In the October issue of the International Plastics News
for Asia, we had the chance to talk to two representatives from Evonik's Asia Pacific Polymers Business Line.
They discussed how the company created its VESTAMID® Terra line years ago even
before the shortage of PA12 and PA11 sparked actions amongst raw materials
manufacturers. Evonik has developed commercialised its line of bio-based
polyamides, VESTAMID®, that are partially or entirely based on renewable
feedstocks. The product meets the demand of more new applications for high
performance polyamides to fulfill the technical requirements.
More than meeting the requirements for high performance
materials, the development of VESTAMID® meets the call for environment
protection and sustainable resources. The market was not prepared for such
product years ago because these were not price-competitive and end-users were
not really particular about "green" products then. However, the
shortage of commonly used materials coupled with rising global trends demanding the use of bio-based
plastics brought into the limelight this new breed of polyamides.
There are other factors that come into play when
developing high performance materials. Lightweighting is one of them. Materials
that promise reduced weight have seen rising demand given that plastics now replace metal parts
in many applications such as transportation. There is also the life cycle
factor where increased life cycle or use of the products would reduce wastes.
More important, lower energy consumption and emission forms part of the efforts
to protect the environment.
There are many other materials that are now in the market
to provide suitable alternatives to traditional raw materials. These innovative
high performance materials see greater opportunities in such conditions when
shortage for traditional materials and more complex demands of emerging
applications would have to be filled in.
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