First-Of-Its-Kind Plant-Based Bra Cup Obtained From Sugarcane That Is Accessible And Sustainable

A new line of sustainable intimates launches currently introducing the first-ever plant-based bra cup sourced from Brazilian sugarcane. Offered exclusively at Walmart kindly is on a mission to make sustainability accessible to everyone. Its product line features a wide range of sustainable bras and underwear made from recycled materials, and a promise to never make consumers choose between function, planet, or price. The line will be sold across 3,300 Walmart retail stores and online at Walmart.

“Real sustainability does not exist without accessibility. When selecting a retail partner, Walmart was a no-brainer for us. We’re thrilled to bring the world’s first plant-based bra cup to market, and humbled by the opportunity to speak to Walmart’s wide and diverse audience,” says Yossi Nasser, CEO. “It’s important to us that kindly is known not only for quality products, but more for creating a movement towards a more eco-friendly and attainable lifestyle for all.”

“In my 40 plus years working in the industry, this was the most challenging project I’ve worked on – and it certainly feels the most rewarding, ” says Eve Bastug, Chief Product Officer. “It took us three years to work towards a cup that is over 80% plant-based. There is still work to be done but our team is taking the steps to create a more sustainable future with beautifully crafted products that people can feel good about wearing.”

This will be launching with two styles of bras (available in sizes 34A-40DD), three styles of bralettes (available in sizes S-3XL), as well as thongs, hipsters, and boy shorts (available in sizes XS-3XL) in both seamless and micro fabrication. The line will retail between $11-$14 USD.

“At Walmart, we constantly look for opportunities to develop products with a commitment toward sustainability,” said Denise Incandela, Executive Vice President, Apparel and Private Brands, Walmart U.S. “Our goal was to develop an exclusive bra that is made with the planet in mind, and Gelmart worked tirelessly to engineer a game-changing innovation for the intimates category that provides our customers a ground breaking bra cup made from sugarcane.”

It’s one of the biggest evolutions towards modernized and futuristic clothing, a blend of recycled nylon, spandex, elastic and sugarcane to create revolutionary products. This collection has been in development for more than three years, having undergone close to 30 iterations of trials, testing molding and wear tests.  

For more details: www.gelmart.com

Gea’s New-Generation Valve Control Tops Enhance Operational Safety

The enhancement of automatic setup greatly simplifies the installation and reuses of valves are some of the features performed by new Gea T.Vis. 

The digital valve control tops such as the T.Vis M-20 will be indispensable key components in processing plants. “We are already bringing elements of the valve of the future to fruition. This reflects the growing demand among manufacturers for connectivity, handling, and process diagnostics across their entire production lines,” says Bernd Porath, Product Manager for Valve Automation at Gea. Customers are required to commission plants ever earlier, lines often run at full capacity, and product changes are made so rapidly that valves are subjected to pressure surges and vibration. “That means plants today are increasingly exposed to even higher stress. Our Gea T.Vis M-20 counteracts this thanks to its shock-resistant design and built-in sensor technology. This helps operators ensure plant availability and quality through automatic, self-learning, reproducible process controls.”

The Quick-Setup takes care of the entire commissioning process – including self-learning status confirmation by the feedback systems – without the need for specially trained personnel. All that operators are required to do is assign the electrical and pneumatic connections.

The built-in contact-free path measuring system identifies its location with a precision of 50 µ – an extremely higher degree of accuracy than would be possible manually, says Porath. Under process conditions – following maintenance or replacement of the control top – the electronics automatically initialize the feedback systems.

The ease of installation has been confirmed in field tests at Arla Foods and Uckermärker Milch. “Our customers were astounded and very pleased. The M-20 can be installed completely intuitively, without needing to rely on judgment or experience by the operating staff. We have considerably reduced the burden on operators by eliminating errors caused by different users entering different settings,” reports Porath. The modules were instantly up and running at the customers’ sites and have now been functioning smoothly for months.

 “The path measuring system and control electronics are located on a combination printed circuit board, which is no longer encapsulated but openly integrated into the housing, as with our most sophisticated A-15 control top,” explains Porath. All components are protected by the proven T-Vis housing technology at the highest level against dust and moisture applying the IP69k standard.

The innovative Gea T.Vis M-20 control top is optimized for most applications without added monitoring elements. A’s butterfly valves, single and double-seat valves, as well as valves with special functions and product recovery systems, can be fitted with the control top, including virtually the entire Gea Varivent and Gea Aseptomag valve series for hygienic and aseptic valves, respectively.  If higher than two feedbacks and further monitoring functions via an IO-Link connection is required for double-seat valves with seat lifting, Gea’s portfolio offers the Gea T.Vis A-15 premium solution.

Gea T.Vis has made new ground for valve technology development; Product Manager Bernd Porath reports “Plant uptime, robustness, and repeatability of processes and their components are all part of the overarching theme of sustainability, which is a huge concern for the industry. Optimally configured, durable process technology naturally plays a part in the smooth operation of our customers’ plants. We aim to show how digital control tops with sophisticated automated functions and feedback options can contribute to an improved climate footprint. We intend to capture additional functions within our valve range – from control to process diagnostics and predictive maintenance.”

