Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022 - 15

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Plastics News, October 21, 2022 * 15
Evco invests in
sustainability, students
By Bridget Janis
Plastics News Staff
U.S.-based injection molder
Evco Plastics Inc. is looking
into the future of sustainability
by contributing $100,000 to the
plastics program at University
of Wisconsin-Stout. The donation
will focus on sustainability
research. To further support
the university, Evco staff will
provide technical support to
the Stout researchers throughout
the year.
" The program in general is designed
to leave students with an
understanding of the physical
processing [of
plastics] and
material analysis, "
said Cole
Amborn, project
engineer.
Evco has
been supporting
Stout's plastics
engineering
program for
about 10 years
now, but this
is the first year
that the company
has funded a
specific topic.
Evco chose to
target sustainability
to help
offer solutions
to customers.
" This is the
first big-scale
donation that's
going towards
s om et hin g
really specific, "
said Anna
Bartz, marketing
director.
" So, providing those working
on those projects with the right
equipment that they need to
get materials they need to get
there. "
There are three projects that
Evco is campaigning alongside
the students. The first is a development
of novel highway
sound barriers using post-consumer
material. This project
is aimed to be optimizing the
design of this component and
build it in a scale-type environment
and be able to test it. They
will focus on what needs to be
done to assemble the barriers
and then learn what can be replaced
with recycled plastics.
The second project Evco
is supporting is a reverse
cross-linking of a green thermosetting
resin. This project
will allow the development of
materials with new properties
but maintain the same reverse
cross-linking ability in the end
product. The result would be
for the previously nonrecyclable
polymers to become recyclable.
This
is
the fi rst
big-scale
The third example of the guidance
Evco is providing is helping
with the characterization
and processing of virgin and
post-consumer materials. This
will be to examine the molding
process in physical, thermal,
mechanical and
rhetorical ways.
Then the virgin
and post-consumer
materials
will be compared.
donation
that's
going towards
something really
specifi c. So,
providing those
working on those
projects with the
right equipment
that they need
to get materials
they need to get
there. "
Anna Bartz
Evco Plastics Inc.
" Those are
just three of the
examples that
are of commercially
important
to us, and I
think the findings
can help
inform some
solutions that
we offer to customers, "
Bartz
said.
With this
research happening,
Evco
is looking into
its future and
seeing what opportunities
can
come from the
post-consumer
materials and
the connection
it can make with creating a
more circular economy.
" Our hands are kind of tied
from a material standpoint a lot
of times, " Bartz said. " But we
want to get to a point to where
we're making this part, here's
the material that you came to
us with, here's a PCR [post-consumer]
alternative. "
Along with the donation, Evco
recently launched a sustainability
council, which focuses on
both internal and external sustainability
solutions. Evco plans
to share the findings of this
council with customers.
Evco currently has operations
in Wisconsin, Georgia, Mexico
and China.
Real
Recycling
Once is Never
Enough
With our innovative recycling and processing
technologies, even the most heavily contaminated
polymer waste can be recycled. But not simply
recycled: reprocessed to consistently high
quality products for demanding applications,
even after repeated processing cycles.
Good for the environment and good for
your business.
Cole Amborn and Anna Evans
Bartz from Evco Plastics Inc.
Plastics News photo by Marco Stepniak
OMNI Recycling Machines
at Hall 9, Booth A22
Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022

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