On 2 April 2012, the Dutch government signed the innovation contracts for 2012 and 2013. The plans laid down in the innovation contract for the leading sector Chemistry will be fleshed out in the coming months, including the structure of the Top Consortia for Knowledge and Innovation (TKI). The leading sectors have to submit their plans for the governance of the TKIs to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation before 1 September. The sector is hoping to complete the outline plans for the TKI before the summer. Jacques Joosten, Managing Director DPI, is leading the working group for the planned Top Consortium for Smart Polymeric Materials.

  

  

We are pleased to present to you our Annual Report 2011, structured around the theme of ‘Past, Present, Future…’ In the past few years DPI and its partners have established an environment that enables researchers to execute excellent research to meet various industrial and academic needs and goals.

 

New partners

 

 

 

The following researchers have recently started a DPI project:

 

Sumant Dwivedi

 

 

 

 

 

16-19 September: Polycondensation2012

13 November: Annual Meeting DPI

 

More external meetings can be found on our website: www.polymers.nl

 

For the internal meetings please see the DPI intranet.

 

 

McDonald’s Corp. may have found a recyclable alternative to its polystyrene foam beverage cups, Plastics News has reported. About 2,000 of the company’s restaurants, mainly on the West Coast of the US, will be testing a double-walled fiber hot cup in an attempt to phase out the usually landfill-bound foam cups, according to a press release. McDonald’s said the objective of the pilot project is to assess customer acceptance, operational impact and overall performance.

 

The planned switch comes in response to a shareholder resolution filed in 2011 by As You Sow, a non-profit organisation that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building and legal strategies.   

 

 

Demand for lightweight construction systems in the automotive industry is now at an all-time high, with a view to cutting fuel consumption, costs and CO₂ emissions. According to VCD Verkehrsclub Deutschland, reducing the weight of a vehicle by 100 kilograms lowers fuel consumption by 0.5 liters over a distance of 100 kilometers and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 kilograms over the same distance. Lightweight structures are now more important than ever given the trend toward future-oriented drive technologies such as electric mobility.

Bayer MaterialScience has already developed a wide range of energy-efficient polyurethane materials for the automotive sector. At UTECH 2012, it is going one step further with the presentation of the Bayflex® RIM Light Weight polyurethane system that can be used to further reduce the weight of finished components by up to 30 percent. With a density of just 0.9 kilograms per liter, this material is even lighter than water.

 

 

Ultra-light, ultra-durable, or otherwise ultra-efficient materials are increasingly influencing product design. Some companies, such as Rolls Royce, are forming mixed teams of designers, engineers, and production staff so that they can work efficiently together as they research innovative new compounds and substances, such as a nickel-based “super-alloy” that resists damage.

 

The Economist reported on this development in a piece entitled 'Forging Ahead' that was featured in the magazine’s special report on manufacturing and innovation (in the April 21-27 print edition). The story offers a number of brief narratives of how companies are designing (and designing with) new materials as the starting point for product invention. In the past, The Economist observes, designers would have ideas and then find the appropriate chemicals, metals, plastics, and other substances to make them real. Now, companies are increasingly developing designs alongside the actual creation or tweaking of the materials themselves.

 

 

British environment minister Lord Taylor has officially opened the £15m Continuum Recycling plant in Hemswell, Lincolnshire, describing the joint venture between Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) and ECO Plastics as 'an innovative partnership'.

 

Taylor said the venture, which is set to last 10 years, was 'the sort of thing the government wants to see' in terms of manufacturing and wealth creation, 'bringing new jobs and growth to the area, while helping to save precious resources'.

 

The plant, said to be the world's largest and most sophisticated plastics recycling facility, will be capable of processing 150,000 tonnes of mixed plastics a year, including 40,000 tonnes of bottle-grade rPET.

 

 

BASF has announced that it has acquired the polyamide (PA) polymer business of the Mazzaferro Group in Brazil, thereby further strengthening its position with regard to engineering plastics and polyamide polymers in South America. The companies have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

 

The transaction comprises the site and production facilities for the PA 6 product range, as well as engineering plastics compounds at São Bernardo do Campo in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. The polymerization plant has a capacity of roughly 20,000 metric tons per year. Around 100 employees will transfer to BASF. Mazzaferro’s monofilaments, fishing equipment and household products businesses are not part of the transaction and will continue their operations at the Diadema and São Paulo production sites.