Newsletter

D-M-E’s Eco-Smart Hot Runner System:
The First Assembly Optimized for ‘Green’ Polymers

The plastics industry is moving toward greener, more renewable plastics such as Polylactic Acid (PLA). But PLA has its drawbacks: It’s hypersensitive to heat, degrading quickly into highly corrosive acids. That’s why D-M-E has created the Eco-Smart Hot Runner System, the only assembly optimized for PLA and other biodegradable resins.

ECO-Smart

Eco-Smart is an industry first in “green” polymer processing. In normal operation, these polymers tend to plate out acids onto the walls of the molding system. To withstand the corrosive acids, molders previously had been using special-ordered, all-stainless-steel nozzle components.

But nozzle assemblies aren’t typically stocked “standard” by hot runner manufacturers in “all” or “near-all,” stainless-steel formats. The Eco-Smart was engineered to meet a variety of needs cited by PLA-processing customers:

With the exception of nozzle heads and nozzle tips, all nozzle materials are made of corrosion resistant materials.
Its thermal profile is designed to suit PLA’s temperature hypersensitivity, with nozzle tips that minimize shear heat.
It’s suitable for process filled and unfilled PLA resins.

Eco-Smart can also accommodate a variety of other polymers, including Rejuvan8, Metbolix, Ecoflex, Ecovio, Sorona, Hytrel, Econeer, Ecopol, Metabolix, Celulose Acetate and Celulose Acetate Butyrate.