PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Jump start the New Year in the South West!
Two days free business and technical support is now available to plastics processors
in the South West thanks to the University of Exeter’s EU-funded CALMARE project
The New Year has begun brightly for the University of Exeter’s College of
Engineering, Maths and Physical Sciences with a delivery of an Wittmann Battenfeld
HM 45 injection moulding machine.
Exeter University has been a Wittmann Battenfeld customer for some fifteen years.
The new machine, specially set up for thermoset moulding, will further enhance the
University’s general expertise in materials and mechanical engineering and will also
play a leading role in the University’s new business technology centre, CALMARE, a
new enterprise launched in the South West at the end of 2013.
Part funded for two years by the European Regional Development Fund Programme
2007 - 2013, CALMARE (Centre for ALternative MAterials and REmanufacturing
Technologies) will support South Western plastics processors with a range of
material development and sustainability projects and services. These include
materials testing, waste reduction and advising on design, redesign, remanufacturing
and recycling.
Paul McCutchion, Commercial Manager for the new centre says that ‘many SME
(Small to Medium Enterprises) plastics manufacturers neither have the time nor
resources to look into alternatives that could improve their products and
processes, or may not know where to start. That is where we come in.
Plastics processors of all kinds will definitely benefit greatly from these two days free
work in 2014. Our CALMARE team, for example can visit companies on site or open
up our facilities and manpower here for use. We can also work on new products and
ideas, directly or with desk/feasibility research; undertake process improvement work
and can also include workshops providing useful information on topics such as the
impact of new legislation, or material developments.’
The CALMARE Centre is also there to help companies with ‘collaborative projects,’
says McCutchion, ‘such as implementation of cross network recycling solutions and
development of new sustainable materials and processes.’
There is a large element of sustainable manufacturing involved in the Centre’s remit;
part of the reason for turning to long standing technology partner and supplier,
Wittmann Battenfeld. The X-AT (Exeter Advanced Technologies) Technical Services
Manager Dave Baker notes that ‘over the years we have enjoyed great service and
reliability across the board from Wittmann Battenfeld, not just for moulding but for
energy efficient solutions in materials handling, temperature control, and granulation.’
The new Wittmann Battenfeld HM 45 moulding machine will therefore be greatly
involved in some of the pioneering work being done at CALMARE in the areas of
GRP, Composites and Thermoset recycling. ‘The new machine enjoyed a smooth
commission,’ adds Baker, ‘and we are confident in creating pioneering work in
thermoset-based recycling and moulding through the coming year.’
The CALMARE Centre already enjoys high-level support from UK plastics; trade
associations and companies. The British Plastics Federation (BPF), for example, is
involved; providing match funding and assisting the Centre in its mission to help
plastics-based SMEs in the South West region.
Tim Marsden, Senior Projects Executive at BPF says that ‘following our successful
collaboration with the University of Exeter on a range of other projects, we were
very pleased to lend our support to this exciting initiative. As the leading trade
association for the plastics industry in the UK, one of our major concerns is
upcoming UK and EU legislation issues and how they affect plastics SME
businesses. So we are delighted that CALMARE has been set up and that one of
its strengths will be raising opportunities in reusing and recycling plastics and
composite materials.’
The £1.8m business technology centre is based at the University of Exeter and
serves SME plastics manufacturers in the South West. Qualifying counties include
Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Dorset and Devon.
For more details, please contact 01392 725821, email P.McCutchion@exeter.ac.uk
or calmare@exeter.ac.uk or visit www.exeter.ac.uk/calmare
For more details of Wittmann Battenfeld machinery and equipment contact the
company at 01933 275777 www.wittmann-group.co.uk
ENDS
About the University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a Russell Group university and in the top one percent of
institutions globally. It combines world-class research with very high levels of student
satisfaction. Exeter has over 18,000 students and is ranked 8th in The Times and
The Sunday Times Good University Guide league table, 10th in The Complete
University Guide and 12th in the Guardian University Guide 2014. In the 2008
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 90% of the University’s research was rated as
being at internationally recognised levels and 16 of its 31 subjects are ranked in the
top 10, with 27 subjects ranked in the top 20. Exeter was The Sunday Times
University of the Year 2012-13.
The University has invested strategically to deliver more than £350 million worth of
new facilities across its campuses in the last few years; including landmark new
student services centres - the Forum in Exeter and The Exchange on the Penryn
Campus in Cornwall, together with world-class new facilities for Biosciences, the
Business School and the Environment and Sustainability Institute. There are plans for
another £330 million of investment between now and 2016.
www.exeter.ac.uk