in the Finnish chemical industry - Kemia-lehti

Light and motionIn the plasticsbusinessOne of the world’s megatrendsis increased movement. Morethan ever, people and goods areon the move. Whether for workor play, greater numbers of theworld’s people are on the go.For plastics and the productsderived therefrom, movementand mobility offer opportunities.Vesa KärhäThe need to move expands the demandfor plastics, for example in vehiclesand state-of-the-art packing technology.Even modern home living favoursportable, adaptable solutions such as theSmartStore plastic storage series fromthe Orthex Group.The freedom of mobility would bein serious conflict with sustainabledevelopment, if not for the specialpropensity of lightweight plastic toThe plasticsgenerationIn the spring of 2013, the FinnishPlastics Industry Federation createda 3‐minute animated film fordistribution on the Internet starringtwo young active adventurers Siiriand Rolle.In the film, the animated coupleowe their leisure-time lifestyles toa variety of plastics: the polyamidesin Siiri’s parachute, the TPEs in thewheels of her skateboard, and thepolyaramides in their mountainclimbingropes.Rolle finally figures out how toget Siiri to slow down long enoughfor a coffee break by offering hera delicious drink right from a PETbottle. How would the Siiri andRolle generation survive withoutplastics?reduce the amounts of energy and othervaluable resources mobility consumes.In many ways, plastics for the movesave money. Plastic parts and constructionmake vehicles and conveyances light, afundamental feature in saving money.The burden on our natural resourcesand the environment is lightened by theaerodynamics and durability featuresplastics offer of our newfound mobility.The plastics industry in Finland is alsohelping to move us into the future.Finland’s plastics manufacturerssupply the materials used in physicaltraining, recreational sports, and hobbies:sportswear, footwear, bicycle parts, heartrate monitors and so on. The automobileindustry is an important partner, as arethe aerospace and boating industries.Move on the momentMobility, urbanisation, demographicchange, finite resources, and othersignificant macro trends generatedemand for plastics products in general,for components in plumbing and watersupply systems in particular.The merger of the infrastructuresolutions businesses Uponor Plc andthe KWH Group in the spring of 2013is the joining of two strong plasticpipe manufacturers in Finland into aformidable joint venture company calledUponor Infra Oy. We will certainlycontinue to see such consolidationsbetween plastics converters.The plastics industry in Finlanddirectly employs around 11,000. Theywork in 600 companies, mostly in smallbusinesses with five employees or less.Attracting professionals, and keepingthem for the long term, are major concernsto the industry. Our future also dependson the locations of our raw materialssuppliers and the device manufacturerswe, in turn, supply. Enterprises in Europeand across the globe compete ever morefiercely for talent and skill even as generalinterest in vocational careers wanes.In any event, the areas of hypergrowthand mass markets are outside of Finland.All these factors force us to think on ourHELLA Lighting Finland Oyfeet, move on a moment, and build trustalong the way. As always, our successwill depend on our abilities to keep stepwith our customers and their needs, whilealways being one step ahead.Learning projectsWe live in the Information Society.Many also refer to this as being the ageof plastic.Information about the materials inuse today interest many different typesof people. Plenty of facts about plasticsand plastic-related issues are readilyavailable on the Internet and socialmedia. In general, the digital information,it is often sourceless, dispersed, anddownright subjective to the point ofdisinformation.50 KEMIA 5/2013