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Demands for recycled plastic sheet greater than current supply

Demands for recycled plastic sheet greater than current supply

More recycled plastic sheet is needed to fill demand

The plastic industry struggles with bad press over greater amounts of plastic in the land fills and oceans. This is understandable when the quantity of plastic products has skyrocketed. One of the biggest offender This is the logo for Recycled HDPE materialsis the common shopping grocery sack. Most plastic materials are recyclable, and the demand has grown much faster than the supply, as industrial manufacturers are searching for recycled materials to use in their products.

Here is a recent article discussing the problem of plastic bag bans in more detail, “Manage waste right, don’t penalize small vendors“. Here is another article discussing the problem isn’t the plastics, “It’s Not About The Plastics, It’s About The People”.

What else is being done to ease this supply line shortage and the increase of recycling? Read more here…

Recycled resin demand drives support for EPR

By Mike Verespej| PLASTICS NEWS STAFF

Posted May 22, 2012

WASHINGTON (May 22, 10:35 a.m. ET) — With demand for recycled resins continuing to outstrip supply, the voices are getting louder — and more organized — for creating some sort of extended producer responsibility program to increase the recycling of packaging materials, plastics and otherwise.

In the past two months, an alliance of more than 30 public interest groups and other supporting organizations formed the Cradle² coalition to push for public policy changes that would make manufacturers responsible for collecting and recycling the products and packaging they make.

“The broad implementation of EPR is still a long way off,” said Scott Mouw, recycling director for the state of North Carolina. “But these new advocacy groups for EPR are all reacting to the same thing. …(read more here)

The entire plastic supply chain has been affected. We receive calls regularly for our plastic materials, but clients want to know if they can get a recycled plastic sheet version. Most plastics we carry can be Have a question, look at our FAQ pagerecycled, but most don’t make it back into sheets or rods due to FDA and NSF requirements. The most popular plastic we carry that are available as a recycled product are Reprocessed UHMW Sheets and Rods and Repro HDPE. The HDPE is available as post consumer content from milk jugs and laundry soap containers. PTFE sheet is also available as a reprocessed product for applications where the high purity is not critical, just the heat or wear resistance would remain. 

Contact us for more information on the recycled plastic materials you may need.

Additional Information About Plastic Recycling and The Real Cause of Pollution Here.
Topic: Recycled plastic sheet, repro

Not All Plastic Suppliers Are Created Equal

Not All Plastic Suppliers Are Created Equal

Big Differences Between Plastic Suppliers

While you can purchase a piece of plastic from many different suppliers, there are some significant differences between these suppliers. Some of the main differences are in the manufacturers and the materials that you get supplied. High quality Simona PVC rod machined to finished part

We see a wide range of materials and some drastically inferior grades of materials being sold to clients. Some materials have been produced too quickly or cooled too quickly causing a very high stressed plastic piece. These high stressed materials will warp, twist or crack when they get heated or during cutting. This material on the right is a piece of highly stressed Nylon. While cutting the material, our new customer had to stop the saw due to the severe warping and binding of the saw by this material. This new client brought this 24″ long part, and asked if we would cut it for him. We bought this part from him as an excellent example of a high stress plastic. (We did cut a quality piece of material to solve his problem).

One example of differences between manufacturers, is Gehr PVC rod is NSF 51 certified, while Simona PVC rod is not.

Other things you should consider when choosing a quality plastic supplier:

Quality of Materials

Origin of Materials

Huge in stock inventory of Performance Plastic Rod

Huge In Stock Inventory of Plastic Rod

Expert Support

In Stock Materials

Cutting – Converting Services

Longevity – How Long Have They Been In Business (We started in 1975)

Product Knowledge and Experience Equals Quality Plastic Suppliers

We believe that providing quality products is only part of our duty to you. You have intrusted us to help with your requirements, and we believe we should be good stewards of this trust, all part of being a quality plastic supplier. A plastic sheet supplier should advise you if the material you are looking for is the ‘wrong’ material. Acrylic does not do well at 450 degrees. Styrene does not make a good chemical tank. HDPE and PTFE do not bond. These and many more ‘land mines’ are things we help our clients with everyday. We have an experienced client support team (plastic experts), and we value the opportunity to assist our clients with this experience. Go ahead, ask us a question – that is why we have a “Ask A Plasticologist” page on our website.

