National Plastics Processing Centre set up in UK

WMG, at the University of Warwick, has established a new National Plastics Processing Centre (NPPC) to provide a national hub for research in plastics processing

WMG’s NPPC will bring an integrated approach to plastics design, manufacturing and disposal, encompassing multifunctional design and low environmental impact.

WMG’s range of plastic design, manufacture and research technologies will now work together in the centre at Warwick.

It will have its own bespoke building by 2017 with facilities for training, research and development, and will also house a fully equipped elastomer technology laboratory

The capability offered from WMG will include extrusion/compounding, injection moulding, thermoforming, blow moulding and rotational moulding.

WMG’s chair, professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, said: “The manufacture and processing of plastic and rubber materials is a multi-billion pound industry central to the future prosperity of the UK.

“There isn’t an industry which is not underpinned in some manner by plastics materials, from telecommunications to healthcare.

“The centre will have capability in every polymer process with pilot scale equipment and larger, extensive testing and characterisation facilities.”