Reflecting on the Evolution of Plastics at Kunststoffenbeurs 2023: A Leap Towards Sustainable Innovation

Wevolver Staff

03 Oct, 2023

Reflecting on the Evolution of Plastics at Kunststoffenbeurs 2023: A Leap Towards Sustainable Innovation

Wevolver attended the recent plastics innovation event. We bring you the highlights.

additive manufacturing

- materials

- sustainability

Towards a sustainable future

Kunststoffenbeurs 2023, The Plastics And Rubber Trade Fair, took place on September 20th and 21st at the Brabanthallen in 's-Hertogenbosch, marking a significant stride towards sustainable, smart, and innovative practices in the plastics and rubber industry. This event, held annually since 1999, creates a platform for experts, companies, and enthusiasts to explore the future of plastics and rubber.

The central theme of this year's fair was 'Future of Plastics,' which encapsulated the ongoing advancements, initiatives, and novel production techniques within the industry. Over 210 industry experts congregated to discuss and showcase the endless opportunities that plastics and rubber present for sustainable product development and production. The unique properties of these materials, such as versatility in color, shape, and weight, along with their compatibility with various production techniques like injection molding, thermoforming, and 3D printing, were highlighted.

Addressing CO2 emissions

The exhibition floor was bustling with over 210 specialized companies, educational institutions, research projects, startups, and student teams. They delved into various facets of the industry, ranging from plastic processing and shaping, product design and development, to sustainability and machinery construction. One of the notable areas was the Machineplein by Equip-Plast, where 20 exhibitors demonstrated state-of-the-art technology aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and energy consumption in the plastics and rubber industry.

A significant part of the event was dedicated to addressing the stigma often associated with plastics. Exhibitors and speakers emphasized the ingenious ability of plastics to optimize resource usage and contribute to sustainability. The EU's Green Deal's impact was also discussed, shedding light on the emerging requirement for manufacturing companies to provide CO2 emission data for their products.

Prominent industry figures like Merijn Tinga, the Plastic Soup Surfer, and Dirk Groot, the Zwerfinator, took the stage as keynote speakers, sharing their crusade against plastic pollution and exploring the potential of plastic recycling. Their insights were part of a broader congress program aligning with the event's theme of making the future of plastics sustainable, smart, and innovative.

The Rethink Plastics Awards presented by the Federation NRK were a highlight of Kunststoffenbeurs 2023, alongside an expo showcasing sustainably produced products. These segments of the event underscored the industry's commitment to rethinking traditional practices and steering towards a more sustainable and innovative path.

Kunststoffenbeurs 2023 served not just as a trade fair but as a collaborative platform for the entire Benelux plastics and rubber industry, fostering discussions, partnerships, and a shared vision for a sustainable future in plastics. Check the highlights of the event in the video above.

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Polymer Coating Cools Down Buildings

Columbia Engineers make white paint whiter—and cooler—by removing white pigment and invent a polymer coating, with nano-to-microscale air voids, that acts as a spontaneous air cooler and can be fabricated, dyed, and applied like paint.

Holly Evarts

19 Sep, 2018

materials

- sustainability

New York, NY—September 27, 2018—With temperatures rising and heat-waves disrupting lives around the world, cooling solutions are becoming ever more essential. This is a critical issue especially in developing countries, where summer heat can be extreme and is projected to intensify. But common cooling methods such as air conditioners are expensive, consume significant amounts of energy, require ready access to electricity, and often require coolants that deplete ozone or have a strong greenhouse effect.

An alternative to these energy-intensive cooling methods is passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC), a phenomenon where a surface spontaneously cools by reflecting sunlight and radiating heat to the colder atmosphere. PDRC is most effective if a surface has a high solar reflectance (R) that minimizes solar heat gain, and a high, thermal emittance (Ɛ) that maximizes radiative heat loss to the sky. If R and Ɛ are sufficiently high, a net heat loss can occur, even under sunlight.

Developing practical PDRC designs has been challenging: many recent design proposals are complex or costly, and cannot be widely implemented or applied on rooftops and buildings, which have different shapes and textures. Up to now, white paints, which are inexpensive and easy to apply, have been the benchmark for PDRC. White paints, however, usually have pigments that absorb UV light, and do not reflect longer solar wavelengths very well, so their performance is only modest at best.

Researchers at Columbia Engineering have invented a high-performance exterior PDRC polymer coating with nano-to-microscale air voids that acts as a spontaneous air cooler and can be fabricated, dyed, and applied like paint on rooftops, buildings, water tanks, vehicles, even spacecraft—anything that can be painted. They used a solution-based phase-inversion technique that gives the polymer a porous foam-like structure. The air voids in the porous polymer scatter and reflect sunlight, due

Image: MIT engineers have found that a common hydrogel has unique, super-soaking abilities. Even as temperatures climb, the transparent material continues to absorb moisture, and could serve to harvest water in desert regions, and passively regulate humidity in tropical climates. Image: Felice Frankel

Even as temperatures rise, this hydrogel material keeps absorbing moisture

MIT engineers identified an unusually absorbent material that could be used for passive cooling or water harvesting in warm climates.

Jennifer Chu

19 Apr, 2023

materials

- sustainability

This article was first published on MIT News.

The vast majority of absorbent materials will lose their ability to retain water as temperatures rise. This is why our skin starts to sweat and why plants dry out in the heat. Even materials that are designed to soak up moisture, such as the silica gel packs in consumer packaging, will lose their sponge-like properties as their environment heats up.

But one material appears to uniquely resist heat’s drying effects. MIT engineers have now found that polyethylene glycol (PEG) — a hydrogel commonly used in cosmetic creams, industrial coatings, and pharmaceutical capsules — can absorb moisture from the atmosphere even as temperatures climb.

The material doubles its water absorption as temperatures climb from 25 to 50 degrees Celsius (77 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit), the team reports.

PEG’s resilience stems from a heat-triggering transformation. As its surroundings heat up, the hydrogel’s microstructure morphs from a crystal to a less organized “amorphous” phase, which enhances the material’s ability to capture water.

Based on PEG’s unique properties, the team developed a model that can be used to engineer other heat-resistant, water-absorbing materials. The group envisions such materials could one day be made into devices that harvest moisture from the air for drinking water, particularly in arid desert regions. The materials could also be incorporated into heat pumps and air conditioners to more efficiently regulate temperature and humidity.

“A huge amount of energy consumption in buildings is used for thermal regulation,” says Lenan Zhang, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “This material could be a key component of passive climate-control systems.”

Zhang and his colleagues detail their work in a study appearing today in Advanced Materials. MIT co-authors include Xinyue Liu, Bachir El Fil, Carlos Diaz-Marin, Yang Z

Reflecting on the Evolution of Plastics at Kunststoffenbeurs 2023: A Leap Towards Sustainable Innovation

Wevolver attended the recent plastics innovation event. We bring you the highlights.

Towards a sustainable future

Addressing CO2 emissions

Search for articles and topics on Wevolver

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