Plastic Innovations: plastics

Advanced Plastics are the Future of Our Autos

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From high-end sports cars to your everyday minivan, plastics have revolutionized the automotive industry. Some of the newest, most cutting-edge vehicles—such as those displayed at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show—can give us a glimpse at how plastics will continue to “drive” future automotive innovation.

These vehicles represent significant advances in manufacturing, safety, design, performance, and fuel efficiency, and they all have something in common: advanced plastics.

Manufacturing
Not so long ago, plastics inspired automakers to rethink the materials they use for their vehicles—and now, plastics are actually bringing about the evolution of the manufacturing process itself. Plastics are well suited for 3-D printing (also known as additive manufacturing), a process in which layer upon layer of material is built up to form an object—a car part, in this instance. This process can create less waste than traditional manufacturing techniques that strip away material from a larger piece. Plus, it gives manufacturers the flexibility to produce more creative or custom designs.

Quick history: Local Motors was one of the first to 3-D print an electric car, called Strati, which is made with a plastic composite called carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP). The process of 3-D printing the Strati with CFRP is quite efficient—it takes only a couple days to print the body of the vehicle, which is manufactured as one large piece. Considering that traditionally manufactured cars can contain tens of thousands of painstakingly assembled parts, that’s a big deal—with great potential for improved efficiency, cost savings, and convenience in auto manufacturing.

At the recent LA Auto Show, Local Motors featured Olli, an autonomous, electric vehicle made with 3-D printed thermoplastics. Olli seats multiple people for a ride sharing experience like no other, in particular because the vehicle integrates the advanced cognitive computing capabilities of IBM Watson. Hop in and ask it for recommendations for dinner or a sightseeing spot, then sit back and relax as Olli takes you there. In addition to being lightweight and efficiently powered, many parts can be recycled at the end of Olli’s lifespan due to its plastic construction—all of which means Olli just might represent the future of eco-friendly public transit.

Vehicle Design and Performance
Advanced plastics also help enable innovations in vehicle design and performance. For the Chevy 2017 Corvette Z06, the automaker created an aesthetic that’s distinctively bold and super sleek, employing unique design elements that use durable plastics molded into the body of the vehicle. Looking for a performance boost to go with that stylish design? Rest assured: plastics help make this car lightweight and aerodynamic, which contributes to improved speed and handling.

Another example: designers of the Cadillac CT6 created its hood, splitter, and wheel spats using CFRP, high-performance materials with truly exceptional strength-to-weight ratios. Not only are these design elements very cool-looking and super lightweight, but they actually enhance the performance of the vehicle; the splitter, for example, forces low-pressure air underneath the car to maintain traction at high speeds. Some car companies also make spoilers and air dams, which are designed to help performance, with CFRP.

Fuel Efficiency
“…today’s vehicles are comprised of approximately 50 percent plastics by volume but only 10 percent plastics by weight.”
Modern, fuel-efficient cars have come a long way since the heavy gas-guzzlers your parents or grandparents drove. Among other reasons, that’s because heavier materials are being replaced with lightweight and durable plastics, so much so that today’s vehicles are comprised of approximately 50 percent plastics by volume but only 10 percent plastics by weight. Automakers are increasingly “lightweighting” their vehicles by using innovative plastics and plastic composites such as CFRP, helping them meet fuel-efficiency goals while also enhancing performance and safety.

A couple of very high-performance examples displayed at the LA Auto Show: the front splitter and rear diffuser in the stylish Aston Martin Vanquish S. These lightweight, aerodynamic components help improve fuel efficiency, leading to more miles with less fuel while generating fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

So … advanced plastics = improved fuel efficiency and performance. It’s a win-win-win-win-win. As Ford Motor Company said: “Few innovations provide a more wide-ranging performance and efficiency advantage than reducing weight. All factors of a vehicle’s capabilities—acceleration, handling, braking, safety, efficiency—can improve through the use of advanced, lighter materials.”

The Road Ahead
Not so long ago, technologies such as 3-D printing, self-driving vehicles, and super-lightweight, aerodynamic car parts might have seemed a bit like science fiction. But thanks to advanced plastics, your custom 3-D printed car—or maybe your first ride in a fully autonomous public transit vehicle—may be closer than you think.

