Sam Dix
Director of
Research & Development
New Advances in PCR Laden BM Containers Using Physical Foaming Techniques on Shuttle & Wheel Blow Molding Systems
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Session 1A - Sustainable Solutions
3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
(see full conference schedule)
Presentation Description:
Foaming of polymers is gaining renewed interest in the current aspiration to find more sustainable solutions and reduce plastic consumption
In particular- in some regions post-consumer regrind (PCR) usage is being mandated slowly, however in the current economic climate cost of the recycled resin remains high which is a deterrent. To avoid cost escalation and to allow the relevant PCR incorporation, foaming is being investigated to reduce the cost basis of making packages with overall less plastic.
Trexel is pioneering ways to foam packages with PCR content by using its improved; license free physical foaming systems, recipes and technical knowhow. The new solutions minimize the tradeoff between weight and some of the other important properties like topload and drop impact.
The addition the technology has been applied to enable a minimally invasive conversion or retrofit to an existing machine. This presentation will explore a foaming case study to introduce the fundamental concepts and implementation examples of different styles of equipment such as the shuttle and wheel machine.
Speaker Biography:
Sam Dix is currently the R&D director and blow molding leader for Trexel Inc with 20 years of experience specializing in injection molding and extrusion based processing of foamed products. Past experience includes; Senior Engineer at Engineer at Zotefoams PLC (UK) and Researcher at Rapra Technology (UK). Sam has completed a degree in Manufacturing Engineering and postgraduate research in supercritical assisted polymer processing of polymers, all of which at Brunel University in London.
Sam is experienced in developing new ideas to provide innovative customer product to meet challenging requirements. This has involved bringing together; processors, brand owners, resin suppliers and equipment suppliers. In the process of these projects and commercialization activities, Sam has authored 12 patents in various processes involving; IJM, Blow molding, films and other processes.
Sam’s current quest and specific focus is to advance the area of consumer packaging such that new solutions are found to improve sustainability and reduce carbon footprint using light-weighting and optimizing the usage of PCR in cost effective ways.
