EC project to help polymer industry cut energy bills

Shawbury, UK –  Polymer industry technology group Smithers Rapra (formerly Rapra) has won funding worth over €600,000 from the European Commission to lead a new project to help the European polymer industry and its supply chain to reduce its carbon footprint and environmental impact. The three-year ENER-Plast project will provide companies with information, tools and resources to systematically manage their energy consumption from product design to manufacturing.

ENER-Plast is intended to enable organisations to consider operations and revenue in the context of climate change, impending legislation, brand identity and corporate governance. The project will be managed by Smithers Rapra, working with a consortium of 11 partners from across Europe including the British Plastics Federation, SIRRIS (Belgium), AIMPLAS (Spain), TECOS (Solvenia) and CENTIMFE (Portugal).

"ENER-Plast tools will lead a company through the energy efficiencies at each stage of the production cycle - from product design and materials selection, to purchasing equipment and manufacturing," said Mark Pullinger, Smithers Rapra’s R&D director. "Whether developing new, or redesigning existing products or component parts, there are opportunities for reducing energy consumption but at the same time make cost savings to boost profitability,”