It’s an issue that takes a look at, amongst other things, defossilisation, in a contribution from the founders of the Renewable Carbon Initiative; how to grow PHA; chemical recycling - and the role of sustainable plastics in the mobility transition. And it was this latter topic that led me to reflect on the following.
A few weeks ago, I was invited - by Dow - to attend a car race. Now, as a relatively non-competitive type of person with a negligible interest in sports, the notion of spending an afternoon watching outsized toy cars drive around a track without actually ever going anywhere sounded less than thrilling.
On the other hand, I’d never been to an actual car race before - and might never get the opportunity to do so again. Plus, because it was a race in the Formula E series, the cars in question were electric ones, which seemed intriguing.
In the end, I said I’d be happy to accept the invitation, and with some trepidation and very little idea of what to expect, I went to Berlin.
And it was superb. Call me a convert: the race was sensational, complete with collisions and safety car laps; a suspenseful, spine-tingling competition that kept everyone on the edge of their seats.
There was nothing prim or subdued about the cars: these were full-blooded racing machines with a top speed of over 322km/h.
Sitting there, it also dawned on me that what I was watching was the future of electric mobility. This sport has achieved Net Zero Carbon certification since inception. The current generation of Formula E cars – Gen3 – is completely aligned to life cycle thinking. Natural rubber and recycled fibres make up 26% of the tires, which are fully recycled after racing. All waste carbon fibre is reused for new applications. The battery cells are reused and recycled at the end of life. The CO2 footprint of the car was measured from the start of the design phase onwards in order to determine all the measures that could help reduce its environmental impact.
Formula E has been called ‘a laboratory for the future of electric mobility’. Race strategy is based on energy efficiency - allocating energy consumption across the race - which has led to the development of optimised energy management software, while lightweight materials - composites and plastics - play a key role by enhancing the performance-to-weight ratio.
The trickledown effect from race to road cannot be overestimated. The solutions and technologies, including sensors and other electronics, developed for the track will inevitably impact the efficiency, range, capabilities and safety of consumer electric vehicles as well.
And the plastics industry is contributing to this rapidly accelerating mobility transition by developing the new materials that these vehicles need. In this issue, we talk to three raw material producers, each of which, in its own way, is pushing the boundaries of performance for sustainably advantaged materials.
Electric vehicles are making more sustainable mobility possible, and, happily for the industry, plastics are a crucial part of that. As a famous investigative journalist once said – albeit in a slightly different context - ‘I’ve seen the future, and it works’.
So, let’s make it work.
Download the newest edition of Sustainable Plastics here.