If you need help, from what are the properties of Acetal, to temperature range on Ultem, please contact us. We look forward to assisting you and all our clients. Feel free to contact us with any questions, concerns or requests – call us at 866-832-9315 or e-mail us here.


Topic: Plastic Suppliers, Plastic Sheet Suppliers

Natural and White Polypropylene Sheet and Sheets

Natural and White Polypropylene Sheet and Sheets

Polypropylene Sheet and Sheets come in Natural and WhiteWhite Polypropylene for welded wet bench in Semiconductor chip manufacturing

Let’s start by clarifying what Natural and White means. The natural color of Polypropylene is a translucent straw color, not yellow – not white, more of a very lite translucent – almost transparent beige. The white color is a bright white with a slight blue tint, or blue white. This white color is opaque, and is a white color that blends well with other materials. Polypropylene sheet is also available in the color Black.

Polypropylene sheet materials are available in an opaque black color as well. There is also a grade of Polypropylene sheets that carries a FR – UL 94 V-0 rating. When fabricating a ‘wet bench’ for the electronic industry, the new requirement is FM4910. This new specification is from Factory Mutual Insurance, and the requirements are very stringent. The purpose of this specification is that the FM4910 means it won’t burn, and will put off no toxic fumes or excessive smoke.

This rigid plastic sheet can be cut with standard cutting tools, drilled, routed, machined and processed easily. Clean and sharp tools will provide a clean cut, and occasionally will produce stringy burrs that are easy to remove with standard deburring tools. It fabricates very much like HDPE (High Density Polyethylene Sheet), and has many similar properties. The chemical resistance of Polypropylene approaches the excellent resistance of Dupont PTFE Sheet.

Polypropylene sheet materials have excellent chemical resistance

The main claim to fame for polypropylene in sheet is the excellent chemical resistance. This material is used extensively in the manufacture of chemical tanks. This chemical resistance means also that it can not be bonded together (glues and cements peel right off!), and thus it must be ‘welded’ together for fabrication. The preferred method of welding is a hot air welder – which supplies a fine stream of very hot air on the exact area that you may wish to weld together. This weld, when done properly will yield a very strong bond, and will enable a water tight tank or box to be fabricated.

Large 14" diameter Natural Polypropylene rods

14 inch Natural Polypropylene Rod produced by Gehr Plastics, the largest domestic plastic rod currently in production.

This great building block material can be used in numerous industrial and chemical type applications. The list of great properties is extensive, here are a few of the highlights:

  • Self Lubricating and Low Co-Efficient of Friction
  • High Chemical Resistance
  • Abrasion, Moisture and Electrical Resistance
  • Stiffness, Rigidity, or Cut Resistance
  • Low Specific Gravity (Floats in Water)

Polypropylene sheet and sheeting provide years of use, and can be cleaned with most chemical cleaners. Sheets are available in thicknesses ranging from .032″ – 2.0+ thick, and standard sheet sizes are 48″ X 96″ and 48″ X 120″, plus other sizes can be special run.

Contact us for availability of your Polypropylene sheets, rod and yes, even tubes. We are waiting your e-mail inquiry or call us at: 866-832-9315.
Topic: Polypropylene Sheet Fabrication

Which Plastic Sheet or Rod To Use – How Do I Choose The Proper Plastic Materials

Which Plastic Sheet or Rod To Use – How Do I Choose The Proper Plastic Materials

Which Plastic Sheet or Rod Material is right for me?

Acetal Copolymer Sheet and Rod

Mechanical Acetal Sheet

This not an easy question to answer. Several different factors come into play when choosing the right plastic for your application. Temperature, strength, exposure to the elements and even time spent at elevated temperatures are just a few factors to consider when choosing the right plastic for a particular project or job.

Picking the right plastic for your application is critical for its success and longevity and needed to insure that the material doesn’t fail in critical situations. From the onset it may take a bit of time to choose the right plastic material, but will ultimately pay off in the long run. Simply choosing the cheapest plastic sheet or rod may spell disaster for your project.

