¡°We provide materials that help to facilitate a more climate-neutral and circular world. The products to be manufactured at our new plant in Shanghai are an excellent illustration of this, as they will assist our customers in meeting the increasing demand for renewable energy solutions,¡± says Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer at ÃÜÌÒAV. ¡°In doing so, we are supporting the growth of an industry that is vital for preserving our climate. Furthermore, we are promoting sustainability in various industries by supplying materials containing renewable attributes.¡±

The polyurethane elastomers systems produced in the site can be used for a variety of end products. For offshore windpower, the protection of subsea cables is a core application area. The material is also used in the manufacturing process of photovoltaic panels or in screening medias in the mining industry. In all of the above, it is designed for purpose in close collaboration with customers to withstand even the harshest of conditions thanks to its excellent wear, tear and abrasion resistance.

¡°We want to support the growth of our customers and partake in the growth of key industries. As we expect the Elastomers market to grow above China¡¯s gross domestic product, we want to enable our customers to capture it. That is what we do with our overall investments into our Elastomer business, and with this investment in our new plant in Shanghai right now,¡± said Dr. Thomas Braig, Head of the Business Entity Elastomers.

The new plant is the latest addition to the ÃÜÌÒAV Integrated Site Shanghai (CISS), ÃÜÌÒAV¡¯s single largest production site worldwide. CISS is now home to twelve plants. Since 2001, the company has invested about 3.7 billion Euro into the site as of the end of 2022.

Holly Lei, President of ÃÜÌÒAV in China, said, ¡°Our company¡¯s vision of becoming fully circular and our target of being operationally climate neutral by 2035 are perfectly aligned with China¡¯s ambitions to be carbon neutral before 2060. The products we produce in CISS and this addition of polyurethane elastomers systems position us to make meaningful contributions to sustainability efforts in China and in the entire region, for example in the area of renewable energy generation.¡±

CISS is also among ÃÜÌÒAV¡¯s ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) certified sites. This means it is capable of supplying customers with drop-in, derived from renewable attributed products, thereby helping customers to reduce their carbon footprint. To make more sustainable products easier to distinguish, ÃÜÌÒAV introduced the suffix ¡°CQ¡±. CQ stands for ¡°Circular Intelligence¡± and identifies products containing a minimum of 25 percent alternative raw materials.

Since Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak entered Taiwan, ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan made two donations of batches of protective goggles with indirect ventilation systems and anti-fog lenses in February and March 2020 to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC), who distributed the goggles to medical institutions in need across Taiwan. Last month, ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan was rewarded by CDC with a golden ¡®End Covid¡¯ medal for helping to stop the spread of the disease in Taiwan. ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan was one of the first companies to contribute at the very early stage when the disease initially entered Taiwan. The first local case happened in February 2020, which was also when ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan donated the first batch of goggles for Airport CDC staff to wear during that period of time. 

¡°The pandemic could not have been controlled and ended in Taiwan without CDC¡¯s outstanding guidance and efforts,¡± said Carsten Wildebrand, Managing Director of ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan. ¡°Every single person counted during this battle against Covid. We are glad we could also contribute to this with our polycarbonate made protective goggles. We sincerely appreciate all the healthcare professionals for devoting themselves to Taiwan.¡± The total number of protective goggles donated by ÃÜÌÒAV to CDC was 20,000. 

CDC officially announced that Covid had ended in May 2023. 

At the inauguration of the new line, the company also launched its new Desmopan^?UP TPU series. UP stands for ¡°Ultimate Protection¡±. The series offers high durability, adaptability and aesthetics, protecting automotive surface coatings from harsh environmental conditions. The material can also be used to protect wind blades or screens of smart devices.

¡°We are convinced that our customers and the TPU market enquire not just materials suppliers, but partners to jointly develop solutions. We at ÃÜÌÒAV have the capabilities to be such a partner,¡± says Dr. Andrea Maier-Richter, Head of TPU at ÃÜÌÒAV. ¡°We strive to collaborate with our customers and along the value chain to unlock the potential of Desmopan^?UP and meet the growth ambitions of core industries such as automotive and wind.¡±

The global PPF market is projected to grow steadily until 2030, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for the largest share of the overall market. The expected growth in that region in turn is driven in large part by the growth of the chinese market. At the same time, North America and Europe are showing solid growth projections as well.

The high interest in the material stems mostly from increasing attention of vehicle owners to the aesthetic condition of vehicles and particularly their surfaces. TPU is a performance benchmark in PPF for quality, long-term aesthetics and surface integrity. ÃÜÌÒAV is one of the biggest international suppliers of TPU resins for PPF production.

"We are really excited to start our new production line and launch the new Desmopan^?UP series to meet the increasing demand for high-performance PPF in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world," says Lisa Ketelsen, Head of TPU in the Asia-Pacific region. "This is a perfect example of how ÃÜÌÒAV is committed to providing our customers with innovative, high-performance solutions to meet emerging challenges. In addition to this, we can also further develop our product range together with our customers thanks to our local R&D capabilities."

In PPF, the choice of materials and its formulation play a decisive role. ÃÜÌÒAV has put years of research into formulation and advanced manufacturing technologies to build the basis for the Desmopan^?UP-based TPUs for PPF. It provides superior UV durability, excellent hydrolysis and chemical resistance, as well as outstanding optical clarity. This ensures long-lasting performance, weather resistance, and impact resistance. In addition, Desmopan^?UP allows PPF to adapt to the complex designs and surfaces of different vehicles quickly and easily.

