Promoted and supported by Italy's plastics and rubber processing machinery and moulds manufacturers' Association, ASSOCOMAPLAST, a new Technical Committee, called 270 Plastics and Rubber Machines, has been activated recently by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO.

At the kick-off meeting which took place in Milan on December 13, 2012, the Committee's Secretariat was given to Ms. Paola Visintin of UNI, Italy's National Organization for Standardization.

Scope of ISO/TC 270 is the standardization in the field of machines used for the preparation, processing and recovery of plastics and rubber, including the detailed safety requirements for a particular machine. Such requirements are applicable to the design, construction and use of machinery for the plastics and rubber industry, addressing hazards, hazardous situations and hazardous events. Moreover, the Technical Committee could take into consideration other is-sues such as machine classification and measurement of energy consumption.

Eleven countries (Armenia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States) have joined the ISO/TC 270 as P-Members (Participating Members), other four countries (Ecuador, South Korea, Spain, Thailand) as Observers. Seven delegations from China, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States took part in the first meeting.

During the meeting Mr Claudio Celata from ASSOCOMAPLAST has been appointed ISO/TC 270 Chairman, as he has a long experience as Chairman in the parallel Technical Committee of CEN (145), which has already defined 19 safety standards for as many kinds of plastics and rubber machines. Moreover, it has been decided to activate a first Working Group (WG 1), which will deal with safety requirements for injection moulding machines and will be convened by Mr Bernd Nötel, from DIN/VDMA.

For further information contact  the Committee's Secretariat, Ms Paola Visintin, e-mail: paola.visintin [at] uni.com