Sustainable Plastics - August/September 2021 - 27

automotive
Sustainability is the
driving force behind
new developments
in automotive
The speed with which the automotive industry is
transitioning from internal combustion engines to battery
power is breathtaking. We caught up with one of the
industry's leading suppliers of thermoplastics for an
update and outlook on what is to come. By Karen Laird
D
uPont (Wilmington,
Delaware) has been
a supplier to the automotive
industry
for more than 100 years, so the
company has had experience
with managing change. But even
its experts agree that the pace
of change in today's industry is
unprecedented. " Our customers
face tremendous challenges.
Many need to balance their ability
to continue developing their
established range of ICE-powered
vehicles, and at the same
time rapidly develop applications
for battery or hybrid electric vehicles, "
notes Giacomo Parisi,
marketing director for advanced
mobility, referring to cars with internal
combustion engines. " We
believe we are in a great position
to support as we know the industry
so well, and that earned trust
leads to open dialogue with customers
about their challenges. "
Automotive OEMs incorporate
a holistic mix of tactics
to achieve their sustainability
goals. One way is selecting
materials with an environmentally-friendly
footprint, such as
bio-sourced materials or ones
with high flow characteristics
that help shorten cycle times
and this reduce energy costs.
A second path is to focus on
the environmental footprint of
the end application and improve
this with the benefit of plastics'
properties such as weight reduction
and the ability to design
for parts' consolidation.
But perhaps no change will
have as great a sustainable impact
as the transition to more
battery-powered vehicles. A typical
passenger car emits about
4.6 tonnes of CO2 annually, according
to the US Environmental
Protection Agency. Most electric
vehicles emit no exhaust.
Steam-powered factory
and bio-feedstock
DuPont says it is working on
solutions to support customers
regardless of which path they
take to improved sustainability.
One example from the company
of a recently developed sustainable
solution for automotive
and other applications is Delrin®
Renewable Attributed, the most
recent addition to the company's
established range of Delrin
polyacetal grades. Andreas
Zöller, global product manager
for Delrin, explains that the base
polymer is manufactured using
100% bio-feedstock from waste,
and is accredited through the
International Sustainability and
Carbon Certification (ISCC Plus)
mass balance certification system.
The bio-feedstock is supplied
from second-generation
sources not in competition with
the food and feed chain. Taking it
a step further, the facility where
the base polymer is produced,
in Dordrecht, the Netherlands,
is powered with steam derived
from energy recovery.
The new material clearly has a
pedigree that supports automotive
parts' manufacturers goals
for improved sustainability. In addition,
notes Zöller, it is a drop-in
transition for manufacturers already
specifying the company's
other polyacetal grades.
Automotive parts suppliers
are keen to process more
sustainable solutions, explains
Laurent Lefebvre, automotive
marketing director, but these
solutions usually need to fit,
easily, into established processes.
" The industry is developing
Delrin Renewable Attributed
polyacetal is a drop-in
solution, enabling molders to
swiftly improve an application's
environmental footprint.
at such a rapid pace, and our
customers are continuing to
optimize their older lines while
also investing in capacity for
new BEV-related applications, "
he notes. As a result, manufacturers
prefer drop-in solutions
that do not require extensive
testing or new investment. For
Delrin Renewable Attributed,
typical applications in automotive
include gears, seatbelt
systems, moving parts within
doors, and fasteners and clips.
Charging forward with
battery design
According to Giacomo Parisi,
marketing director for advanced
mobility solutions, the
company's development work
is steered by what he calls its
" battery roadmap. " The company
has taken feedback from its
customers and OEMs to develop
this roadmap to track both
near-term needs of the industry
as well as the challenges related
to technologies expected to
emerge in the next 5-10 years.
To boost the range and recontinued
on page 28
August/September 2021
27
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