Many plastics are resistant to chemical attacks. Some plastics however are not. Two examples of plastic that have low resistance to chemicals are Acetal Copolymer and Nylon. Acetal and Nylon are both a great machining plastics with excellent wear resistance and impact strength. However, when exposed to chlorine or alkaline they tend to become brittle which can cause failure and if used in such instances as plumbing, can lead to major problems such as flooding. Nylon does have good resistance to many chemicals but will degrade when exposed to acids especially sulfuric. A plastic that would work better for applications involving the use of chlorine or acids is UHMW. UHMW has some of the same properties as Acetal such as wear resistance, ease of machining and are both self lubricating. UHMW often is an alternative for Acetal and Nylon, especially when it comes to chemical attacks.

Many plastic sheet and rod materials to choose from

Another plastic that can fail if used in the wrong application is Acrylic. Acrylic is a great plastic for displays and decorative purposes and is a natural replacement for window glass. However, it is brittle and has very low impact strength as opposed to Polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is a great plastic for impact strength, probably the best in the plastic family. It is 25 times stronger than

Large selection of Performance Plastic Sheet and Rod

Massive Selection of Performance Plastic Rod

Acrylic and this makes it ideal for bullet resistant glass and riot shields, while Acrylic would be useless for those critical jobs. However, Acrylic has better U.V. resistance than Polycarbonate Plastic Sheet which makes it better for use outdoors over longer periods of time because it is invisible to sunlight. Another plastic that cannot handle U.V. rays is Polypropylene. Polypropylene unlike Acetal has excellent chemical and moisture resistance. However, unlike Acrylic, it becomes brittle in sunlight and starts to craze or crack when exposed over a period of time while Acrylic would last many years longer. Even though Polypropylene is a very rigid and stiff material, with good impact and crack resistance, if exposed to the elements for a period of time, it will not retain its properties and a chemical chain reaction will cause the material to eventually fail. Polypropylene is great at handling chemicals and food applications which neither Acrylic nor Polycarbonate Sheet are well suited because for this application, because they don’t have good chemical resistance and the standard grades are not approved for handling food.

So many Plastic Sheet and Rod Choices

Because there are so many options, we invite you to do further research. One are would be the blog post ‘Pick The Proper Plastic Material‘, or even use the online tool ‘Gehr Plastic Selection Tool‘. There are over 60 standard plastic sheet materials that we stock, with many additional material that are available from our factories, contact us for help with your application.

These are just some examples of the differences between plastic resins and it is important to note that just because one plastic works for one application, it may not work for another. All factors must be considered and taken into account, maybe even some trial and error. This will insure that your project will go smoothly and will be able to last through many years of use, saving time, money and patience.

Contact us for more examples of materials and the differences between specific items. Also, we have a great tool to help you in choosing the proper plastic material for your application, check out our free Plastic Material Selector Guide. We would also welcome your email inquiries or call us at: 866-832-9315.

Plastic Sheet and Sheets – Over 80 Materials To Choose From

Plastic Sheet and Sheets – Over 80 Materials To Choose From

Which Plastic Sheet or Plastic Sheets?

A wide variety of plastics are available in sheet form.

The term: ‘Plastic Sheet‘ or ‘Plastic Sheets’ is more of a general statement covering over a hundred types of plastic materials and plastic products. Some of the most popular plastic materials made as a sheet are:

Large inventory of Performance Plastic Sheet ready for shipment

Large Inventory of Performance Plastic Sh

Wide range of plastic materials in sheet

In addition to the wide range of plastic materials available as plastic sheet, most of these materials are also available as: thin gauge or film, strip, plate, block, slab and plastic panels. The thin gauge or film materials are frequently available with or without a pressure sensitive adhesive also called ‘tape’. Sheet in some materials is available over 4.0″ thick and perhaps as thick as 8.0″ thick in a few materials. The standard sheet size on most of our plastic sheets is either 24″ X 48″ or the larger 48″ X 96″ sheet size; although some materials are available as: 48″ X 120″, 60″ X 96″ or 72″ X 96″. Contact us with with questions on your required piece sizes, we are happy to provide plastic sheets cut to size.

While there are lots and lots of different materials available as plastic sheet, there may only be one or two materials that are right for your application. We want to assist with your search. If you need help choosing the proper plastic material for your application, check out our free Plastic Material Selector Guide. Also, feel free to contact us for further assistance. As a leading plastic sheet distributor since 1975, we feel that we are your best choice as your new plastic sheet and sheets supplier. Give us a call at 866-832-9315.

