A recent survey of current UK polymer (plastics and rubber) research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council found more than 300 projects identified across UK universities.

Polymeric-based research is alive and well in the UK. The main strategic issues are to do with the 'development' half of the traditional R and D equation. The Faraday Plastics and Polymers Partnership (FPPP) is at the heart of catalysing academe and industry in their own best interests.

A recent survey of current UK polymer (plastics and rubber) research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) alone found more than 300 projects identified across a broad spectrum of UK universities, from Southampton to Strathclyde.

A host of other local, national and EU driven initiatives are also underway with these universities; certain amount of individual spin-off developments from these institutions are taking place, and an unidentified number of individual academe/industry projects are always in play.

However, it has been well known for some years that the main missing piece of the jigsaw is an absence of overall strategic direction and priority areas for the new materials and processes.

This holds good, not just for polymers, but for a number of other 'rising sun' sectors in the UK such as bio catalysis, aerospace, food processing, mobile communications, photonics genetics, digital imaging, and many technologies.

A need for a defining vision and strategy for these new niche sectors had become clear and urgent by the turn of this century.

The UK Government's response was to provide some strategy and leadership by creating a number of Faraday Partnerships to match the technology areas.

The Faraday Plastics and Polymers Partnership (FPPP) was accordingly established by the DTI in the Spring of 2000.

The main part of the FPPP mission is stated as 'enabling research to meet the critical technological challenges of the plastics sector.' In practice this means ensuring that the industry and the research community are fully engaged with each other through: - Front-end industrial involvement in defining and shaping research priorities - Continuous access from both sides into Faraday's network of skills and resources FPPP also now provides the framework in UK plastics and rubber for: -Core strategic research in polymers to underpin business opportunities -Effective technology translation (between academe and industry) -Analyses of the technological issues/driving forces that shape the industry -A technically educated, market oriented, skills base.

The Faraday Plastics partnership is led by Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and testing house.

The supporting Faraday Plastics partners include; Strathclyde University, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Bradford University, MERL, Institute of Materials, British Plastics Federation, and GTMA.

And through a process of experimentation and discussion, Faraday Plastics has identified three technology areas that are key to the UK's future polymeric development These are: Nano and composite materials - research and development of materials in these areas that offer competitive advantage Energy - research and best practice on the best types and volumes of energy needed to process plastics and rubbers.

Recycling and Sustainability - identifying environmental and legislative drivers for materials and products.

Faraday Plastics has also attached two leading market sectors that will be critical to the development of new polymeric materials and products.

These are: Automotive - a sector with a growing use of thermoplastics and Medical/Healthcare - a niche sector with high added-value and growth potential Taking its cue from recent innovations in business and politics, the 'road map' has become a key instrument for FPPP in developing these ideas for the marketplace.

For example, FPPP has recently produced a 'Technology Road Map' (TRM) for low-energy polymer processing that aims to catalyse the plastics and rubber industry into measuring its energy-use performance and changing it for the better.

Among the recommendations of the FPPP TRM are: Industry benchmarking and sectoral targets - a programme of market research is recommended to study how energy-efficient (or not) the polymer processing sector is in its current practices.

Heater insulation - a campaign to promote the use of insulation and to save energy wastage and cost in this area.

Demonstration Unit - establishing a 'show and tell unit' to demonstrate to processors the benefits of energy efficiency Cost of Ownership Model - establishing a financial model for typical paybacks - so as to incentivise the industry to adopt energy saving measures.

Training - to be provided in energy measurement and management.

Faraday Plastics director, Richard Simpson notes that 'this is the beginning - not the end - of a very important debate that needs to happen within the plastics and rubber sector on energy -processing.

Not only does the practice make commercial and competitive sense - but energy efficiency is also desirable on environmental and health and safety grounds.' Simpson adds that 'issues such as the climate change levy have put polymer processors more into the 'front line', and have politicised these issues to some degree.

The good news is that moulders who save their own costs through lower energy bills are also making a positive contribution to the environmental health and credentials of their industry.

I urge all involved in processing to read our TRM report and to help us help the sector in implementing its findings.' Work is also underway between Faraday Plastics and Hybridnet (an EPSRC funded network) in creating a TRM for the Commercialisation of Polymer/Ceramic Hybrids and Nano-Composites.

Representatives from Faraday Plastics, Hybridnet, Sheffield Hallam University, Nottingham Trent University, Surrey University, Brunel University, PowdermatriX, Qinetiq, Linpac, DSTL, Imreys, JCB, Zotefoams, and Faraday ADVANCE have all made inputs into the major areas of technology and research in polymer nanotechnology.

