed plastic one.

The European House Ambrosetti in cooperation with Italian plastics producers, plastics federations and PlasticsEurope published a research report highlighting “The excellence of the plastics supply chain in relaunching manufacturing in Italy and Europe”.

In New York, a vast majority of taxis are equipped with driver-passenger partitions for enhanced in-vehicle security. To give taxi drivers additional safety when working during late night and early morning hours, it is mandatory for every NYC taxi to have a driver protection screen available.

In 1993, the United Nations declared the 22nd March as “World Day for Water” to focus public attention on the critical water issues of our era. Water is one of the strategic resources affected by competing demands all over the world.

Collaboration with Regional, National, European and International partners is at the core of the PVC Industry’s Voluntary Commitment’s success. At the institutional level, cooperation between public and private sectors is considered a very effective mechanism to progress toward sustainability.

in Sochi would not happen without plastics

PlasticsEurope welcomed the New Year with a reception on 21 January in Brussels. Among the guests were senior representatives from the EU institutions, the plastics and other related European industries.

The analysis and the report "Post-Consumer Plastic Waste Management in European Countries 2012” is a continuous development of the 2005 to 2011 annual reports and a common process to achieve highest acceptance of data among the entire European plastic industry.

PlasticsEurope has published the summary report of the major conference "Safety of Plastics: Let’s talk about it” that took place on 5 and 6 November 2013 in Brussels.