5 interesting facts you won’t know about plastic in manufacturing

At ALLpaQ, our bioprocess containers are fabricated in plastic – a material far removed from the traditional steel equivalents. Manufacturing in plastic, however, delivers an array of operational benefits to companies in the biopharmaceutical industry.

The units, for instance, can be collapsed and stacked to save space in storage and shipment. Likewise, all-plastic bioprocess containers are easier to clean than their steel counterparts.

Anyway, as plastic is never far from our thoughts, we got to thinking about some other interesting tidbits about plastic.

So here’s five things you may or may not know about plastic in manufacturing.

1. The Walt Disney wrecking ball

Back in the 1950’s, Walt Disney’s Monsanto’s Plastics Home of the Future was built almost entirely from – you got it – plastic. This is a well known fact. What is less well known though, is when Walt took a wrecking ball to the exhibit a decade later it bounced right off – a testament to the toughness of plastic.

2. Is Scotch tape really that offensive?

“Where’s the Scotch tape,” is a phrase often shouted out in my household. The name, however, is a derogatory one.
Many moons ago an irritated company tester bequeathed this title when he cried: “Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses … and tell them to put more adhesive on it.”

3. Cellophane is the third most beautiful word ever

Back in the 1940’s, cellophane – which incidentally became the basis of Scotch tape – ranked as the third most beautiful word in the English language. It only narrowly lost out to mother and memory.
If we were to take the poll today, I’d vote for ‘television’ as my most beautiful word.

4. Plastic is shockingly safe

There’s a simple reason why almost 100% of electrical energy insulation is provided by plastics: it is shockingly safe (or unshocking might be the best coin of phrase in this instance).
While many buildings count on plastic insulation to cut out energy loss, plastic insulation boasts the lowest thermal conductivity of commonly used materials.

5. Plastic surgery and hygienic health care

Single-use disposable solutions are perhaps one of the biggest evolutions in hygienic healthcare when it comes to reducing the risk of cross infection. From blood bags, tubing, syringes, protective gloves, artificial limbs to life saving valves, plastic is indeed most fantastic.

What’s on your mind?

Do you have any interesting facts about plastic in manufacturing? What are you experiences? Tell us your stories?

Author

Phill Allen

Managing Director

An in and outside the (bioprocess) box thinker, fluid management specialist Phill knows a thing or two about keeping pharma liquid logistics flowing.

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