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MACHINEX VICTORIOUS IN PATENT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT AGAINST GREEN MACHINE

MACHINEX VICTORIOUS IN PATENT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT AGAINST GREEN MACHINE

Machinex Industries Inc. and Machinex Technologies Inc., (“Machinex”) have won a significant victory in a lawsuit brought by American competitor, Green Machine Sales LLC (“Green Machine”).  As a result, Green Machine’s U.S. Patent 9,950,346 (“the ’346 patent”) for its Green Eye® Optical Sorter has been declared invalid.

 

Since Spring 2019, Machinex has been battling false allegations of patent infringement asserted by Green Machine in a North Carolina lawsuit.  From day one, Machinex has reassured its clients and partners that it would defend Machinex’s Mach Hyspec® optical sorter from Green Machine’s charges that it infringed the ’346 patent.  In addition, Machinex asked the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) to declare Green Machine’s ’346 patent invalid.

 

The PTO did just that on October 4, 2021, issuing a Final Written Decision that all claims of the ’346 patent were unpatentable.  In a filing last week with the North Carolina court, Green Machine admitted it has no valid U.S. patent claims to assert against Machinex and stated that it will not be appealing the PTO’s decision invalidating the ’346 patent.  Today, Green Machine asked the North Carolina court to dismiss the lawsuit against Machinex and the Mach Hyspec® optical sorter with prejudice.

 

Machinex apologizes for any inconvenience or concerns that Green Machine or this case may have caused to Machinex’s clients and partners.

 

As an industry pioneer, we take pride in improving technologies and developing our own innovative sorting technologies every day and will continue to do so with passion.

https://www.machinexrecycling.com/

INEOS STYROLUTION NAMED FINALIST IN CHEMICAL WEEK SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS 2021

INEOS STYROLUTION NAMED FINALIST IN CHEMICAL WEEK SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS 2021

 

  • Company’s commitment and actions to shift to renewable feedstock recognised by Chemical Week

 

INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, today announced that it has been chosen by Chemical Week as a finalist in the magazine’s sustainability awards 2021 in the category “best sustainable feedstock initiative”.

 

The INEOS business was nominated as a finalist for its bio-attribution approach to use renewable feedstock in its petrochemical installations, developed together with the INEOS Group and Scandinavian bio-refineries.

 

Using this approach, the company has taken steps to substitute fossil with renewable feedstock to produce Styrolux® ECO and Styroflex® ECO, the world’s first specialty grades made from kitchen waste and wood waste. Therefore, this feedstock does not compete with food nor with land use. This method reduces CO2 emissions and maintains technical, quality and regulatory properties of the products, without need to alter specification or production processes.

 

The feedstock sources, supply chain and production processes have been certified by the Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC), to comply with the highest sustainability certification criteria.

 

This is the second consecutive year in which INEOS Styrolution has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Chemical Week Sustainability Awards. In 2020, the company was named a finalist in the category “Best Sustainability Initiative”.

 

Mark Beitz, Head of Sustainability, R&D & Regulatory at INEOS Styrolution says: “It is an immense honour to be recognised for our efforts to reduce our use of fossil fuel feedstock as well as reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Our aim is to expand this attribution approach to other sites to further integrate renewable and recycled raw materials into our products.”

 

The Sustainability Awards’ winners will be announced on 18 November 2021 at Chemical Week’s Financial Outlook & Sustainability Forum.

 

About INEOS Styrolution

INEOS Styrolution is the leading global styrenics supplier, with a focus on styrene monomer, polystyrene, ABS Standard and styrenic specialties. With world-class production facilities and more than 90 years of experience, INEOS Styrolution helps its customers succeed by offering innovative and sustainable best-in-class solutions, designed to give them a competitive edge in their markets, and at the same time, help make the circular economy for styrenics a reality. The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, household, construction, healthcare, packaging and toys/sports/leisure. In 2020, sales were at 4 billion euros. INEOS Styrolution employs approximately 3,600 people and operates 20 production sites in ten countries.

