Elastomers

Engineers optimize ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and silicone thermoplastic vulcanizates to combine high elasticity with efficient thermoplastic processing for industrial applications.

Real-time resin diagnostics help processors monitor melt behavior, manage recycled-content variability, and improve plastics quality control.

Healthcare foams face growing pressure from PCR adoption, PFAS restrictions, EPR policies, and circularity goals across medical supply chains.

Researchers are addressing polymer data scarcity through AI, high-throughput experiments, simulations, literature mining, and standardized databases.

Early plastics recycling succeeded with clean, single-resin streams but struggled with contamination, weak markets, and systems not designed for scale.

Just-in-time plastics processing improves efficiency, but additives, recycled content, regulatory requirements, and supply risks now necessitate selective buffering.

Plastics supply chains became global through scale, feedstock economics, and shipping, but trade friction is reshaping the model.

Pirelli enters the Top 1% of S&P Global’s 2026 Sustainability Yearbook, driven by ESG performance and sustainable tire innovation.

Low-carbon transport strategies can reduce emissions across plastics supply chains, from resin logistics to the movement of recycled materials.

Microplastics can host microbial biofilms containing pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes in aquatic environments.