ONE ON ONE» PATRICK DIEBEL» VICE PRESIDENT, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY» CANADIAN GENERAL-TOWER

Other ways of going green

Parts supplier is developing alternatives to the plastic components in vehicles

MICHAEL VAUGHAN

From Thursday's Globe and Mail
January 8, 2009 at 12:00 AM EDT

'Greening" the automobile usually refers to improving its fuel economy and reducing carbon emissions. But there other things to be greened as well, particularly plastics.
Toyota plans to replace 20 per cent (by mass) of the plastics used in its cars with bio-plastics by 2015. Mazda has said it will make 30 per cent of the interior parts of the Mazda5 from bio-materials as soon as it sees higher strength and heat thresholds, which it identifies as bio-plastic's weak points.
Ford has begun its use of renewable bio-material by using soy-based foam in seat backs and cushions in vehicles. By the end of the 2009 model year, more than one million Ford vehicles will contain soy foam -- which will decrease its use of petroleum oil by nearly half a million kilograms annually.
Ontario is trying to get its farmers and parts suppliers into the act. The Ontario BioAuto Council has dished out money to help Ontario companies meet the demand for affordable, sustainable bio-based products. One of the projects is with Canadian General-Tower Ltd., a Cambridge-based company that is North America's largest producer of flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) films and coated fabrics. The Ontario BioAuto Council has gone fifty-fifty with CGT on a $1.5-million project to commercialize bio-based plasticizers. That's the stuff that keeps plastic flexible and the bio-based version replaces petroleum-based phthalates, which have been raised as a health concern.

Vaughan: What type of new material are you developing, Patrick?
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Diebel: This is our synthetic leather that could be used in the interior of a high-end car and this is our new sustainable product. It uses recycled water bottles in the backing and, in the facing, it uses bio-based plasticizers.
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All right, let's start with the water bottles.
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Well, the normal backing uses virgin polyester or PET [polyethylene terephthalate]. But by using the same chemistry and the same type of plastic as in a water bottle, we're able to divert about 6.5 million water bottles a year [from landfill] into the backing.
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That's good, but what about getting rid of the petroleum-based phthalates that are so controversial.
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Well, in the foam layer between the backing and the surface, we use bio-based plasticizers and they come from soy beans and castor beans. You're one of the biggest users of phthalates in North America.
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There's a plant in Cornwall, Ont., today that's there to supply us.
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So how much can you switch from petroleum-based plasticizers to bio-based?
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In this synthetic leather, it's about 25-per-cent replaced. That's on the backing and on the face side; but we plan in the next iteration to replace 100 per cent of the phthalates with soy oil and castor bean oil. Soy bean oil has been used in formulating different plastics for a period of time, so that technology was established. We've used it in some of our products, so now we just have to optimize it and increase the amount.
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Some petroleum-based phthalates have been banned from baby toys and cosmetics. Is that why you're doing it?
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There are two reasons.
One, there's been an organized lobby against using phthalates. We're being pro-active by saying, 'If you want bio-based phthalates it's available here.' And two, we're making greater use of renewables. The bio plasticizers are from agriculture. Whether it's in 100 years or 200 years, there won't be enough oil around to satisfy all the uses.
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You mentioned there's another bio-product in there.
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Correct. On the surface that you're actually touching, we're using ground-up silk, which is a bio-based product and that gives it its soft, luxury feel. So there are three bio-based products in this material. You're touching a silk, then in the foam there's bio-based plasticizer and in the backing there are recycled water bottles.
We've tried to maximize the bio-based and the recycled component in this new product.
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If you put water bottles and silk and bio-plasticizers into this stuff, is the quality as good?
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Yes, we have to pass the same requirements for General Motors or Ford or Toyota whether it's recycled or virgin. We're commercializing this product. We've just got approvals at General Motors and now we're getting approvals at Toyota on this.
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Does it cost more or less?
This product is about a quarter the price of real leather and it looks and feels just as good.
But substituting the bio-based for the petroleum-based phthalates is about a 15- to 20-per-cent cost increase. But that works out to only $2 or $3 a car.
Our customers have become accustomed to paying a premium for green technology. You might think that using recycled materials should be cheaper but the infrastructure is not there to collect and clean it and extrude it. Once that becomes more established, the costs will come down.
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You're a $200-million- or $300-million-a-year private company that I'd never heard of. I'm pretty impressed with what I see.
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Canadian General-Tower has been in Cambridge since 1863 and has had to reinvent itself several times.
It began by making the rubber covering on wagon wheels and then went into rubber-coated fabrics for things like raincoats.
We became new-product innovators and now we're innovating in bio-based materials.
We have to be based on good, solid science and be able to apply it. Your creative and innovative sprit is what keeps you from becoming a commodity player and competing against the low-cost off-shore.

Michael Vaughan is co-host with Jeremy Cato of Car/Business, which appears Fridays at 8 p.m. on Business News Network and Saturdays at 2 p.m. on CTV.

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