More information: www.ineos-styrolution.com

Milliken & Company Acquires Encapsys, LLC

Milliken & Company Acquires Encapsys, LLC

Spartanburg, S.C. – Milliken & Company (“Milliken”), a global diversified manufacturer with more than a century and a half of materials science expertise, has formally acquired Encapsys, LLC (“Encapsys”), a world leader in microencapsulation, from the Cypress Performance Group LLC (“Cypress”). The transaction officially closed October 18, 2021.

“Moving the needle on sustainability requires big thinking and powerful collaborations. We’re thrilled to welcome Encapsys to Milliken,” said Halsey Cook, president and CEO for Milliken & Company. “Encapsys’s expertise coupled with our ability to scale will propel our efforts to deliver sustainable innovations for our customers.”

 

“Encapsys brings a unique combination of innovation, science and technology to the Milliken team,” adds Cindy Boiter, executive vice president and president of Milliken’s Chemical Business. “Enhancing our portfolio of specialty chemicals with global reach, this acquisition will accelerate sustainable solutions for the markets and customers we serve.”

 

As Encapsys integrates into Milliken, daily operations will continue without interruption, including relationships with existing suppliers and customers.

 

Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, Encapsys is a leader in microencapsulation technologies, which put a uniform polymeric shell around a core material at the micron level to create capsules. Microencapsulation has applications across industries and helps companies achieve more sustainable products by advancing responsible consumption and efficient delivery of active materials.

 

“Encapsys associates are excited to become a member of the Milliken team and welcome a world-class organization to Northeast Wisconsin,” stated Mary Goggans, president of Encapsys. “Our culture and values are a perfect fit, and we look forward to leveraging Milliken’s global capabilities to accelerate innovation and growth.”

 

Milliken was represented by legal advisor Jones Day and financial advisor J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. BofA Securities, Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as financial advisors, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisor to Encapsys.

Gecko Green Line Premium: hubergroup continues to advance the sustainability of its portfolio

Gecko Green Line Premium: hubergroup continues to advance the sustainability of its portfolio

 

After the recent announcement of the Cradle to Cradle certification for its water-based HYDRO-X series, hubergroup Print Solutions is now following up with solvent-based inks. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute certified the flexographic and gravure ink series Gecko Green Line Premium with Cradle to Cradle Certified® Bronze. Thereby, hubergroup gives printers and packaging manufacturers the assurance that the composition and production of the ink series are designed sustainably.

 

Back in 2018, Gecko Green Line Premium was the first flexographic and gravure ink series worldwide to receive the C2C Certified Material Health CertificateTM at the Silver level. Since then, the ink specialist has continued to push the issue of sustainability within the company and has now achieved full certification at Bronze level for the ink series. As part of this certification, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute does not only evaluate environmental and human toxicity (“material health”) but also the categories of recyclability/circularity, use of renewable energy and carbon management, responsible water management and compliance with social standards.

Dr Lars Hancke, Business Development Manager Flexible Packaging at hubergroup, explains: “We look at sustainability holistically. After receiving the C2C Certified Material Health certificate, the logical next step for us was to organise our actions and processes even more sustainably. The Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Program was exactly the right approach for us, as it is very comprehensive and rigorous.” 

Dr Lutz Frischmann, Global Product Director Flexible Packaging, adds: “Printers and packaging manufacturers can use our Gecko inks as usual. The certification has no impact on the application – it just gives our customers the assurance that we use high-quality, sustainable, and forward-looking products.”

Whether for water-based or solvent-based flexo and gravure printing, or even for offset printing – hubergroup now offers printing inks with full Cradle to Cradle certification for all these printing processes, enabling an extremely wide range of applications. This makes the ink specialist one of the companies with the broadest portfolio of sustainable printing inks.