Topic: Various Plastic Sheet Materials Available

 

Are Your Plastic Material Suppliers Stressing You Out

Are Your Plastic Material Suppliers Stressing You Out

Stress In Plastic Sheet, Rod, Tube Stress can cause product failure and cracking

You know how bad it is when you get stressed out, with all the day to day challenges and issues? Well, plastics get stressed too.

The process of producing plastics into sheet, rod and tube is a stressful manufacturing process.

Stress free plastic manufacturing

  • The process to make a plastic sheet, plastic rod or plastic tube requires the plastic resin to be heated to temperatures of 350° – 500º to get the resin to flow through the machines.
  • The material is then pushed through a die at high pressure.
  • This heat and pressure cause many stresses to affect the plastic material.
  • The cooling of the plastic shape is critical
  • If the plastic cools to quickly, the surface cools and the center is still very hot, this is a major cause of internal stress.
  • Processed to quickly and voids or cold spots cause poor quality sections.
  • Processed to slowly and materials burn in the die and visible burn spots appear on the surfaces – bad material
  • Proper speed provides homogeneous material that has cooled at a uniform rate through the sheet yields a very low stress sheet

The stresses from this production can be very significant and can ruin your parts. One common prevention method is to anneal or stress relieve the raw material prior to machining, and may require stress relieving during machining if large amounts of material are being removed. The stress relieving process is a slow heat and cool process, contact us for details on your material or project.

Here is an example of a highly stressed plastic sheet, it is 1.250″ thick glass filled nylon sheet. The manufacturer sent us this sample to show the ‘quality’ of their material. We attempted to cut off a strip to do some testing, and you can see the results. This material warped so much it stopped our saw! We never did buy anything from this supplier.

Compression Molded Plastic Sheet and Brownies…

Nylon with huge amount of stress, cooled too quickly causing severe warp during cutting. This makes for an unsafe and danger to the machinist.

Nylon with huge amount of stress, cooled too quickly.

Yes, you read that right, brownies. I still remember the wonderful smell of my Grandma’s house when she was baking her special 2″ thick brownies. The smell was great, but I also remember the critical timing in the oven. She would open the oven and peek in, and close it quickly so as not to let the heat out. Then, when they looked about right she would open the oven and slip a toothpick into the center of the pan and pull it out again slowly. I can remember asking, “Grandma, why do you put in the toothpick into the brownie?”. The answer was, that the outside cooks quicker than the inside, and it takes a while to get the brownies to cook all the way to the center.Then, when they were all cooked, I would have to wait while they cooled. And, sometimes, if I didn’t wait quite long enough, when I would take a bit the center would burn my tongue. Ouch!

The interesting thing is, that plastics are about the same. Most plastics have a very low co-efficient of thermal conductivity (that is sure a mouth-full), which means that heat and cold don’t travel through the plastics well. This means that it takes a while to ‘cook’ the plastic all the way through, and not just the surfaces. And, just like my brownie story, the plastics take a long time to cool. If the outside of the plastic cools much faster than the inside, then large amounts of stress develop.

The process of compression molding of the plastic sheets is ideal for eliminating stress. The sheets cook slowly, so the entire sheet, including the center, is heated to a uniform temperature. The temperature is held at temperature to insure a fully cooked sheet (you can’t use a toothpick here). Then, over several hours, the temperature of the sheet and the entire compression molding press is lowered very s-l-o-w-l-y. This allows the center of the sheet to cool at the same rate as the external surfaces, and this yields a very stress free sheet. The premier manufacturer of this high quality compression molded sheet is Westlake Plastics. We have been a master supplier of the Westlake Plastic materials for over 35 years.

What should you do to eliminate stress?

If you are experiencing problems with your plastic materials, such as twisting, warping, ‘potato chipping’ or any other sign of stress, contact us. It is probably not your fault. There are dozens of manufacturers that produce engineering and mechanical plastic shapes, they are not all the same. During the production of materials, the process should include a secondary annealing step to remove stress from the newly product.  By removing all stress from the sheet or rod you are insured of a ‘clean slat’ before you start machining or finishing. We only provide materials from top rated manufacturers, we truly care about the materials you receive from us.

If you have been experiencing problems with the materials you are getting from other suppliers, let us know, we can help eliminate your stress problems. E-mail us or call us at: 866-832-9315