The Same as Always – Plastic Innovation from the Heart of Europe


Today, in the twentieth year of German unity, the central German chemical and plastics industry can look back on two decades of far-reaching structural change. The once outdated procedures and buildings have now given way to state-of-the-art facilities and a site characterised by innovation. The long tradition within the plastic processing industry in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Brandenburg, together with the noticeably wide acceptance of the industry within the population, has remained. The chemical and plastics industry is proving itself to be a job generator – between 1998 and 2009 alone, the number of people employed in plastic processing rose from 25,000 to 65,000 employees.

It is no longer possible to imagine everyday life without plastics such as polymers, rubber and natural fibre composites. Increasing environmental pollution and globally decreasing raw materials, on the one hand, together with trends of a high added value and high benefit, on the other hand, are leading to new problems and increasing demands on material properties in the manufacturing process, use and disposal of plastics. In order to develop solutions for this global challenge, in the future it will come down to connecting the competencies of theory-based and application-oriented research facilities with the economy and strengthening the interdisciplinary cooperation between polymer chemistry, process engineering and polymer processing. “This is exactly the task of the Cluster Chemistry / Plastics Central Germany founded in 2003,” says Cluster spokesperson and retired managing director of Dow Olefinverbund, Dr. Christoph Mühlhaus. About half of the 800 chemical and plastic companies in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Brandenburg work together in this network. “The cooperation is shaped through workshops, innovation forums and specialist conferences in close cooperation with the Federal states and the “Chemclust” EU project. It is particularly necessary to incorporate the university and non-academic research facilities,” explains Mühlhaus.

The fact that cooperation with the states is successful is also confirmed by Frauke Flenker-Manthey, spokesperson for the Investitions- und Marketinggesellschaft Sachsen Anhalt (IMG [Investment and Marketing Corporation of Saxony-Anhalt]), “In Saxony-Anhalt, innovation and technology policies are very significant. This is clear from the countless funding programmes and transfer platforms between science and economy. However, settlements are also intensively promoted by us and the Federal state bank, and successfully so. For example, in 2008, the world’s largest manufacturer for plastic machinery, Kraussmaffei, settled in Schkopau.”

“It is particularly the challenges of climate protection that demand specific developments. Under the catchword “Green Design”, innovations are being outlined in lightweight construction, thermal insulation, electromobility, wind energy usage and solar technology – they are not feasible without plastics,” explains Mühlhaus further as part of a round of talks at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Halle/Saale. The institute is one of the research facilities in the cluster and is occupied with the characterisation, simulation and evaluation of materials, components and systems under the influence of external forces in different environments. This deals predominantly with plastics in automobile electronics, photovoltaics, medical technology, aircraft construction, etc. Together with the solar module manufacturer, Sovello, attempts are being made, for example, to replace the module materials of solar cells, such as glass and aluminium, with plastics and then, in a further step, to manufacture a solar cell with integrated electrical and optical functions using the injection-moulding production technology which is typical for plastics. “As a result, you obtain a super solar cell, produced practically from one cast,” enthuses Prof. Dr. Roland Weidisch, head of the polymer applications business division at the IWM. “Plastics technology plays an important role here through its resource and saving potential in terms of materials and processes and the accompanying weight reduction,” says Professor Weidisch.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM is one of eight research institutes, which are based on the 134-hectare Technologiepark Weinberg Campus, which was founded in 1994 in Halle/Saale. Consequently, it is the second largest in Eastern Germany and one of the most successful, as about 140 start-ups have discovered outstanding conditions here to carry out projects with future technologies together with the university facilities.

 

Contact:

Ms. Fiene Grieger

ISW Ges. f. wissenschaftl. Beratung und Dienstleistung mbH     

Hoher Weg

306120 Halle/Saale 

Tel.: +49 (0) 345 29982718