Propak West Africa 2021 article for November 2021 MPIM

Propak West Africa 2021 article for November 2021 MPIM

Propak West Africa returned last month after a years gap because of the pandemic. With 2,412 industry stakeholders attending the exhibition to visit the 52 exhibitors showcasing their equipment, the sentiment was of excitement and positivity that the opportunity was back for the industry.

 

Over the three days between 14th – 16th September 2021 the packaging, printing, plastics and processing industries reunited for the first time in two years and were able to discover the products they had been missing from their supply chain in that time. Exhibitors from the local market included Atlas Copco, Bestaf Trading Company, Bobst West Africa, CIS Buro, Exact Solutions, Greenville, Tenaui and Vista International to name just a few. And while some restrictions remained in place the organisers were pleased to see a good number of international companies who continue to support the event and travel to Lagos including Blue Air Systems, Erema Recycling, Galdi, HTG Industry, Miele, Neofyton and Windmoeller and Holscher. With it being the first time for many internationals returning to Nigeria the chance to meet with so many local buyers and clients was an opportunity not to be missed and 87% of those surveyed said they achieved their goals of exhibiting.

 

Onsite George Pearson, Regional Director for the organisers Afrocet Montgomery said, “While it’s certainly been a challenging run up to the exhibition this year, we’re very pleased and excited to be back onsite and be able to bring the community back together for the regions largest business platform for the industries we serve. It’s been great to be back in Lagos and speak with many of our exhibitors and visitors as it’s been quite some time since that’s been possible. And we’re already looking forward to next year and growing back up to the same size we were in 2019”.

 

Running alongside the busy exhibitor stands, Propak once again saw the return of a high level conference program that focused it’s attention on how the packaging, plastics and printing industries will rebound from the pandemic and how it can be done sustainably with speakers from many of the leading brands in the region including TetraPak West Africa, Guinness Nigeria, Grand Cereals, Neofyton and PwC Nigeria to name just a handful. The sessions were made up of panel discussions, keynote presentations and technical seminars and many have been uploaded to the website to be viewed back for those that could not attend.

 

While this years exhibition was smaller than in previous editions, with a very strong rebooking of 74% the organisers have said that hall one is already almost sold out for 2022. With this they hope for a swift return for next edition to the largest exhibition size seen 2019, with 5000 visitors and 200 exhibitors.

 

www.montgomerygroup.com

 

Silgan Dispensing Awarded EcoVadis’ Gold Sustainability Rating

Silgan Dispensing Awarded EcoVadis’ Gold Sustainability Rating

 
Silgan Dispensing, a global leader in the design and manufacture of highly engineered pumps and sprayers for the beauty, fragrance, personal care, home, and healthcare markets, has received EcoVadis’ Gold sustainability rating for environmental and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. EcoVadis is the world’s largest independent provider of business sustainability ratings, assessing a network of more than 75,000 companies.
 

Silgan Dispensing’s rating score and Gold Certification places it in the 94th percentile of all companies worldwide rated by EcoVadis and the top 3 percent of those companies rated in the manufacturing of plastic products. EcoVadis assesses four core areas to determine an organization’s rating: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.

“Corporate responsibility and sustainability are at the heart of our culture and guide how we operate our plants, design our dispensing solutions and engage with our team members and within our communities. Receiving EcoVadis’ Gold distinction reflects that commitment and is just an initial step in our journey toward a better future,” said Kevin Clark, President, Silgan Dispensing. “More than a core value, sustainability is key to our long-term success, and with our dedicated team, I’m confident that we will continue to make a measurable positive impact for our customers, consumers and the communities where we live and work.”

