CRC for Polymers extension officially launched
Polymers include plastics, and more than $9 billion worth of polymers and polymer-based products are used annually in almost all sectors of the Australian economy. The CRC for Polymers (CRC-P) has a strong track record of developing technologies for the plastic industry, including ceramifying polymer technology, first used in 2003 by Australia’s Olex Cables in a new range of fire performance cables.
The launch included an Integrated Packaging tour including viewing the degradable polymer film
In this new period of funding the CRC-P will help Australian manufacturers develop new products through clever chemistry and strong industry collaboration. The CRC-P gives companies access to researchers like the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science winners – chemists Ezio Rizzardo and David Solomon – who know how to control the structure and composition of polymers so their properties are tailored to provide new and improved process and products. The products the CRC-P is targeting will provide Australians with products better suited to their needs. Some examples are:
A new single injection vaccine for cattle tick that relies on a biopolymer-based delivery system. A single injection treatment is required to meet the industry standard of an annual muster of beef cattle in northern Australia.
Polymers that will help farmers increase crop yields, including polymer-based sprays for improving water penetration in water-repellent soils. Up to 30% of Australia’s cropping land is water-repellent and this land produces only 10% of the nation’s broad acre crops.
Better polymer encapsulants for thin film solar cells. These are required to protect solar cells from the ingress of water and oxygen, so that they can continue to operate efficiently for at least 20 years in the harsh Australian climate.
The Polymer CRC includes five companies – Virbac Australia, BASF, BlueScope Steel, Mesoblast and Integrated Packaging – 11 universities, CSIRO and ANSTO among its 23 participants.
Dr Ian Dagley, CEO of the CRC for Polymers at the official launch
“The CRC will build resilience into Australian manufacturing by improving sustainability and product innovation, increasing its international competitiveness,” says Ian Dagley, CEO of the CRC-P. “The benefits will include productivity gains, increased sales of Australian made products, high-skill high-value manufacturing jobs, reduced carbon dioxide emissions and 40 broadly trained polymer researchers,” he says.
The launch was held at a Melbourne production site of Integrated Packaging, an Australian company and the largest local manufacturer of plastic stretch films. Integrated Packaging, a long standing participant in the CRC-P, is commercialising the outcomes of its collaborative CRC-P research which resulted in improved technology to control the degradation of plastic
films in the environment. One application of this technology being evaluated by this company in collaboration with Greening Australia and the Birchip Cropping Group is the mechanical application of degradable film over the seeds of native trees at the time of planting. Read more