For more details: www.gea.com

Evanesce To Debut Innovative Plant-Based Packaging Technologies At Pack Expo Las Vegas

Evanesce, a sustainable technology innovator, driven to accelerate the adoption of sustainable and economically viable packaging solutions, will reveal its groundbreaking sustainable packaging technology at PACK EXPO Las Vegas. Addressing the growing plastic pandemic, scientists and experts at Evanesce have engineered a patented technology that produces cost-competitive, 100% plant-based, and 100% compostable sustainable packaging. The leading packaging industry event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center from September 27 to 29, 2021.

During PACK EXPO, the company will showcase its two packaging technologies and its vast range of packaging products. Its booth will feature the patented Evanesce Molded Starch technology along with its high-quality line of PLA (Polylactic Acid) compostable products, including straws, hot and cold cups, and lids, plates, bowls, cutlery, gloves, and resalable bags. Booth visitors will meet the top executive team and experience their plant-based packaging solutions in person.

“Our innovative technologies are designed to replace single-use plastics and Styrofoam in packaging and will be a game-changer for the industry. We’re most excited about launching our revolutionary patented Molded Starch technology at one of the biggest packaging events in the world,” stated Douglas Horne, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Evanesce. “This innovation in material science has the power to truly transform sustainable packaging. This event offers us an ideal opportunity to launch our innovative packaging solutions, showcase the wide range of products we offer, and connect with industry leaders on collaborative partnership opportunities.”

Now in use by leading foodservice companies, restaurant chains, and convenience stores, Evanesce’s PLA products are on par or cost-competitive to other alternatives, offer significantly improved durability, and are BPI certified commercially compostable. The patented Evanesce Molded Starch Technology produces 100% compostable molded packaging material at almost half the cost of other eco-friendly alternatives available in the market. Production of Molded Starch products including meal trays, meat trays, containers, and cups are expected in early 2022.

For more details: www.evanescepackaging.com

Integrating Smart Functions Such As Display And Ambient Lighting And Touch Control Using Covestro’s Direct Coating Technology

The biggest crisis for car manufacture and their suppliers facing the challenge of integrating smart function such as display and ambient lighting and touch control in addition to wide range of products as cost-effectively as possible in to achieve broad acceptance in industry.

How can intelligent surfaces provide more design freedom and functionality in car interiors and still be produced cost-effectively? Covestro investigated this important question together with a team of three industry partners: Votteler Lackfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, laser texture specialist Reichle Technology Center and Merck KGaA as a manufacturer of pearl effect pigments.

The result is an effective concept for the production of interior parts with seamless, intelligent surfaces using Covestro’s Direct Coating technology. The coated component is produced in two steps using a polyurethane reaction injection molding (PU-RIM) process. Car manufacturers and their suppliers face the challenge of integrating smart functions such as display and ambient lighting and touch control, in addition to a wide range of visual and haptic surface properties. The goal is car interiors that can easily serve as a lounge, workspace and driver cockpit. In this way, an environment can be created in the car that combines comfort and infotainment with a feeling of safety. The goal is car interiors that can easily serve as a lounge, workspace and driver cockpit. In this way, an environment can be created in the car that combines comfort and infotainment with a feeling of safety. The goal is car interiors that can easily serve as a lounge, workspace and driver cockpit. In this way, an environment can be created in the car that combines comfort and infotainment with a feeling of safety.

In implementing the innovative solution, Votteler drew on the manufacturing expertise of Reichle Technologiezentrum GmbH, which operates Europe’s largest laser texturing site. The company provided laser-textured PU-RIM molds for the project. Covestro supplied process technology know-how, coating raw materials from the Desmodur and Desmophen ranges without solvent additives, and Makrolon and Bayblend polycarbonate plastics, which proved to be a key to the project’s success. Effect pigments from Merck KGaA can be used to achieve various color and transparency effects.

The direct coasting process, the plastic substrate in first produced in an initial cavity by injective molding. The outcome part is the transferred to a second minimally max mold .The cavity between the substrate and laser-engraved RIM mold corresponds also offers advantages .Over conventional coating separate dying step.  

For more details: www.covestro.com

Specialty Chemicals Platform Chemberry Launches Home Care, Building On Personal Care Success

After wowing Personal Care R&D and formulation teams for the past year, and handling thousands of searches each month, the innovative chemical ingredients web platform, Chemberry, is expanding into the Home Care segment. Launched in 2018, Chemberry already lists more than 30,000 Personal Care ingredients and suppliers in one place, saving users time by eliminating the need to manually search for products across thousands of different websites. Now, 3,000 Home Care ingredients from various suppliers have been added to the database, enabling buyers in that industry to easily find the ingredients they need.