For more than half a century, plastics have enabled automakers to dream up amazing new technologies and bring them to life. We can only imagine what automotive innovations the next half century will usher in, but one thing’s for sure: plastics will continue to make many of them possible.

Reference to any automobile manufacturer or display of any associated product is for descriptive purposes only, and does not imply sponsorship, endorsement or association with ACC or its PMIP campaign.

Advanced Plastics are the Future of Our Autos

From high-end sports cars to your everyday minivan, plastics have revolutionized the automotive industry. Some of the newest, most cutting...

What Does That Chasing Arrow Symbol on Plastics Mean?

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<br /></div>You know that little triangular symbol on the bottom of your plastic milk jug or detergent container or soft drink bottle? Looks sort of like chasing arrows with a number in the middle?

Any idea what that means?

As Professor Plastic, I’m glad I asked.

That little symbol was created in 1988 to identify the type of plastic (we call them resins) used to make the bottle, container, and packaging. It’s called a Resin Identification Code (RIC). Very official sounding, no?

Recyclers sometimes use this information to help them sort plastics for recycling, so people often think of the chasing arrows as a recycling symbol, but that’s not technically accurate.

While the RIC helped plastics recycling grow dramatically since the 1988, it often causes confusion among many people standing in front of their recycling bin wondering: can I recycle this?

Today, new and better ways to identify what packaging and products are recyclable have begun to shift focus away from the little symbol. For example, in the U.S. the Sustainable Packaging Coalition has created a “How2Recycle” label that explains more clearly what and how to recycle. Thankfully, the How2Recycle label is quickly catching on.

First—What Can Be Recycled?
When it comes to recycling plastics, where you live makes a big difference. The types of plastic items collected vary from place to place. So first always find out what plastics are accepted in your community… it’s as simple as searching online for “plastics recycling” and the name of your community. Or check out IWantToBeRecycled.org and type in your zip code. For some quick plastics recycling know-how, check out our list of The Ultimate 9 Quick Tips to Recycle More Plastics.

And remember: although flexible wraps and bags typically aren’t collected in curbside programs (please keep them out of your curbside bin!), more than 18,000 grocery and retail stores across the country do collect these plastics for recycling.

What Are Those Numbers in the Triangle All About?
So… what exactly do those numbers 1 through 7 stand for? Below is a list of the types of plastics (remember: resins), common packaging products made from them, and some products that may be made with that recycled plastic resin.

NOTE: These lists are not exhaustive. But I do get exhausted writing about how many things these days are made with recycled plastics…

1. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE) or (PET)

Uses of PET include: bottles for soft drinks, water, sports drinks, beer, mouthwash, and salad dressing; food jars for peanut butter, jelly, and pickles; produce containers.

Products made with recycled PET include: fibers for carpet, fleece jackets, and comforter fill; containers for food, beverages, and non-food items; microwavable food trays and tote bags.

2. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)

Uses of HDPE include: bottles/jugs for milk, water, juice, cosmetics, shampoo, dish/laundry detergents, and household cleaners; containers for margarine, cottage cheese, and other foods; cereal box liners; trash and retail bags.

Products made with recycled HDPE include: bottles for items such as shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, household cleaners, motor oil, and antifreeze; plastic lumber for outdoor decking, fencing, and picnic tables; pipe, floor tiles, buckets, crates, flower pots, garden edging, and recycling bins.

3. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC, Vinyl)

Uses of PVC include: deli and meat wrap, shrink wrap, retail product packaging (blister packs).

Products made with recycled PVC include: pipe, decking, fencing, paneling, gutters, carpet backing, floor tiles and mats, resilient flooring, mud flaps, cassette trays, electrical boxes, cables, traffic cones, garden hoses, mobile home skirting, packaging, and loose-leaf binders.

4. Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)

Uses of LDPE include: bags for dry cleaning, newspapers, bread, frozen foods, fresh produce, and household garbage; shrink wrap and stretch film, coatings for paper milk cartons and hot and cold beverage cups, container lids, and squeezable bottles (e.g. honey, mustard).

Products made with recycled LDPE include: shipping envelopes, garbage can liners, floor tile, paneling, furniture, compost bins, trash cans, landscape timber, and outdoor lumber.