“We are proud of our score and our global team’s hard work to embed sustainability into every facet of our business,” said Kym Wellons, Vice President, Human Resources, Legal and Sustainability, Silgan Dispensing. “We look forward to building on this achievement and reaching new heights with our sustainability efforts.”

https://silgandispensing.com/

SABIC CREATES THE FIRST CERTIFIED CIRCULAR POLYMERS FROM ADVANCED RECYCLING OF RECOVERED OCEAN-BOUND PLASTIC

SABIC CREATES THE FIRST CERTIFIED CIRCULAR POLYMERS FROM ADVANCED RECYCLING OF RECOVERED OCEAN-BOUND PLASTIC

SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, and Malaysia-based plastic recycling company HHI, have announced a pioneering new collaboration to create the first certified circular polymers produced through the advanced recycling of recovered mixed and used ocean-bound plastic. The certified circular polyolefins from ocean-bound plastic, from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio of circular solutions,will be used by SABIC’s customers to announce new products over the coming months.

As well as helping to protect our oceans and waterways, the ocean-bound plastic collection helps to create value for local communities by increasing demand for recycled plastic across the industry. The material is recovered from ocean-feeding waterways and inland areas within a 50 kilometer radius of the ocean by HHI partners predominantly in Malaysia. 

The recovered material is then sent to HHI, where they convert the used plastic into pyrolysis oil through an advanced recycling. The pyrolysis oil is then used by SABIC in their production process as an alternative to traditional fossil materials to make new certified circular polymers. The material has been certified under the Zero Plastic Oceans accreditation, and HHI is the first organisation to have received certification confirming the materials it recycles qualify as ocean-bound. 

HHI created its own model to outline the steps required to facilitate the transition to a circular economy. The model has five stages which are to collect ocean-bound plastic through its extensive network; convert them into high-quality, manufacturable materials; collaborate with partners to create new products; provide customers with the platform to champion their use of more sustainable materials; and catalyse a generation of conscientious consumers who will opt for sustainable materials.

Abdullah Al-Otaibi, General Manager, ETP & Market Solutions at SABIC, said: “We are acutely aware of the challenges we face globally to stop plastic from becoming waste. Developing an entirely circular recycling system is a huge but necessary step we need to take together and will require all players across the value chain to collaborate. That’s why we’re committed to developing long-term solutions and working with new partners like HHI to significantly upscale the production of more sustainable materials, including those produced using recycled ocean-bound materials, for the benefit of our customers, society and the environment.”

Kian Seah, CEO at HHI, explains: “At HHI, our circular economy model helps to guide us in all of our endeavours, from business planning and collaborations with partners such as SABIC, to eco-initiatives, as we strive to protect our ocean and communities. We believe that we have the ability to work towards a cleaner future that views plastic as a valuable resource to keep within the value chain.

“We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far with SABIC, but also realise that we are early into our journey towards enabling a circular economy , and it is by no means a straightforward one. Our common spirit and passion has helped us overcome significant challenges to make this innovative process a reality and to ensure the reliability of technologies, quality of the end material and viability of the circular consumption model. We share a commitment to reshape the way we produce and recycle plastics and address environmental and societal challenges in a lasting, meaningful way.”

https://www.sabic.com/

INEOS STYROLUTION CONFIRMS ITS INVESTMENT DECISION FOR EUROPE’S FIRST POLYSTYRENE ADVANCED RECYCLING PILOT PLANT

INEOS STYROLUTION CONFIRMS ITS INVESTMENT DECISION FOR EUROPE’S FIRST POLYSTYRENE ADVANCED RECYCLING PILOT PLANT

  • Joint collaboration with Recycling Technologies, UK
  • Europe’s first advanced chemical polystyrene recycling facility is expected to be operational in the second half of 2022

INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, has today confirmed its decision to invest into a pilot plant for advanced recycling of polystyrene. The site will be set up in collaboration with Recycling Technologies in Swindon, UK. It is expected to be operational in the second half of 2022.

The decision announced today is a significant step forward launching polystyrene recycling through depolymerisation technology. Depolymerisation is an advanced recycling technology that converts polystyrene waste feedstock back into its main building block, Styrene which can then be used to manufacture new polystyrene with identical properties to the virgin material. The unique properties of polystyrene allow this efficient monomer recycling process to be harnessed avoiding the need to downcycle polystyrene. An additional benefit of depolymerisation is a significant decrease of greenhouse gas emissions when compared with the production of virgin polystyrene from naphtha.

