Stepping up cyber security
Cyber-criminals pose numerous threats to chemical companies, the most serious of which is arguably ransomware attacks
European Market for PP Compounds
European demand for polypropylene (PP) compounds has stalled since the middle of 2018; caused by mounting issues in the automotive industry.
PET recycling impact
Meeting US recycled plastics content goals by 2030 would significantly alter the region’s PET resin and upstream aromatics markets. The impact would be most felt in the PET resin market, with less of an effect on the upstream purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and paraxylene (PX) markets – although the influence would still be significant.
Pesticide treadmill
Large-scale crop monocultures occupy about 80% of the 1.5bn ha devoted to agriculture around the world. Because of their low ecological diversity and genetic homogeneity, they are highly vulnerable to weed infestations, insect invasions and disease epidemics, and recently to climate change.
A sustainable economy
Over the past year, UK think-tank IPPR has been arguing that mainstream political and policy debates fail to recognise that human impacts on the environment have reached a critical stage, potentially eroding the conditions upon which socioeconomic stability is possible.
Antibiotic responsibility
By 2050, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is predicted to cause 10m deaths/year, more than obesity and all cancers combined. It is expected to cost the global economy more than $100 trillion/year in lost GDP.
3D Medical printing
The healthcare industry is rapidly adopting 3D printing solutions due to benefits such as unmatched flexibility of design and low-cost production of prosthetics, implants, medical devices, and anatomical models. With technology progression and regulatory issues becoming clearer, this market will witness quantum change in terms of healthcare service possibilities.
Problems from genotoxicity
The recent withdrawal of valsartan-containing antihypertensives was caused by low-level genotoxic impurities in the bulk API used to make them. The source was traced back to a Chinese manufacturer, and the contamination identified as the carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Further investigations showed that other manufacturers had also supplied contaminated API, and additionally, a related impurity, N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), was also found in other valsartan products.
You've got IIoT all wrong
Industry 4.0. The industrial internet of things. Digitalisation. Smart manufacturing. The fourth industrial revolution. There are dozens of different names for the uptake in connected technologies and the convergence of IT and OT systems taking place in industry at the moment. One thing most people do agree on, however, is that it’s tech-driven. But should this really be the case?
Millennial farming
When most people imagine a farmer they picture an individual at the wheel of a tractor or out tending cattle. What they may not be aware of is the great technological changes that have happened over the last five years. Tractors can steer themselves, decisions about crop treatments are based on drone imagery of the fields and machine vision is being used to direct robotic harvesters.