Sustainable Innovation

• In 2014 HARBEC was awarded a $1 million project by NYSERDA to “Demonstrate the Transformative Potential of Energy-Efficient 3D Printing.” The project will allow HARBEC to further reduce energy in its manufacturing facility while providing a new technological capability that can be transferred to other businesses in their own pursuit of Carbon Neutrality. In the project, HARBEC will explore and incorporate principles of “biomimicry” into mold-making which are projected to yield faster cycle-times due to better thermal transfer of energy within the mold, and thereby reducing the energy (and potentially water) requirements for plastics injection molding. This unique project is being conducted so that the technology can be transferred to other mold-making and injection molding companies throughout New York State, and so that any energy, environmental, and sustainability impacts that derive from the project are transferred to other businesses for adoption.

• HARBEC has partnered and supported other American companies which have developed higher efficiency energy products. HARBEC has, for example, tested and validated LED lighting technologies developed by Lumentek Global, a Rochester-based LED solutions company and a Rankine Cycle system developed by Schenectady-based Ener-G-Rotors, Inc. which ran for more than 500 hours and produced more than 19 kW of power by leveraging excess thermal potential at HARBEC’s facility. Additionally, HARBEC has lent one of its microturbine generators to LPP Combustion (an advanced engineering company located in Maryland) to aid in their development of alternative fuel conditioning equipment that could someday provide a much-desired biofuel solution for the combined heat and power plant. These three examples have advanced HARBEC’s energy efficiency goals and energy and cost reductions even further.

• Through the Biopolymer Partners Program HARBEC is working to connect the dots between sustainable design and manufacturing and materials development and management. HARBEC is working with customers who are looking for unique bio-based polymer solutions which can enable their products to reduce or eliminate petroleum-and-carbon based feedstocks within their product portfolio. HARBEC is also working with a diversity of biopolymer and bio-origin polymer companies to sample, validate, and assess the vitality of their material within the production parameters and tolerances demanded by customers.

• Selective Laser Sintering including our next generation 3D Systems capabilities allows us to “grow” functional plastic and metal parts in one day.

• Mastery of engineered resins that allow us to mold even the most difficult of materials.

• Recipient of the 2014 NYSDEC Environmental Excellence Award for innovation in achieving Carbon Neutrality.

• Receipt of the 2011 MEP Excellence in Sustainability Award from NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Biopolymer Information Center

Plastic, by its very nature, is recyclable. We regrind and reuse or resell our waste plastic so it doesn’t ever see a landfill. There are new technologies that make plastic even more environmentally friendly called biopolymers or bio-origin plastics. HARBEC is very interested in utilizing bioplastics for your next injection molding project. We are currently exploring various samples to understand the functionality and best applications for our customers’ needs. We are always looking for new biomaterials to try, so if you have a material you would like to see injection molded, or if you are a manufacturer or supplier interested in how your material performs, please feel free to contact us. We would love to work with you!