The Swindon pilot plant will be based on Recycling Technologies’ fluidised bed reactor technology, which offers excellent scalability making it the technology of choice for future even larger recycling plants.

Dr. Alexander Glück, President EMEA at INEOS Styrolution comments, “I am excited to see this project move ahead. With Recycling Technologies, we have found a partner, who is not only

offering a very attractive technology, but who is also sharing our own vision to avoid polystyrene ending up in landfills or being incinerated. We are on the right path to make polystyrene a circular material.”

Adrian Griffiths, CEO & Founder of Recycling Technologies Ltd., adds, “We welcome INEOS Styrolution’s decision and are pleased to be a critical element of the team to build Europe’s first advanced chemical polystyrene recycling facility. Harnessing our fluidised bed engineering technology and expertise to recycling polystyrene is a critical step to making polystyrene circular.”

About INEOS Styrolution
INEOS Styrolution is the leading global styrenics supplier, with a focus on styrene monomer, polystyrene, ABS Standard and styrenic specialties. With world-class production facilities and more than 90 years of experience, INEOS Styrolution helps its customers succeed by offering solutions, designed to give them a competitive edge in their markets. At the same time, these innovative and sustainable best-in-class solutions help make the circular economy for styrenics a reality. The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, household, construction, healthcare, packaging and toys/sports/leisure. In 2020, sales were at 4 billion euros. INEOS Styrolution employs approximately 3,600 people and operates 20 production sites in ten countries.

More information: www.ineos-styrolution.com

ONROBOT LAUNCHES FIRST REMOTE MONITORING AND DIAGNOSTICS SOFTWARE FOR COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS

ONROBOT LAUNCHES FIRST REMOTE MONITORING AND DIAGNOSTICS SOFTWARE FOR COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS

OnRobot, the One Stop Shop for collaborative robot applications, makes its software debut with the launch of WebLytics, a unique production monitoring, device diagnostics, and data analytics solution designed to enhance productivity and minimize downtime. 

Capable of monitoring the performance of multiple collaborative applications simultaneously and in real-time, WebLytics gathers equipment data from both robots and tools and transforms it into easy-to-understand, visualized device and application-level intelligence. 

“The launch of WebLytics is an important landmark for OnRobot, our customers, and our global integrator network,” says Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO of OnRobot. “WebLytics is the first software solution to provide real-time, application-focused data for collaborative applications across major robot brands. As our first software product, WebLytics marks the beginning of OnRobot’s journey into robot software and completes our vision of providing a One Stop Shop for collaborative applications on both the hardware and software side.” 

For end-users and integrators, WebLytics not only eliminates manual data collection — it provides actionable insights into how well a collaborative application is performing, offering live device diagnostics, alerts and preventive maintenance measures to keep costly robot cell downtime to a minimum.  

Integrating the globally recognized overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) industry standard, WebLytics identifies trends in real-time in the robot cell, including patterns, peaks, and disturbances in application productivity. OEE measures the percentage of manufacturing time that is truly productive – a score of 100% indicates that the collaborative application is producing only good parts, as fast as possible, and with no downtime. Leveraging these OEE measures, WebLytics can determine whether the manufacturing process is running at optimal speed and can monitor and analyze the quality of application cycles –key insights for manufacturers of all sizes. 

WebLytics can report on utilization of the robot arm and OnRobot tools such as grippers, vision cameras, and sensors, as well as the number of safety stops initiated, and the number of grip cycles performed while an application is running. 

When changes are made to a robot cell, such as adjusting the speed of a robot or the settings on a gripper, WebLytics can also automatically report on the impact of those changes on application performance. 

If anomalies occur in the collaborative application after deployment, WebLytics enables users to analyze the data collected directly from the robot(s) and tools and report on its findings using customizable dashboards. 