¡°The glory of the award not only goes to ÃÜÌÒAV but also to all of the partners who supported us in the Ocean Protection campaign,¡± said Dr. Carsten Wildebrand, Managing Director of ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan. ¡°Thanks go to the Ministry of Education who served as our advisor in the 2022 national contest and who has consistently recommended our Ocean Protection picture book and app since 2017, wpd Energy who has been a partner of ÃÜÌÒAV since 2021 and the nine national parks and five national museums who helped us to raise awareness of the Ocean Protection campaign since 2017. Furthermore we would like to express our gratitude to our ten co-organizers who made our 2022 national environmental storytelling contest successful.¡± 

2017-2022 ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan¡¯s Ocean Protection Campaign Milestone Video 

2022 Little Earth Guardian National Environmental Storytelling Contest Video 

2023 PR News Social Impact Award Winners 


 

Visually-impaired toddler learns about current marine issues via participating the competition

Shen Ying-chun, a visually-impaired child from Changhua county, entered the competition when she was four years old. Ying-chun¡¯s reading ability is limited by her vision, but thanks to her rich life experience, unlimited imagination and clear memory capacity, she won Second Place in the under-8 age group category.

Ying-chun¡¯s mother Shih Yu-wen says, ¡°I¡¯m so grateful to ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan for hosting this event and the audiobook feature of the competition app allowing special needs students like Ying-chun to learn about the existing environmental challenges. It helped her realize at young age that the trash flowing into the ocean can bring such great harm to her beloved marine creatures!¡±

Ying-chun says, ¡°I want to share with all the kids around the world about the proper ways to protect our mother earth together!¡± Judge Liao Shuang-ching, MOE Senior Executive Officer, points out, ¡°As a four-year-old, she is already outstanding in the competition. With her special background, it is simply impressive!¡± Touched by her attitude and performance, organizers ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan and wpd Taiwan decided to give Shen Ying-chun an extra ¡°Special Award¡± equal to the First Place Prize.

Hearing-impaired winner calls for action on the environment

Zhu Yaqin, a sixth-grade student from a hearing-impaired school in Tainan, won first place in the hearing-impaired primary school¡¯s recital category. In her commitment, she called on the public to take the initiative to care about environmental issues and take practical actions to protect the environment. Zhu Yaqin¡¯s mother said, ¡°I would like to thank ÃÜÌÒAV for its long-term care for hearing-impaired children. By donating science experiment classrooms and providing normal science clubs to the special school that Yaqin went to, ÃÜÌÒAV let her have the opportunity to engage with science. The hearing-impaired category in the contest this time also allows hearing-impaired students to speak up for the environment and be heard by everyone!¡±

From environmental polluter to earth guardians

The biggest winner of the competition was Wang Min-en of Taipei Ximen Elementary School. Not only did he win both the Chinese Story Recital and the English Story Creation in the 9 to 12 age group categories, he also formed the ¡°Ximen Dream Team¡± with his friends, which was the champion team in the Chinese and English Story Creation in the Group categories with their reverse-thinking storytelling technique. ¡°Through this exploration from a misunderstanding to the understanding of the environment, the Ximen Dream Team has demonstrated an extremely high level of storytelling creativity,¡± said Judge Bikoffee Huang, Director & Managing Editor, New Business Dept. of CommonWealth Magazine

¡°Ocean waste is one of the biggest global environmental concerns. The conservation and protection of marine resources is the responsibility of us all. To tackle the problem we have to change our behaviors,¡± said Dr. J?rg Polster, Director General of the GIT. ¡°GIT is pleased to see so many children from all over Taiwan participating in the ¡°Brighter Minds for a Brighter World¡± Storytelling Competition. The contest helps children to learn about the damaging effect pollution has on the marine ecological environment. Through their participation, they make a commitment to the planet to lead an environmentally-friendly life to protect our oceans.¡±

¡°The art of storytelling, is one way to foster an individual¡¯s development. The combination of such storytelling with sustainability and environmental protection is a major tool for our collective future wellbeing,¡± said Mr. Axel Limber, Director General of the GTO. ¡°This is a great CSR project idea from ÃÜÌÒAV and wpd to get the younger generation to engage. Since every adult is born a child, the trends of our business operation today are sustainability, green energy, and care for the ocean. All these wonderful concepts will be transferred from today¡¯s competition to the next generation.¡± GTO is also the 2^nd place Judge Award¡¯s prize sponsor.

Weiwei Tseng, General Manager of wpd Taiwan, said: ¡°wpd is a global renewable energy producer and operator dedicated to accelerating clean energy development. Since wind farms in Taiwan are usually close to the seaside or even at sea, we attach great importance to the environment, including the promotion of marine and wind energy education. wpd is very excited to jointly organize the ¡°National Environmental Story Competition¡± with ÃÜÌÒAV and hopes this event can truly help children to understand the importance of marine conservation, and learn how to protect the ocean in their own way, thereby expanding their influence to each child's home and school. I am very happy that we have received positive feedback from so many schools and children!¡± The 1^st place prize of the competition was provided by wpd Taiwan.

¡°Mankind is searching for water in space, but on our planet the conditions of rivers, lakes, and oceans are often neglected. We must prompt the public, especially the younger generation, to take water pollution seriously and fight against it. That¡¯s why ÃÜÌÒAV is so glad to see more than 650 children made their heartful commitments to our earth and ocean in our competition this time round,¡± said Dr. Carsten Wildebrand, Managing Director of ÃÜÌÒAV Taiwan. ¡°I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to all our partners for all their kind support in making this competition successful. Together we can make the world a better and brighter place!¡±

The list of winners of the Judge Awards was announced on the official competition¡¯s website at 2 p.m. on September 14.