5. Polypropylene (PP)

Uses of PP include: Containers for yogurt, margarine, take out meals, and deli foods; bottle caps and closures; bottles for medicine, syrup, and ketchup.

Products made with recycled PP include: automobile applications such as battery cases, signal lights, battery cables; brooms and brushes, ice scrapers, oil funnels, bicycle racks, garden rakes, storage bins, shipping pallets, and trays.

6. Polystyrene (PS)

Uses of PS include: foodservice items such as cups, plates, bowls, cutlery, and hinged take-out containers; meat and poultry trays, egg cartons, and food containers; protective packaging for electronics, furniture and other delicate items; packing peanuts, compact disc cases, and aspirin bottles.

Products made with recycled PS include: thermal insulation, picture frames, thermometers, light switch plates, vents, desk trays, license plate frames, cameras or video cassette casings, egg cartons, plastic moldings (i.e., wood replacement products), and expandable polystyrene (EPS) foam protective packaging.

7. Other

“Other”indicates that a package is made with a resin other than the six listed above or is made with more than one resin.

Uses of “other” plastic include: three- and five-gallon reusable water bottles and some citrus juice and ketchup bottles.

Products made with recycled “other” resin include: bottles and plastic lumber applications.

Now that you know what that little symbol means, help keep the momentum in plastics recycling going! Check out these plastics recycling tips to learn how to recycle everything you can.

What Does That Chasing Arrow Symbol on Plastics Mean?

You know that little triangular symbol on the bottom of your plastic milk jug or detergent container or soft drink bottle? Looks sort of li...

The Word on Plastics Recycling: Momentum

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Previously published in Plastics Engineering and posted with permission from the Society of Plastics Engineers.

NOTE: figures in this article on rigid plastics and plastic film recycling have been updated since publication in Plastics Engineering magazine.

Plastics recycling is growing. Steadily, broadly, expansively.

It’s useful every once in a while to remind ourselves why we recycle anything at all. Imagine for a moment the long and winding path of something as commonplace as a plastic milk jug: from natural resources to petro/chemical facilities to plastics production to blow molding to filling, shipping, merchandizing, purchasing, and (finally) enjoying. Does it make sense to simply discard all that? Materials often have value even after we use them, so burying them in a landfill is an egregious waste of resources.

Furthermore, recycling can reduce energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions. According to EPA, recycling combined with composting (EPA often lumps these together) saved “the same amount of energy consumed by almost 10 million U.S. households in a year” and reduced greenhouse gas emissions the equivalent of removing more than 33 million passenger vehicles from the road in a year. Plus recycling industries can create significantly more jobs than simply hauling and burying garbage, says EPA.

Looking specifically at plastics, a 2010 study found that recycling HDPE and PET plastics can save enough energy each year to power 750,000 homes. And recycling HDPE can reduce greenhouse gas emissions 66 percent compared to using virgin HDPE.

So … combine energy savings, reduced waste and greenhouse gases, and more jobs, and recycling sounds pretty smart. Thankfully, recycling in the U.S. continues to grow—according to the EPA, the U.S. recycling rate has more than doubled since 1990.

The rate for plastics recycling has grown even more than that, in part because recycling these newer materials began in earnest only in the 1990s. Companies that make plastics invested billions of dollars over the past few decades to help set up the recycling infrastructure (the topic of a future Plastics Make it Possible® article). So today the plastic bottle recycling rate is approaching the rate for glass.

While there still is a long way to go catch aluminum and steel recycling rates, here’s a quick look at the success of recycling for some common plastics based on the latest tracking data … and advances that may well increase the momentum.

Bottles
The U.S. recycling rate for plastic bottles reached nearly 32 percent in 2014. Plastic bottle recycling grew by 97 million pounds to top 3 billion pounds for the year. That marks the 25th consecutive year that Americans have increased the pounds of plastic bottles collected for recycling (surveying began in 1990).

The collection of polypropylene bottles, specifically, jumped more than 28 percent to reach a recycling rate of nearly 45 percent, higher than the collective recycling rate for glass beer and soft drink bottles.

The recycled resins made from plastic bottles are used widely in plastic products and parts, from clothing fabrics to auto components to new bottles.

