LightManufacturing Creates Greener Plastics Manufacturing Process

Pismo Beach, Calif.-based LightManufacturing LLC has introduced solar rotomolding (SRM) systems that use the sun’s heat to make plastic medical devices (among other types of products) at a reduced cost when compared to other, similar systems, the company claims.

Rotomolding, a contraction of “rotational molding,” is a process by which plastics are molded into large consumer and industrial products. By tumbling polymer powder around inside a mold, the object created is basically stress free since there are no seams or joints. According to LightManufacturing, existing rotomolding systems on the market use massive amounts of natural gas and produce more than 2 billion pounds of greenhouse pollution annually. Because it uses solar energy, this new rotomolding system is expected to be more efficient. This solar energy approach to rotomolding is currently awaiting a patent.

SRM produces no carbon emissions. Specially designed heliostats (sun-tracking mirrors) aim sunlight at low-cost molding armatures. Small SRM factories can be placed close to customers, creating additional savings by reducing transport costs. SRM systems operate entirely “off-grid,” requiring no outside electricity or fuel.

CEO and founder Karl von Kries came up with the idea for this technology after working for a traditional rotomolding facility, growing frustrated with the energy-inefficient method. He founded the company in 2009 to materialize his idea. As well as the system itself, LightManufacturing developed a new type of low-cost heliostat, which replaces expensive glass mirrors with thin reflective plastic stretched flat like the head of a drum. The firm anticipates shipping ready-to-use solar rotational molding systems and heliostats to customers by August 2012.

“We’re in the very early days of applying solar thermal energy to industry–and the potential is huge,” von Kries said.

The “green” ethic doesn’t end with the manufacturing process. LightManufacturing also uses recycled plastics and sustainable bio-plastics as well as traditional oil-based plastics.