Plastics with a positive perspective

Düsseldorf, Germany — Positive Plastics may sound like a contradiction in terms today, but it's the name of an initiative launched last year by three materials experts who are seeking to provide designers and engineers with reliable, trusted information about alternatives to fossil-based plastics.

Positive Plastics was at K 2022 in Düsseldorf with a newly updated sample kit, which could be seen — and touched — at the booths of various participating manufacturers.

The three members of the Positive Plastics team — Efrat Friedland, Erik Moth-Müller and Markus Paloheimo, all consultants and educators in the materials and polymers field — were 'extremely overwhelmed' by the response to their first sample kit, launched at last year's Fakuma.

"In fact, what we very often hear is that this is the right kit at the right time," said Friedland. For designers, it is very difficult to get the information they need about alternatives to fossil-based polymers, she explained.

"Not only do they lack the time to research such materials, but they also very often lack the connections to the manufacturers, and they have to navigate between a lot of greenwashing. Positive Plastics caters for those who are looking for a valid, commercially available, injection moldable polymer with a reduced environmental footprint," she said.

The sample kit developed by Positive Plastics consists of a number of square-shaped samples with 13-14 different mechanical properties, such as an internal hinge, corners, stress points, different wall thicknesses and different surface treatments. The focus is on injection moldable plastic materials with a reduced environmental footprint: PCR, PIR, bio-based, biocomposite and mass-balanced plastics from various manufacturers. Each sample shows how the material in question behaves under different conditions, its properties and potential applications — essential information for designers tasked with selecting the material for a particular product.

Designers, however, are not the only ones who have benefited. Materials producers have, in the past, also found it very difficult to reach designers. By participating in the Positive Plastics platform, they gain a direct line of communications with the designers working in the industry.

"They have understood that, today, they must offer alternative solutions to designers," said Friedland. "And once they have such materials, Positive Plastics is a fantastic platform to be part of."

The first sample kit compiled by the Positive Plastics team has clearly filled a need, said Friedland.

"Without going into details — due to confidentiality constraints — we can safely say that already the first few projects and pilot projects have got underway," she noted. Positive Plastics is already working with a number of global brands — collaborations that can clearly be traced back to use of the kit.

"We also are very happy to see the kit being continuously sold online, without any publicity from our side. It is a great compliment to realize the kit is used by global design agencies, architecture firms and design departments at brands," she said.

It has now been included in most of the materials libraries around the world and the leading design academies — an impressive accomplishment given the vast number of kits already out there. The material consultants at Positive Plastics developed the kit with the purpose of sharing their knowledge of responsible and alternative materials to promote a more informed material selection process among designers. "The kit has achieved this purpose," Friedland said.

However, they have no intention of stopping there. Since the first sample kit was launched in October 2021, the three partners have focused on curating a second kit, as well as on talking with designers and engineers about their experiences with the first and how it could be improved.

"We found that the variety of materials — PCR [post-consumer], PIR [post-industrial], mass-balanced, bio-based and biocomposite — was highly appreciated, as well as the fact that different suppliers were represented. The kit contained materials produced by global, established manufacturers as well as ones produced by new and innovative manufacturers who debuted their material in the kit," Friedland said.

Neither the format nor the criteria used for curating the materials changed for the second kit, although it does consist of far more exotic materials, she added. "And this second kit, like the first, had the more established companies with more conservative solutions — mass-balanced or high PCR content — as well as new players in the plastic field. You can find a carbon-sequestered polymer, an oyster-based polymer, a beer-polymer, the first-ever Tetra Pak recyclate and more … all injection moldable and commercially available. We were really excited to see the results."

For Positive Plastics, K 2022 offered the opportunity of a soft launch for the newest sample kit. Instead of a stand of its own, the Positive Plastics team opted to exhibit Kit No. 2 at the booths of the various manufacturers whose materials are part of the new kit.

The kit could be found at the Akro-Plastic, Covestro, Furukawa, Mocom, Solvay and UBQ booths. The official launch of Positive Plastics Kit No. 2 was held at the Greener Manufacturing Show, Nov. 9-10 in Cologne, Germany, Friedland said. She added that, having launched two kits in one year, they learned a lot. For the future, they have decided to offer a few additional services.

"We are planning to launch the next kit — No. 3 — at the end of 2023 and maybe have additional industry focuses in the future: Positive Plastics for the automotive industry, Positive Plastics for consumer electronics, for example. The additional services we would offer for manufacturers include sample production and testing," she said.

The sample developed by Positive Plastics co-founder Paloheimo and the possibilities its design offers for the visualization of the materials' properties are highly appreciated by both designers and manufacturers. Manufacturers are welcome to have their materials produced in the Positive Plastics mold, even if the material is not part of the Positive Plastics collection, Friedland said.

"This year, we encountered a few processing challenges with some of the more 'exotic' materials and realized we can offer testing services and troubleshooting to materials suppliers. This can be especially beneficial for young companies that do not have their own equipment, as well as for established ones that are trying new recipes," Friedland said.