Non-bottles or “rigids”
Rigid plastics represent a category of non-bottle plastic containers along with caps and lids. Nearly 1.3 billion pounds of rigids were collected for recycling in the U.S. in 2014. That’s quadruple the amount collected in just 2007 (when measuring began).

In the U.S., these plastics are recycled primarily into automotive parts, crates, buckets, pipe, and lawn and garden products.

“Film”
Instead of being collected at curbside like bottles and rigids, plastic bags (e.g., for groceries, food/produce, newspaper delivery, dry cleaning), and plastic overwraps for products (e.g., beverage cases, diapers, napkins) are collected for recycling at more than 18,000 grocery and retail stores across the U.S.

Even though this at-store collection program is relatively new, recycling of this postconsumer plastic “film” packaging reached nearly 1.2 billion pounds in 2014. Plastic film recycling has increased 79 percent since 2005 (when measuring began) and has reached a rate of 17 percent.

Recycled plastic film is used to make a range of products, including durable composite lumber for outdoor decks and fencing, home building products, lawn and garden products, crates, pipe, and film for new plastic packaging.

Foam polystyrene
Access to curbside and drop-off recycling programs for foam polystyrene packaging is growing across the U.S. The EPS Industry Alliance reported an all-time high recycling rate of 34 percent for foam polystyrene protective packaging for 2103.

To help increase recycling, a new interactive website allows Americans and Canadians to search for local foam packaging recycling programs. PSFoamRecycling.org differentiates between programs that accept protective foam packaging (typically used for transporting electronics and other high-end products), programs that collect foam food packaging (such as coffee cups, clamshell containers, egg cartons, and meat trays), and programs that collect both types of packaging. The site also notes whether the foam packaging is collected at curbside or drop-off programs and identifies foam packaging “mail back” programs for areas where local recycling does not exist.

Recycled polystyrene is used to make numerous products, from picture frames to crown molding to egg cartons.

New Recycling Fund and Plastics Recycling Facility
To help increase the momentum of recycling, 10 of the largest consumer products companies (e.g., P&G, Walmart, Coca-Cola) have created the $100 million Closed Loop Fund. The Fund provides zero and low interest loans to cities and companies that want to build new recycling facilities and projects for plastics and other materials. By 2025, the fund aims to eliminate more than 50 million tons of greenhouse gas, divert more than 20 million tons of waste from landfills, and create more than 20,000 jobs.

Its first project opened in late 2015, a high-tech recycling facility in Baltimore that is able to sort 54,000 tons of plastics for recycling each year, including some that today are not recycled often. One of the largest facilities of its kind, The QRS Plastics Recovery Facility is expected to collect plastics within a 500-mile radius across the East Coast and process approximately 4,500 tons of materials each month, more than double what is currently possible in the U.S., according to its backers.

The facility uses technologies that can make it more economical to sell these plastics in the market, which could considerably increase the amount of plastics recycled. Advanced, high-tech optical sorters “read” different types of plastics and then send puffs of air to blow specific items into the correct stream. These streams of plastics that have been separated according to type can be much more valuable than streams of mixed plastics. The facility also plans to process the plastics back into the raw material (plastic pellets) for sale.

The combination of funding source, advanced technologies, and pellet processing are designed to make broader plastics recycling more cost-effective. According to the Closed Loop Fund, facilities like this could be replicated across the nation—and beyond.

The momentum in plastics recycling is encouraging and helping all of us reduce our environmental footprint. Let’s keep it up.

The Word on Plastics Recycling: Momentum

Previously published in Plastics Engineering and posted with permission from the Society of Plastics Engineers. NOTE: figures in this art...

How Many Types of Plastics Are There?

