DuPont Engineering Polymers recently announced the full commercialization of several families of high-performance renewably sourced engineering polymers, including DuPont Hytrel RS thermoplastic elastomers, DuPont Sorona EP thermoplastic resins and DuPont Zytel RS long chain nylons. Customer demand for bio-based polymers continues to be strong despite the economy, the company reports, and customers have already announced commercial adoptions in automotive and sporting goods applications.
According to Marsha Craig, global business manager — DuPont Engineering Polymers, the DuPont strategy is to offer polymers that are at least 20% renewably sourced and have equal or better performance than the entirely petro-chemically based materials they replace so that customers do not have to choose between performance and environmental improvements.
Earlier this year, Salomon, a supplier of sporting goods, announced it has adopted Hytrel RS for the collar of the company’s new "Ghost" freerider alpine ski-boot. A key reason for the adoption, according to Salomon, was the availability of a renewably sourced alternative meeting the demanding performance requirements for winter sports equipment. "We already knew Hytrel could deliver required performance. The fact that we could now access a grade with significant renewable content is an additional selling point for our boots," said Pascal Pallatin, research project manager at Salomon.
Also this year, DuPont Zytel 610 nylon resin debuted on DENSO Corp.’s new automotive radiator end tank, marking the first use of DuPont renewably sourced plastic in mechanical components exposed to the hot chemically aggressive underhood environment.
"Collaborating throughout the value chain is critical to bringing high-value, cost-effective solutions to the market," said Craig. "In today's business environment, we strive to be cost neutral in offering new solutions and collaboration with partners around the world helps us deliver economical and more environmentally sustainable solutions."
"DuPont's vision is to have a portfolio of renewably sourced engineering polymers that offer comparable performance to existing product lines," said Craig. "We expect to expand the current product families with additional offerings this year."
For more information, visit: http://www.renewable.dupont.com.
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