Packaging of pharmaceuticals is a critical process. It is an economical means of providing protection, presentation, information, identiÞ cation, containment, administration, shelf-life and convenience for a product during carriage, storage, display and ultimate total use, paying due attention to any legal and environmental factors1. Plastics are a wide group of solid composite materials, which...

Within the last few decades, plastics have revolutionized our daily lives. Globally we use in excess of 260 million tonnes of plastic per annum, accounting for approximately 8 per cent of world oil production. In this Theme Issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, we describe current and future trends in usage, together with the many benefits that plastics bring to society. At ...

The development of lignocellulose-derived sustainable plastics is an important strategy for a greener future. Cellulosic hydrogels, which are readily generated from a cellulosic source (e.g., wood pulp), can be converted into high-strength plastics by hot-pressing. In this process, cellulose macromolecules are fluidized and reassembled, leading to significant change of bonding interactions and ...

A brief description of the potential occupational health hazards encountered in the manufacture of plastics (polymers) is given. In general, these hazards are due to the monomers used to make the various plastics, to unreacted monomer contained within the finished products, and to the fillers, stabilizers, pigments, inhibitors, and initiators used in fabricating the finished products. They run ...

Researcher and media alarms have caused plastic debris to be perceived as a major threat to humans and animals. However, although the waste of plastic in the environment is clearly undesirable for aesthetic and economic reasons, the actual environmental risks of different plastics and their associated chemicals remain largely unknown. Here we show how a systematic assessment of adverse outcome ...

The four processes involved in the flammability of materials are described and related to the various flame retardance mechanisms that may operate. Following this the four practical approaches used in improving flame retardance of materials are described. Each approach is illustrated with a number of typical examples of flame retardants or synthetic procedures used. This overview of flammabilit...

The identification and classification of plastics plays an important role in waste management and recycling processes. Present electrical and optical sorting techniques lack the required resolution for accurate identification in a high throughput manner for a diverse set of plastics commonly found in municipal waste. In this work a multi-spectral infrared spectroscopic technique is employed to ...

Postconsumer plastics recycling constitutes a small fraction of public recycling, primarily because of the costs associated with collecting, sorting, and processing. As a result, the cost of manufacturing us. ing virgin material is often less than using recycled material. Plastic waste must be sorted to achieve the highest value recycled resin. Optical and artificial neural network technology m...

This study deals with the suitability of substrates for tactile maps and diagrams for visually impaired people. Visually impaired and sighted participants scanned symbol arrays by touch on 7 different substrates, including papers, plastics and aluminium. In general, papers were rougher than plastics and aluminium. Search time and participants’ preferences were recorded. In general, rougher subs...