news news in brief


❙ LN Holdings has completed its first acquisition in Denmark by taking 75% of Centre Tool, which is based just outside Copenhagen, on undisclosed terms. Founded in 1972 and hitherto privately owned, Center Tool is a specialist in advanced injection moulds and advanced manufacturing parts. It had seen strong growth for years but needed extra management capacity to expand into the medical moulding industry. The previous owners will remain with the company. www.centertool.dk


❙ Italian plastics and rubber machinery makers associa- tion Assocomaplast has changed its name to AMaPlast (a shortened form of Associazione Macchine Plastica) and will adopt the acronym AMP. Renaming the organisation is said to be part of the group’s strategy of strengthening its ability to promote the activities of its 160 members internationally. www.amaplast.org


❙ Jokey Group has taken over Spanish packaging producer Treplas in a deal dated retroactively to 1 January. Treplas, based in Molina de Segura in Murcia province, produces injection moulded food packaging, plus closures, caps and tailored services for personal and home care application. JThe Rubio Ruis brothers will remain at the helm of Treplas to ensure continuity of service. www.jokey.com


12


Eastman presents Treva performance cellulose


Eastman Chemical has introduced a new partly bio-based cellulose polymer that is claimed to offer levels of performance that match engineering plastics such as PC, ABS and PC/ABS blends without sacrificing processing ability.


At a chemical level, the new


Treva polymer (pronounced “tree-va”) is similar to conventional cellulose ester plastics. The polymer is comprised of around 50% cellulose, sourced from wood, with the remainder derived from acetic acid and acetic anhydride building blocks. The difference, according to Kevin Duffy, Business Development Manager Treva at Eastman, is in how those building blocks are assembled. “Cellulose esters are not


new and have been in our portfolio for 100 years,” Duffy told Injection World. “What’s different [with Treva] is the functionality and performance. We have overcome some of the traditional issues of dimen- sional stability and migration.” The Treva resin is said to


offer very good flow, making it suitable for injection moulding


Potential Treva applications include spectacle frames and wearable electronics, such as these virtual reality glasses


of parts with thin wall sections. The company claims that under recommended processing conditions, 30 mil (0.75mm) spiral flow tests show flow to be similar to ABS and significantly better than PC and PC/ABS blends. Other characteristics of the


Treva resin include good chemical resistance (especially to skin oils and sun creams), high ductility, low birefringence, good haptics, and high transpar- ency. Eastman says impact performance is better than PMMA but not as good as PC. Two Treva grades are


available from launch. The first is a general purpose resin formulated to provide a good combination of processing and


performance; the second is a high toughness version offering better impact performance at the cost of some clarity. Both can be processed by injection moulding and extrusion. The new materials are


produced on the company’s existing assets at Kingsport in Texas. Duffy said the bio-based content of the Treva resin will be an attraction to potential users but that sustainability benefits will be considered as part of a full package including performance and, of course, price. “Our message is that we will be competitive with the higher end engineering plastics,” he said. ❙ www.eastman.com


GW buys Avenue in Ireland


US-based injection moulder GW Plastics has bought mould-maker Avenue Mould Solutions, based in Sligo, Ireland, for an undisclosed amount. GW said Avenue brings expertise in building ultra-high-cavitation tooling up to 192 cavity moulds for the medical device, diagnos- tics, and pharmaceutical markets.


INJECTION WORLD | July/August 2017 In the last two years, GW Plastics has


completed expansions at its facilities in San Antonio, Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona and Dongguan, China. It has also invested in its thermoplastics and silicones manufacturing and mould-making facilities in Royalton, Vermont. ❙ www.gwplastics.com


www.injectionworld.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56