Doing the plastic fantastic
Three innovative British companies at various stages of international fame
There are many different types of plastic, and not all of them are created equal. The varieties currently in the news, causing huge problems in ecosystems worldwide – polyethylene, polypropylene and PET – are at the bottom of the pile in terms of quality.
Further up the rungs of the ladder are engineering and high-performance plastics, which are manufactured on a much more limited scale than common plastics, have highly advantageous performance properties and, consequently, can cost as much as £300 per kilo.
Polyether-ether-ketone (or PEEK), a colourless thermoplastic polymer, is at the very top of the plastics pyramid. The name might not sound familiar, but it’s everywhere, from household devices such as earphones and refrigerator compressors, to airplanes, which can contain as much as a tonne of it.