April 2015
Featured in this insight: Chemicals
The plastics industry wants improved resins, survey finds: A recent survey by DuPont and Plastics News has found that a large amount of people working in the plastics industry would like improved resins, as they believe that the current standard is not sufficient for the sector’s needs.
The survey – which questioned individuals who were either users of the DuPont website or subscribers of Plastic News – found that 1 in 3 felt the current resin portfolio for the industry should be improved. Around 1 in 20 (3 per cent) said that a whole new portfolio is needed to meet demands within the industry.
Of the resins available, the respondents identified those with thermal resistance properties as the most in-demand, closely followed by resins with structural capabilities and improved durability.
Officials from DuPont attributed the demand to efforts to reduce the weight of vehicles. By doing this, fuel economy would be improved and emissions would be decreased.
Director of global automotive technology at DuPont, Jeffrey Sternberg, said: "There’s still a lot of metal used in engine, transmission and chassis components, and those are prime candidates for today’s high-performance polymers."
The respondents said that environmental issues and global competition were the issues they were most concerned about. Also, the respondents were concerned by unstable oil prices and global economic and currency challenges.
The findings also showed that 40 per cent considered material supplies to be more important than three years ago.
Of the research's sample, 27 per cent worked in research and development, 24 per cent worked in management, marketing or sales and 22 per cent worked in industrial or product design.
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