Future trends in polyolefin materials

Over the past decade, the depth and breadth of catalyst technologies for addition polymerization have expanded tremendously, both for Ziegler-Natta catalysts as well as for single-site catalysts. It seems that every day someone adds a new element to this understanding, opening up new or improved ways to make specific polymers with targeted characteristics and performance. Combinatorial techniques are accelerating this process of discovery even further, perhaps by one order of magnitude. Synergistic interactions between catalyst technologies and production process technologies are resulting in step-change increases in manufacturing efficiency and in product range capabilities. The net result is that the industry and its scientists seem to have perfected the process of creating potential value at a tremendous rate. The critical challenge now facing the industry is how to realize this potential value: how to connect the technology to the market. In this, speed is of the essence. Until the connection is made, the commercial value of the technology is nothing more than intangible "potential." Meanwhile, the patents are aging and competitors lurk around the corner to steal the potential before the developer has the chance to reap his just rewards. Fortunately, technology-leading companies are developing new efficient and fast business processes to speed products to market, and the full value of new technologies is being realized. Fifteen families of SSC-based polymers have been developed over the past decade; 12 of these are already commercial, and 3 are approaching commercialization. Of these fifteen, 11 are totally new to the industry, and 4 are new versions of established families (HDPE, LLDPE,PP, EPDM). The industry required 25 years to commercialize the first 4 families, and an additional 20 to fully develop markets for them. How will it deal with the introduction of three times as many new families in one third of the time, while concurrently developing the new SSC-based versions of traditional polymers? How soon will the potential created by technological innovation be translated into tangible value? Some projections are given.