REDUCING RESIN WASTE BY OPTIMIZING POLYMER PROCESS AND MACHINE DESIGN

摘要

Polymer processing and converting operations, whether they relate to extrusion coating, blown film extrusion, producing sheets for thermoforming or manufacturing finished articles by injection molding, generally involve some amount of resin waste. A total conversion of the resin into an article of desired quality is an exception rather than a rule. As material costs constitute the bulk of the total costs associated with any product, the aim should be to keep the resin waste as low as possible. With the quality of the product depending largely on the machine and processing parameters, one of the easiest and most effective methods of reducing polymer waste is to optimize the design of the converting machinery at the design stage before they are built as well as optimization of processing conditions. With the illustration of several examples representative of blown film extrusion, flat film extrusion, extrusion coating, blow molding and pelletization process, this paper demonstrates how by applying this strategy resin waste could be reduced.