Institute

Plastics technology is focused on plastic product with its specific application characteristics. The required functional characteristics of a product should be achieved with the least possible use of resources. For this purpose, technical-scientific knowledge and skills in the fields of material science and plastic materials technology of plastics, plastics processing and plastics design are used synergistically.

The focus of plastics technology is not only on the plastic products or even on the plastic itself, but also on the processes of preparation into plastics, the processing into plastic products, recycling as well as the machines and the tools required for these processes. As a result, aspects of plastics circular economy are an essential / integral part of plastics technology.

In addition to the findings of natural science, plastics technology also uses the experience system, intuition and creative power of the engineer to achieve technical new and resource-saving solutions. The constant feedback of prediction methods through experimental evidence is a special feature of technical scientific research.

The particularly strong interaction in plastics technology between design/shape, material and manufacturing process does not allow these three facets to be considered separately. Research in material technology field is concerned with improving the plastic as a material, research in processing technology with improvement of processing machine, tool and process, as well as the research in design technology with improving the product made of plastic itself. The research in these fields includes the constant goal of conserving resources and preventing plastics from entering the environment.

(According to "Wissenschaftlicher Arbeitskreis der Kunststofftechnik", WAK)