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How Many Types of Plastics Are There?</h1>
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Quick quiz: How many types of plastics there are? No idea?</div>
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Me neither …</div>
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I have no exact number. It’s sort of like asking how many types of bread there are. Plastics aren’t simply one material made the same way every time. Although plastics can be broken down into broad types or categories, there actually are <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">thousands</em> of different plastics, each with its own composition and characteristics. One plastic may block oxygen from reaching food. Another may be transparent like glass yet tough. Or stretch and bounce back in shape. Another may trap air inside itself. Or stop a bullet.</div>
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That’s why plastics are used in so many ways: they protect our food, cushion our fall, insulate our homes, improve our cars’ gas mileage, keep us dry when it’s raining … and many other things.</div>
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Plastics are a result of a mix of chemistry and engineering. As innovation marches on, scientists and engineers can create new plastics to do more and more things.</div>
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So even though the number of plastics is unclear, plastics makers tend to group plastics into two general classes: thermoplastics and thermosets.</div>
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<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thermoplastics</strong> can be re-melted and essentially returned to their original state—sort of like the way an ice cube can be melted and then cooled again. Thermoplastics usually are produced first in a separate process to create small pellets; these pellets then are heated and formed to make all sorts of consumer and industrial products. Thermoplastics include plastics you’re likely familiar with: polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, nylon, polycarbonate, and others.</div>
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<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thermosets</strong> are usually produced and formed into products at the same time—and they cannot be returned to their original state. They generally are formed using heat (“thermo”) and become “set,” like a cooked egg. Thermosets include vulcanized synthetic rubber, acrylics, polyurethanes, melamine, silicone, epoxies, and others.</div>
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There are other categories of plastics:</div>
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<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Engineering plastics</strong> are … well … engineered to have enhanced mechanical properties and often greater durability than other materials. (They often—not always—are thermoplastics.) For example, polycarbonate resists impact. Polyamides like nylon resist abrasion. Some are combinations of plastics, such as incredibly tough ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). The list of engineering plastics is quite long.</div>
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<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Plastic fibers</strong> are precisely that: plastics that have been spun into fibers or filaments that are used to make fabrics, string, ropes, cables—even optical fibers and body armor (such as Kevlar®). Most plastic fibers are strong, stretchable, and stable under heat (so fabrics can be ironed). Some of the most recognizable plastic fibers are polyester, nylon, rayon, acrylic, and spandex, although there are many more. (Side note: polyester sometimes is called polyethylene terephthalate—it’s also used to make plastic beverage bottles that can then be recycled into fibers for clothing, such as fleece jackets and t-shirts).</div>
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There are many more categories, such as <strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">coatings, adhesives, elastomers and rubbers,</strong>covering plastics that are used in everything from the space shuttle exterior to canned vegetables. I could go on (and have been known to), but let’s stop there for now.</div>
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How Many Types of Plastics Are There?

How Many Types of Plastics Are There? Quick quiz: How many types of plastics there are? No idea? Me neither … I have no exact num...

Plastics to Oil: The New Energy

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Plastics to Oil: The New Energy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdy923-F69N4zEPH8MCxwYG11tClYf9qZMGVL8w76DvIZ1e6fK-5esAuaTw4z2hMOPK2xpoFCvabJi8sbWhTxX-w5jkPQq2035TBfm5nqTbyLwY4w2lzC3nX37NiSi__COirioWbmSRvW/s1600/button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdy923-F69N4zEPH8MCxwYG11tClYf9qZMGVL8w76DvIZ1e6fK-5esAuaTw4z2hMOPK2xpoFCvabJi8sbWhTxX-w5jkPQq2035TBfm5nqTbyLwY4w2lzC3nX37NiSi__COirioWbmSRvW/s1600/button.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #2d5955; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Plastics are already widely recycled to create new products ranging from playgrounds to carpets and clothes, but the latest recycling trend is to turn plastic waste into synthetic crude oil.</span></div>
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How can plastic become oil? People often forget that in the United States most plastic is derived from natural gas.  Plastics, natural gas, and petroleum are all based on carbon molecules. Using pressure, heat and proprietary processes, plastic polymers can be “depolymerized” or broken back down into their original components. The process is highly innovative, yet relatively simple. In one process, on average, eight pounds of plastic waste will create one gallon of synthetic crude oil, which can be used to produce gasoline or diesel fuel.</div>
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Some scientists think that if waste-to-fuel goes mainstream, people may start mining landfills! Much of the plastic that we put in recycling bins including for example margarine tubs and plastic cups may also become fuel in the future.</div>
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Already several plastic waste-to-fuel plants are operational in Asia and Australia and there is strong interest in the technology in Europe. Recently Envion, a Washington D.C.-based company, announced the opening of a facility that brings this technology to the U.S.</div>
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Envion introduced its first market-ready commercial unit at a demonstration held at the Montgomery County Solid Waste Transfer Station in Derwood, Maryland in September. The Envion Oil Generator(TM) uses a closed loop, catalyst-free system to take plastic and convert it into oil. The plant can process up to 10,000 tons of plastic waste annually, generating as much as 50,000 barrels of oil.</div>
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Plastics to Oil: The New Energy

Plastics to Oil: The New Energy Plastics are already widely recycled to create new products ranging from playgrounds to carpets and cloth...