Timo von Bargen, Head of the Chemberry platform, says that it is one of the most comprehensive sources of ingredients for these segments available online, featuring all relevant chemical suppliers and their products. “Chemberry indexes chemical ingredients ranging from active ingredients through to colorants, emulsifiers and UV filters using the most comprehensive, verified, and up-to-date product and certification information available. Feedback from our Personal Care users has been very positive and we look forward to providing Home Care formulators with the same fast and flexible functionality combined with superior service.”

Chemberry automatically extracts and organizes detailed product information from existing supplier websites and one-of-a-kind cross-referencing, creating an intelligent search and compare platform. Priscilla Rolver, Organic skincare formulator at Enjoy Divine Nature believes this makes Chemberry second to none, “Chemberry is an amazing new platform, like Google for formulators!”

Built with state of the art security and privacy standards, users of the platform also have access to a trends dashboard and the latest market information and updates, helping to inform buying decisions and accelerate innovation. “Around the world consumers are demanding natural ingredients and Chemberry was the first ever tool that gave me both a deep insight into this trend as well as an overview of the products fulfilling these criteria,” said Nicolas Lasbistes, Technical Innovation Leader Dermatology, Bayer Consumer Health.

Not only can formulation and R&D teams benefit from having thousands of ingredients at their fingertips, but personal care, and now home care ingredient suppliers, can use Chemberry to market their products and generate leads more efficiently. Suppliers have access to a ranked leads dashboard and they can also access analytics about how searchers are interacting with their products. These features can be tested in the form of a free trial and accessed permanently starting with a pay-per-lead model.

For more details: www.chemberry.com

Bucci Composites: 22″ Carbon Fiber Wheels For Bentley Revealed

British car manufacturer Bentley has presented a full carbon car wheel for its Bentayga SUV and it is developed by Bucci composites. The 22” carbon wheel, the biggest ever made in carbon guarantees an innovative design and excellent performance, as well as a weight saving of 6 kg per wheel.

The advantages of using the ultralight carbon fiber wheel are directly linked to the decreased weight of the wheel: a lighter component design means less rotational inertia, which interprets into greater acceleration, shorter braking distance, and better vehicle handling.

A main key benefit of the Bucci Composites wheel is the hub-wheel coupling system which allows the wheel to be fixed to the hub traditionally, eliminating the risk of wheel bolt torque loss. This assembly system, therefore, provides all the advantages of a standard wheel fixing system but with the significant added weight reduction

Bucci Composites has also advanced in new innovative production technology (High-Pressure RTM – HP-RTM), which will allow to continue developing new carbon fiber wheel models for the automotive sector.

For more details: www.wheel.bucci-composites.com

Innovative Material Testing Software For Rubber And Plastic Assessment

Lloyd Instruments, has the biggest announcement the launch of its NexygenPlus 4.1 materials testing software, with the company’s advanced LS or LD Series materials testing machines, NexygenPlus 4.1 offers a strong result for the rubber and plastics industry where tests of tyres, O rings, pipes, bottles, shoe soles, plastic films, dumbells, medical plastics, tubing, and more can precisely be carried out in accordance with international standards. The test solution is ideal for testing the physical properties of raw material prior to processing and for the development of innovative designs.

Some of the most common test types within plastics testing are tensile strength, elongation to break, yield strength, modulus, Poisson’s ratio, compression, flexural, shear and friction. All of these test types can be performed on our high-precision test machines.

Like its predecessor, the powerful Windows-based NexygenPlus 4.1 software holds a vast library of pre-defined test setups for a wide range of applications and include tension, compression, 3 and 4 point bend, and shear tests as well as tests for checking the “slip” of plastic wrapping film, the torque of bottle tops and the peel of adhesive seals. The pre-defined test setups make the software quick and easy to operate. The user can also choose to create custom multi-stage tests for more complex or unique test requirements.

New to the 4.1 version of NexygenPlus is the intuitive user interface, which resembles the Microsoft Office user interface, to give its users a familiar feeling when they enter the software the first time. Additionally, the navigation has been simplified to improve the ease of use while maintaining the original advanced functionality that characterizes the popular NexygenPlus software.

Entire tests can be videoed and synchronized with the stress/strain data and replayed for detailed post-test analysis. A powerful optional security and audit trail module provide 100% traceability and the software provides full automation capacity for automatic testing.

NexygenPlus 4.1 interacts with Excel and Word and offers its user the possibility of automatically transferring test results directly to the organizations own templates without user intervention. Live graphs are available during testing, SPC data is continuously monitored, and built-in export utilities assist direct connection to LIMS systems.

A Complete Solution

NexygenPlus 4.1 can be purchased as an upgrade to older NexygenPlus version, or as part of a complete solution including IQ/OQ and result calculation verification. Batch files used with previous versions of the software can be imported to NexygenPlus 4.1 so existing customers can seamlessly transition to the new version.

Materials testing and force measurement instruments are used by some of the world’s most advanced companies.  The specialization in custom materials testing solutions designed to meet the specific needs of customers. The involvement in the plastics industry stretches back decades, leaving with an extensive experience in the field of plastic testing.

For more details: www.ametektest.com