Smart Molding International 4-2021

16 newsfeed smart_molding international 4/2021 Just one year ago, Texen and Roctool signed a collaboration agreement to support Texen's customers in their ecological transition through a com - plementary value proposition. Today, collaboration is intensifying in a logic of proactivity. Texen has just launched its first production and is investing more heavily in new Roctool produc - tion systems under its BESST (Beauty + Experience + Sensation + Surface by Texen) Transform brand. At the origin of this non-exclusive partnership, the two actors are commit - ted to clearly identified strategic issues. On the one hand Texen whose mission is to transform the material into expe - rience in a virtuous way, on the other Roctool whose technological innovation brings real opportunities in the trans - formation and sublimation of new generation materials. Keeping the commitments made to the market After the instal - lation of the first Roctool equipment in 2020, Texen is acceler - ating the deployment of the technology on its French industrial park. Several of its production lines are now equipped with new Roctool systems. In order to offer a co-development force to its customers, the Texen lab, equipped since the begin - ning of 2021, offers ways to address the cross-challenges of sustainable design, competitiveness and Brand Equity. In one year, this partnership approach was concretized by a first ultra-premium development in 100% recycled resin, the beginnings of an iconic makeup range for which the brand has chosen PCR resins. Roctool www.roctool.com The eco-design solutions of the partnership between Texen and Roctool The new partnership will see Trexel and Bockatech working together to create more sustainable recyclable and reusable packaging. Ap - plications include to-go food service, food retail, FMCG and industrial applications. With headquarters in Wilmington, USA, Trexel has led the development of the MuCell® microcellular foam injection moulding technol - ogy and has pioneered many plastic processing solutions. Bockatech initially devel - oped EcoCore using chemi - cal foaming agents (CFAs) in powder and liquid forms. These are added to the cold plastic resin pellets before injection moulding and pro - duce gas when heated to create the foamed core of EcoCore mouldings. Trexel MuCell works by adding gas, typicallyNitrogen, into the plastic melt in the injection moulding machine screw. Advantages of using MuCell over CFAs include close control of the amount of gas added and a fine cel - lular structure. Combining EcoCore and MuCell is significantly in - creasing the number of foamed plastic packaging applications and the benefits that can be achieved. "Bockatech and Trexel start - ed collaborating to enable us to better understand the actual benefits of using gas foaming agents, in place of chemical foaming agents, for packaging," saidChrisBocking, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Bockatech. Currently, Bockatech is using Trexel's MuCell to de - velop innovative and more sustainable retail food pack - aging for one of the best- known US food brands and caps for a leading FMCG brand in Europe. MuCell is a registered trademark of Trexel Inc. Bockatech www.bockatech.com Bockatech and Trexel partner to increase benefits of foamed packaging applications Specialists at the Bockatech R&D Centre with a Trexel MuCell P-300 Nitrogen delivery system (picture: Bockatech) Picture: Roctool