The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) has named the recipients of the Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC) 2011 awards.
At Fort Bragg, NC, an M1A1 tank is driven over a bridge made of a thermoplastic composite developed by Axion International. Made from some 85,000 pounds of recycled plastics, the bridge supports military equipment loads in excess of 70 tons.
The award recognizes institutions and companies that have shown environmental excellence and leadership. The awards reflect the GPEC conference’s theme – “Plastics Recycling and Sustainability on my Mind.” The awards are to be presented during GPEC 2011 to be held from 17th to 19th October, 2011, in Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
Lehigh Technologies has been honoured with the Chairman’s Award for a large-volume micronized powder production process involving discarded tires. The powders can be used in the manufacture of new tires and plastics. The Becton, Dickinson and Company has been awarded the Enabling Technologies in Processes and Procedures” Award for a program to recover plastics in medical devices and then using them for non-medical applications.
Axion International has been recognized with the award for “Significant Innovations in Environmental and Recycling Areas Using Conventional Plastics,” for developing special composites with high performance properties from recovered polyolefins. Axion has applied these as structural parts to meet military specifications, as components for railroad ties, bridges and other structures. SPE has awarded the “Emerging Technologies in Materials, Processing, and Applications” Award to Futuris Automotive Interiors for development of a tufted and mouldable carpet made from post-consumer PET material.
The IAC Group has been awarded the Daniel Eberhardt Environmental Stewardship Award for utilizing recycled plastics in the manufacture of automotive interior components and for reducing the consumption of energy through efficient manufacturing. Sika Sarnafil has been honoured with the “Plastic Recycling Technologies and Applications” Award for recycling old single-ply vinyl roofing into usable roofing membrane.