Partners in polymers

According to a recent survey of current UK polymer (plastics and rubber) research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) alone, there are more than 300 projects in progress across a broad spectrum of UK universities, from Southampton to Strathclyde.

A host of other local, national and EU driven initiatives are also underway with these universities; individual spin-off developments from these institutions are taking place, and an unidentified number of individual academe/industry projects are always in play.

However, it has been well known for some years that there is an absence of overall strategic direction and priority areas for the new materials and processes.

This holds good, not just for polymers, but for a number of other 'rising sun' sectors in the UK such as biocatalysis, aerospace, food processing, mobile communications, photonics, genetics, digital imaging and many other technologies.

This need for a defining vision and strategy for these new niche sectors led the government to create a number of Faraday Partnerships to match the technology areas.

The Faraday Plastics and Polymers Partnership (FPPP) was established by the DTI in the Spring of 2000 with a mission of 'enabling research to meet the critical technological challenges of the plastics sector.'

In practice this means ensuring that the industry and the research community are fully engaged with each other through front-end industrial involvement in defining and shaping research priorities, and continuous access from both sides into Faraday's network of skills and resources.

FPPP also now provides the framework in UK plastics and rubber for:

1. core strategic research in polymers to underpin business opportunities;

2. effective technology translation (between academe and industry);

3. analyses of the technological issues/ driving forces that shape the industry; and

4. a technically educated, market oriented, skills base.

The Faraday Plastics Partnership is led by Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and testing house. The supporting partners include Strathclyde University, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Bradford University, MERL, Institute of Materials, British Plastics Federation, and GTMA.

Through a process of experimentation and discussion, Faraday Plastics has identified three key technology areas:

Nano and composite materials - research and development of materials in these areas that offer competitive advantage;

Energy - research and best practice on the best types and volumes of energy needed to process plastics and rubbers;

and Recycling and sustainability - identifying environmental and legislative drivers for materials and products.

Two leading market sectors that will be critical to the development of new polymeric materials and products have also been included.

These are:

Automotive - a sector with a growing use of thermoplastics;

and Medical/healthcare - a niche sector with high added-value and growth potential.

Taking its cue from recent innovations in business and politics, the 'road map' has become a key instrument for FPPP in developing these ideas for the marketplace.

For example, the partnership has recently produced a 'Technology Road Map' (TRM) for low-energy polymer processing that aims to galvanise the plastics and rubber industry into measuring its energy-use performance and changing it for the better.

Among the recommendations here are:

Industry benchmarking and sectoral targets - a programme of market research is recommended to study how energy-efficient (or not) the polymer processing sector is in its current practices;

Heater insulation - a campaign to promote the use of insulation and to save energy wastage and cost in this area;

Demonstration unit - establishing a 'show and tell unit' to demonstrate to processors the benefits of energy efficiency;

Cost of ownership model - establishing a financial model for typical paybacks to incentivise the industry to adopt energy saving measures;

and Training - to be provided in energy measurement and management.

Faraday Plastics director, Richard Simpson, notes that 'this is the beginning - not the end - of a very important debate that needs to happen within the plastics and rubber sector on energy processing. Not only does the practice make commercial and competitive sense, but energy efficiency is also desirable on environmental and health and safety grounds.'

Simpson adds that 'issues such as the Climate Change Levy have put polymer processors more into the "front line", and have politicised these issues to some degree. The good news is that moulders who save their own costs through lower energy bills are also making a positive contribution to the environmental health and credentials of their industry. I urge all involved in processing to read our TRM report and to help us help the sector in implementing its findings.'

Work is also underway between Faraday Plastics and Hybridnet (an EPSRC-funded network) in creating a technology road map for the commercialisation of polymer/ ceramic hybrids and nano-composites.

These road maps provide the polymer sector with a clear picture of the priority areas, now and for the foreseeable future. But in order to fully explore and exploit these areas, expert guides are often needed. Faraday Plastics has therefore now put together a team of eight individuals - 'technology translators' - deployed to help bridge the gap between the academic and business worlds of the UK plastics industry. Each individual has a niche expertise in the priorities identified by FP - healthcare, energy, automotive, healthcare, recycling and other topics.

However, the lines of resistance to commercial exploitation are more than conceptual and technical. Even assuming that industry and academe are able to work together on polymer-based research and development projects, the constraint of finance rears its head with many companies unable or unwilling to face development for reasons of cost.

FPPP has found that most companies in the sector are unaware of the tax credit opportunities available to them through R&D activity. Richard Simpson says that 'judging by the feedback received at our seminars to date, this is an area where most plastics processors have not been well advised by their accountants.

Up to 150% of a company's research and development expenditure can be set against profitability and the company's tax burden.'

For most companies or academics in UK polymers today, the easiest and quickest way to look for an industrial or academic partner is to get involved with the Faraday Plastics affiliate scheme. Richard Simpson believes that for innovative plastics-based businesses, the affiliate scheme - currently free of charge - is the best single way to boost polymer-based R&D.

Adrian Lunney is a freelance journalist, writing on behalf of Rapra Technology.