Dongjin Moon, administrative manager at Hyun Jeon Sa, tested WebLytics’ application monitoring capabilities on a range of pick & place applications: 
“The overall configuration of WebLytics is very simple and easy to use for anyone; it’s intuitive to find and set functions, and the settings of each function are organized in order,” he said, recommending the use of WebLytics to manufacturers that want to monitor their entire production cell in one program. “The great advantage of WebLytics is it makes it possible to identify parts that affect productivity, performance, and quality while even comparing productivity between shifts by selecting a specific time frame. Furthermore, WebLytics monitors not only OnRobot tools but also connects and receives data from a wide range of robots and cobots. I particularly liked the dashboard features, allowing me to select and view data by designating it as a graph or window in different ways.” 

WebLytics retains the ease-of-use, affordability, application focus and accessibility that defines every OnRobot product. Compatible with all leading collaborative robot and lightweight industrial robot arms and with all OnRobot tools, WebLytics is readily expandable, futureproofing it as new robots and tools become available. Access to WebLytics’ is provided through a secure, intuitive browser-based user interface, that displays OEE measures and user-defined KPIs through customizable dashboards that provide an immediate and transparent view into real-time and historical application performance. 

The WebLytics server can be deployed on a shop floor’s local network or added to a virtual network that connects to the robot cell. Collected data is stored locally on the WebLytics server. Meanwhile, WebLytics’ built-in web server is always accessible from the shop floor network or from anywhere in the world via a secure HTTPS connection. 

WebLytics is not just a powerful tool for end-users; it also creates new revenue opportunities for system integrators, by providing the software required to offer their customers data-backed custom service agreements and engineering services for cell optimization. 

“WebLytics is the perfect addition to our existing product lines and a natural progression of the OnRobot tradition of making advanced tools and technologies — in this case, remote monitoring, device diagnostics and data analytics — affordable and accessible to companies of all sizes,” says Iversen. 

https://onrobot.com/

 
 
 

EcoSynthetix Announces Ongoing Commercial DuraBind™ Volumes with Top 15 Wood Composites Manufacturer and Leading Retailer

EcoSynthetix Announces Ongoing Commercial DuraBind™ Volumes with Top 15 Wood Composites Manufacturer and Leading Retailer

 EcoSynthetix Inc. A renewable chemicals company that produces a portfolio of commercially proven bio-based products, today announced an annual contract renewal and purchase orders for continuous monthly volumes of the Company’s bio-based DuraBind™ resin into 2022 with a top 15 global manufacturer of wood composite products and a leading international retailer.

“Consumers, retailers and manufacturers are searching for greener and healthier choices in the everyday items they bring into their homes and we believe our DuraBind™ technology is the healthiest and most sustainable commercial binder for wood composites available,” said Jeff MacDonald, CEO of EcoSynthetix. “This ongoing commitment is a major milestone for the Company – the culmination of a six-year intensive process through which a forward-thinking manufacturer has evaluated alternatives, tested the performance and value offered by DuraBind™ and moved forward into  commercial production.”

The manufacturer is using DuraBind™ in one of multiple mills that it owns. DuraBind™ enables the production of wood panels that are a step change ahead of existing regulatory standards for the level of VOC emissions and significantly increases the renewable content of engineered wood panels. The contract enables the manufacturer to increase volumes under the same terms. There are multiple avenues available to grow within the account, including increasing the volume of resin used in the planned production, expanding to the entire production of the facility, extending to the other mills it owns, as well as, adoption by other manufacturers within the retail supply chain. 

“Broad-scale adoption within the industrial materials industry is a demanding process. We are working with strategic accounts, like this one, that are recognized as thought leaders on sustainability and establishing industry standards. We believe this ongoing commitment by the manufacturer demonstrates significant progress toward a sustainable, bio-based glue that creates significant carbon footprint reductions for wood composites. We also believe it will help mobilize other manufacturers to accelerate the pursuit of solutions in their supply chain that lower emissions and make a significant contribution to their carbon footprint reduction goals,” continued Mr. MacDonald.

www.ecosynthetix.com