What is the Plastic Extrusion Process?

Plastics can take many different forms and have a variety of properties, but all end products start off as the raw material: resin. The process can be complicated and take many forms, but there are a few basic steps which all plastic extrusion processes follow.

Step One

The raw materials are fed into a hopper which goes to the extruder; this is located at the top of the machine. This means that gravity will feed the pellets into the barrel of the extruder. At this moment in the process, any additives or colourants are added into the mix when appropriate for the outcome.
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Posted on June 27, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Plastic Extrusion. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

The UK Launches Innovation Hub to Tackle Single Use Plastic Waste

In May 2018, the UK launched a plastic innovation hub along with other Commonwealth countries. The UK will play a leading role in the designing and the implication of the framework that this hub will use.

The Issue with Single-Use Plastics

You have probably seen the issue that the world is facing in the News or read about it in an article because the story is everywhere at the moment and for a good reason. The issue is the plastic waste that is polluting the world’s oceans and the marine life within these waters.
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Posted on June 11, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Plastic and the environment. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

How are Plastics used in Automotive and what are the benefits?

Plastics have been used in the automotive industry for many years, affording many benefits and in fact the frequent innovations in plastics have been a large factor for the advances in the automotive industry.

Plastics have so many useful properties that can be modified and altered to become the perfect material for vehicles and the different requirements that each area needs. This is why plastics have always been a popular choice for the automotive industry.
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Posted on May 25, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Plastic Uses. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

How plastic has increased safety in different industries

There are innovations in the plastics industry all the time, this allows the material to be constantly improving and become more and more useful for industries. One of the largest impacts plastic has made is actually in safety and the safety of workers in a lot of industries.

The properties that plastics have are extremely useful for a lot of sectors. Plastics are durable, sustainable, long lasting and even flexible. This allows them to change and shift depending on their intended use. Safety has improved a lot over the years and a majority of this development is down to the innovations of plastics for safety purposes.
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Posted on May 16, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Plastic Uses. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

Why are plastics essential in medicine?

Plastics have had a revolutionary impact on the medical industry, making procedures simpler and safer. They have been a contributing factor in reduced medical costs, a reduction in infectious diseases and have improved forms of pain management.

Sterility

Plastics completely revolutionised this aspect of medicine allowing practitioners to have sterilised equipment quickly and easily. Plastics allow for “one-time use” products, they are completely sterile and can be thrown away once used. These include: surgical gloves, syringes, insulin pens and IV tubes.
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Posted on April 30, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Plastic Uses. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

The Advantages of Using Plastics in the Construction Industry

Different forms of plastics are used in multiple industries with varying uses. However, one of the most prevalent sectors where plastics are used is the construction industry, here plastics are essential.

Plastics can be so useful in this sector because of the different properties that the range of plastics hold, there is a plastic to fit most uses. These are just a few reasons as to why plastics are an extremely useful material in the construction sector.
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Posted on April 10, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Plastic Extrusion. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

Is this the Future of Making Plastics?

When we think of the process of making plastics there are two things that we think of: petroleum and recycled plastics. However, it looks like we could be thinking of another process in the future involving some unlikely ingredients – sugar and carbon dioxide.
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Posted on March 27, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

Plastic vs Metal – Which Material is Better?

Plastic versus metal is an age-old debate that we’re sure your workplace is bound to have discussed over the years – both materials are great and have fantastic individual uses, but which material is better?

Strength

When comparing the strength of two very different materials such as plastic and metal, we compare them using a strength to weight ratio. This means that their strength is determined by their mass, the use of the material and the resistance.
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Posted on March 16, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Plastic Properties. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

The British Plastics Federation

The BPF (British Plastics Federation) is the UK’s leading trade union for the whole plastics industry, it was established in 1933 and now has over 500 members. They are involved with members from all across the plastics supply chain in the UK and help to address concerns for these members.

They provide a large amount of industry news and resources which can be a great help when navigating this industry. Information on trade shows, seminars and events is all easily accessible on their website.
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Posted on February 21, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Plastic and the environment. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment

Why is plastics manufacturing coming back to the UK?

After years of Britain’s plastics being mostly manufactured in China, it is finally returning home to the UK. How come after years of this business being dominated by the Far East, why is it moving back? Here are a few reasons:

More Flexibility in Order Sizes

As most companies who use plastics will know, not every order is massive, maybe for the multi-million pound companies it is, but not for the average business. This makes importing from the Far East more difficult because they work better with a large period of notice and a bulk order. They don’t work well with small orders that are all very different products.

Manufacturing in the UK gives you this flexibility and quick turn around that smaller businesses desire. You can send changes easily but also there is less of a wait between when you send a brief to when you receive a product because it isn’t travelling across the world and you can contact each other with ease.
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Posted on February 9, 2018 by Rayda Plastics | This entry was posted in Manufacturing. Bookmark the permalink. | Leave a comment