Virtue Signaling in the Petrochemicals Industry

Virtue Signaling: noun

Definition: the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.

It seems odd that large chemical and petroleum companies spend big bucks on 30 second TV ads. The ExxonMobil “To-Do List” advertisement, like all of these ads, does not ask you to buy or consider any particular product. BASF runs similar ads on television and I don’t think that you can buy a BASF branded product at the store (I used to buy their blank audio cassettes back in the day to make mix tapes though).

In other news, the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus is closing after more than 100 years in operation. Maybe they needed to run some ads.

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Weekly News Digest 1/9/2017

Long Row of Typewriters

German supplier, Velox GmbH introduces new line of purging compounds

Center for Automotive Research says that further lightweighting of vehicles will require more extensive use of plastics and composites

New tabletop injection molding machine on the market

Weekly Resin Report: PE price increase rumored for February

A new documentary movie about the invention of Bakelite plastic

 

Nylon -vs- Polyester

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Boxing in heals?

Although nylon 6/6 is much more commonly used than polyester (PBT) for injection molding applications, you might be surprised that these materials are relatively similar in properties.

There are, however, a few differences that might make one or the other better for a particular application.

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News Digest 12/19/2016

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PET containers with metal vacuum closures could replace glass

Weekly Resin Report: Processors limit PP purchases, anticipating further, possibly elusive, price cuts

Polymer Technology and Services expands the Tristar line of flame retardant PC 

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic market to grow 12% per year

Solvay to sell Thai PVC manufacturer to Asahi Glass

 

Is There a Replacement for Polycarbonate for Food Contact?

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I was walking through a local store the other day when I came across a new line of Rubbermaid food storage containers that intrigued me. What caught my eye was the fact that these containers are crystal clear. They can’t be made of polycarbonate, which is a big no-no for food storage containers because of BPA. The recycling code on the container is #7 which is “other”. Polycarbonate would fall under the 7 recycling code also but so would many other materials. What is this material?

I had to buy one to find out.

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Of Cheap Oil and Fracking

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A new geological survey performed in Texas has revealed the largest oil discovery in US history. An area that encompasses Lubbock and Midland Texas is now estimated to have 20 billion barrels of oil and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas according to CNN. This discovery of shale oil is 3 times larger than the discovery in North Dakota that lead to the oil boom there that started in 2006 and ended in 2015.

You might think that this discovery is really good news for the United States. But there is one problem.

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