That all plastics are not recyclable really irks me — things like those clear plastic tubs that spinach comes in. I put them in the recycling bin and the guy in the recycling truck tosses it in the trash along with those little plastics bottles holding hotel shampoo. They don't have the recycling number on the bottom so just a little more petrochemical trash gets wasted. Our recycling folks and some stores take back 1s, 2s, 3s and some 4s, but 5s, 6s and 7s get tossed.
Of course, plastics is an alphabet soup of acronyms - PETE, HPDE, V, LPDE,PP, PS and 7 is "other." I am big believer in recycling and feel strongly all plastics containers should be not be made unless there are made from recylable material. I'm sure the bottle and resin makers would scream bloody murder at the prospect of a federal recycling mandate. For instance, New Hampshire - the Live Free of Die state - considers a bottle deposit an imposition of its inalienable rights. In Massachusetts, we've had it for decades. But it's not the nineties anymore.
Maybe our plastics editor and expert Doug Smock who authors the Engineering Plastics blog can explain why not all plastic is recycleable.
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Plastic may not be the most beloved of materials to the more environmentally minded, but Plasti 2012 aimed to mold a different opinion of the material in people's minds.
The rare earth element market has become steadily more rational, and new sources coming online will continue to reduce costs. Still, it is unlikely that prices will drop to their former lows.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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