When Less is More: Plastic Nanotechnology

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When Less is More: Plastic Nanotechnology </h1>
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 <span style="color: #2d5955; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Who would have thought that a shell could spark what has been hailed by many scientists as the “next technological revolution.” By mimicking structures found in mollusks, scientists have created a transparent plastic that is as strong as steel.</span></h1>
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Plastic nanotechnologies are built one nanoscale layer at a time. The process is similar to the way that mother-of-pearl, oyster and other mollusk shells grow. When the nanosheets are arranged in a brick-and-mortar structure, the final product is thinner than a strand of human hair but millions of times stronger.</div>
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These advancements in plastic nanotechnology reverberate widely. During the last decade, scientists have hoped to substitute polymers for the ultra-pure and very expensive silicon material used to make computer chips.</div>
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Plastic chips might soon be used in consumer electronics to drive flexible displays and keyboards and even changeable electronic wallpaper.  Imagine that when you turned off your wall-sized television screen, a wallpaper pattern would appear to camouflage it. This is the future of nanotechnology in the living room.</div>
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Other possible applications include smart train and bus tickets and radio identification tags used to keep track of parts in factories or goods in stores.</div>
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Researchers also hope to develop improved polymer solar cells using nanomaterial additives. Labs across the country and abroad are currently experimenting with thin polymer film that can be rolled out in sheets. The film contains nanoscale pieces of semiconductor material and single-walled carbon nanotubes that maximize light to energy transfers. In layman’s terms, these ultra-thin, flexible sheets of plastic convert more of the sun’s rays into clean, inexpensive energy.</div>
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Most importantly, these sheets of film can be cut up and reused even if they have been bent. This is a marked contrast to rigid silicon cells that are easily cracked and expensive to replace.</div>
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When Less is More: Plastic Nanotechnology

When Less is More: Plastic Nanotechnology Who would have thought that a shell could spark what has been hailed by many scien...

Cashing in with Plastics

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    Cashing in with <span style="line-height: 1.2;">Plastics                                         </span></h1>
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“Paper or plastic?” The question has moved way beyond the grocery store.</div>
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The Canadian government in mid-2011 announced a switch to banknotes made from plastics instead of paper. While the idea of plastic currency may seem strange to those living in the United States, Canada in fact joins dozens of countries with plastic banknotes in circulation. Australia, one of the leaders of this trend, has used plastic banknotes for nearly two decades.</div>
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Why the switch from the traditional material? The inherent fragility of paper-based banknotes has long been troublesome. Who hasn’t accidentally run money through the laundry, resulting in tattered and torn bills? Or been frustrated by a vending machine that refuses to accept a worn dollar bill?</div>
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In contrast, plastic bills – or “polymer banknotes” as they’re officially named – last up to four times longer, due to plastics’ durability. Plastic bills resist tearing and creasing, and they make it through the laundry cycle essentially unharmed. According to the Australian banknote makers, the plastic material also is less prone to harbor bacteria.</div>
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Plastic currency also is more difficult to counterfeit. The new Canadian $100 bill, for example, has a transparent plastic security window that is extremely difficult to forge. The bill also includes holographic images and special raised ink in the numerals and portrait – features that cannot be reproduced by photocopying or scanning.</div>
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And plastic currency has some environmental pluses. Since the bills last longer, they are produced less often, reducing material, energy, transportation and other impacts. Australia and some other countries also recycle the bank notes after their useful life — Canada plans to do the same.</div>
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Cashing in with Plastics

Cashing in with Plastics “Paper or plastic?” The question has moved way beyond the gr...

Plastic Innovations