Along with this issue of Plastics Machinery Magazine, you are receiving the second issue of Plastics Recycling magazine.
It is a joint effort with Recycling Today magazine, published by GIE Media, and is supported by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association.
As with any new publication, it will have to evolve.
Some 26 percent of PMM readers say they are involved in recycling — the third-largest interest group of our readers behind injection molding and mold/tool making and repair. There are probably other processors shredding their scrap for re-use or disposal that are not included in the 26 percent.
Our challenge is to develop content that informs your recycling efforts and shows you how others are succeeding and what pitfalls to avoid.
A new addition in the Fall issue of Plastics Recycling is the Patent Report by senior correspondent Doug Smock, featuring short items about cutting-edge technology that has recently been patented or described in a patent application. Four technologies are included in the report, ranging from new technology from Plastipak Packaging Inc. for reclaiming bioplastics from post-consumer PET containers to a new process from Erema to remove contaminants or impurities from scrap plastics.
One recurring theme in coverage of plastics recycling is the need to add value to recycled material. This issue of Plastics Recycling includes a story about AGS Technology Inc., an Illinois injection molder that turns recycled flake into high-quality resin without the expense of extruding it, then uses the new material to mold automotive and other high-value parts.
Another story highlights the demand for America's scrap plastic. You will be very surprised where it all goes.
You will also find stories on filtration technology for compounders of recycled resins and a dozen profiles on innovative new machinery products.
You can expect the PMM and Recycling Today staffs to continue to look for the right mix of content to provide you with a useful publication, which we will publish three times in 2017. We would really like to hear what you think about the first two issues and anything you would like to see in future editions.
It's easy to be heard — just email me at the address below.
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It takes a bigger editorial staff to produce larger monthly issues, Plastics Recycling and special issues like our NPE supplement in 2015 and the K in in Focus supplement you will receive with your November issue. We are adding editorial staff to keep up.
Kathy Hayes, who started as a part-time copy editor in 2014, has joined the full-time staff. Hayes has more than 12 years of experience in plastics industry trade publishing as a reporter, copy editor and assistant managing editor.
Mike McCue has joined the staff as a part-time copy editor. McCue has more than 25 years of business-to-business publishing experience, including the food and drug packaging and health-care industries.
Along with copy editor Karen Hanna, Hayes and McCue edit all the stories and write the Product Innovations that appear each month.
Bruce Geiselman has joined the staff as a correspondent. He has been a reporter and editor at daily newspapers, trade magazines and news websites for 33 years. Geiselman spent eight years at Waste and Recycling News, where his reporting skills were recognized with several national awards.
PMM's reporting and editing staff now numbers 12, with hundreds of years of plastics industry and publishing experience. I am proud to be associated with the group.