Discussion topics included applications, funding, materials modelling, processing, materials characterisation and industry skills.

The FPPP TRM in this particular area will help UK polymers take advantage of the exciting commercial opportunities offered by scientific advances in nanotechnology.

Some estimates predict a global market in nanotechnology worth over $1 trillion in a decade.

The Technology Road Maps provide the polymer sector with a clear picture of the priority area terrain, now and for the foreseeable future.

But in order to fully explore and exploit that terrain, expert guides are often needed.

A need for polymer-based Technology Translators has arisen and Faraday Plastics has now put a team of eight individuals together - deployed to help to bridge the gap between the academic and business worlds of the UK plastics industry.

Each FP TT individual has a niche expertise in the priorities identified by FP - ie healthcare, energy, automotive, healthcare, recycling and other topics.

The TT visit programme is ongoing and a battery of case studies and project opportunities is now coming to the fore.

However, the lines of resistance to commercial exploitation are more than conceptual and technical.

Even assuming that industry and academe are able to work together on polymer-based research and development projects the constraint of finance rears it head with many companies unable or unwilling to face development for reasons of cost.

FPPP has found that most companies in the sector are unaware of the tax credit opportunities available to them through research and development activity.

FPPP has now held a programme of successful seminars on this subject as part of its mission.

Spokesmen from accountancy firms and from the Inland Revenue have outlined the criteria for tax relief eligibility.

And Faraday Plastics is now sharing the method and content of these seminars with five sister Faradays in the chemical and biotech areas.

Richard Simpson says that 'judging by the feedback received at our seminars to date, this is an area where most plastics processors have not been well advised by their accountants.

Up to 150% of a company's research and development expenditure can be set against profitability and the company's tax burden.' On occasions the UK's plastics processing sector will also have a need of co-ordination and direction in basic areas such as health and safety.

Faraday Plastics, HSE and the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) have recently organised the thermoforming part of the UK industry in adopting a new agreement covering 'Provisions of safe guards to prevent gravity fall of raised machine parts on thermoforming machines'.

Following concerns that the thermoforming industry had a poor record in this area, the partners drew together the machinery manufacturers and processors and developed an approach that is regarded by the HSE as a considerable step in the right direction.

As a result: - 90% of the industry has now been made aware of the health and safety issues - 25% of all UK processors have attended a relevant meeting - All save one of the identified machinery manufacturers have attended a meeting - Free advice of safe working practices has been disseminated - Over 80 companies have heard the message For most companies or academics in UK polymers today, the easiest and quickest way to look for an industrial or academic partner is to get involved with the Faraday Plastics affiliate scheme.

Richard Simpson believes that for innovative plastics-based businesses, the affiliate scheme is the best single way to boost polymer-based R and D.

'The affiliate scheme is the basic point of entry for participating businesses.

For a very minimal outlay, companies can get connected to the best plastics-based research in their fields; save time and money in searching for solutions; and also get access to the best researchers, partners and technologies available.' Linpac Automotive is a good example of a plastics processing company based in a key and growing area.

Keith Weedon, Manager, Design and Development, Linpac Automotive says that 'becoming a Faraday Plastics affiliate gives us an added innovative edge - a factor increasingly required from a business such as ours.' On the plastics materials side, Dr Rowena Sellens, Global RT and E Director at Lucite International, owner of the world-renowned Perspex and Lucite brands says that 'timely and focussed research and development is critical to maintaining Lucite's leadership in the marketplace.

Faraday Plastics gives us a handy one stop shop for all the relevant UK R and D expertise.' And Nic Hunt, Global Business Director for packaging major, Amcor Flexibles, says that 'Faraday Plastics gives us direct access to the leading university research programmes.

It also provides a forum from which to benchmark other sectors on innovation management.' On the academic side, Faraday Plastics, the UK's plastics research and development centre, has recently welcomed two of the UK's leading academics to its affiliate community.

Dame Prof Julia Higgins, Chemical Engineering, Imperial College, also Chair of the EPSRC, and Prof Tom McLeish, Director of the Polymer Interdisciplinary Research Centre (IRC) at Leeds have recently become Faraday plastics affiliates.

Richard Simpson sees their membership as a clear recognition of the role to be played by Faraday Plastics in bringing the academic knowledge base to the attention of the industrial community.

He urges other leading UK academics to apply to join the affiliate scheme, which is currently free of charge.

The Faraday Plastics benefits for academe include: - Collaboration with companies to form research teams - Support in the preparation of research bids - Help in identifying funding sources - Opportunities to exploit research outputs.