Werner Pollmann
Report given by Werner Pollmann, Head of the Technology Division and Environmental Officer of Daimler-Benz AG, at the final presentation of the "POEMA" project on 13 March, 1995 at the Daimler-Benz Research Center in Ulm.
Ladies and gentlemen!Daimler-Benz has committed itself to doing everything possible to protect the environment and natural resources, within the framework of what is technically and ecologically feasible.
And this feeling of responsibility is more than just a response to our self-imposed Environmental Code. In the preamble to this Daimler-Benz Group Code, the preservation of the natural basis of existence is defined as a key task. We know only too well that meeting this challenge will not be possible, or only partially so, using conventional means.
Fossil fuels and some important raw materials are only available in very limited amounts. Furthermore, their use and exploitation can lead to greater pollution, depending on the area of application.
Against this background - and not least because of the fact that we increasingly need to return materials to the industrial or natural cycle - we have been trying for several years to make industrial use of renewable raw materials.
Today's workshop: "The industrial use of renewable raw materials as an opportunity for agriculture and the environment," serves to present to a broad public the potential for industrial use that we see in renewable raw materials. With this workshop we want to encourage everyone to give more consideration in future to the question of renewable raw materials. This applies both to the producers of renewable raw materials - namely agriculture - and to the processing industry, which functions after all as the supplier of components to the manufacturer of the finished product. We are convinced that renewable raw materials represent not only an opportunity for Europe, but in particular for the countries of the Third World - the so-called developing countries. Let me illustrate this, taking our involvement in Brazil as an example.
In 1992, prior to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (UNCED), we began a joint program with the world children's organization UNICEF which had two fundamental objectives:
1. Through a new method of managing cleared areas in the Amazon region, the indigenous population is to be provided with the basis for securing a livelihood that does not involve migrant farming.
2. Through the deliberate use of renewable raw materials such as natural fibers, natural dyes, natural oils, and rubber, farmers living in the region should be provided with the opportunity of using natural products in technical applications.
Our partners in this project from the University at Belém are responsible for the overall coordination. This covers both the social care of the families in the pilot communities and the conscious development of cultivation methods designed to reproduce the natural vegetation of the rain forest. It is this type of land management that has produced completely new approaches for obtaining industrially useful natural products. At the same time - and it has since been possible to prove this - the yield of fruit crops is also greater.
The opening of a small plant for manufacturing headrests made of coconut fiber in the summer of 1993 marked a major step forward. This plant has been supplying the finished products to Mercedes-Benz do Brasil since early 1994. Thanks to this project, the production chain of raw materials - in this case coconut fibers - from the production of the fibers via their processing to the manufacture and supply of the final product could be achieved for the first time by local people managing their own affairs. We can safely say that they are carrying this project forward through their own initiative and hard work.
Supported by the University at Belém, it has been possible to win over other interested parties for products of this kind. And our involvement does not stop there. We intend to continue our collaborative efforts with the University in the attempt to find industrial applications for other natural materials. The main emphasis will still be on natural fibers, for which there is a broad spectrum of application in fiber-reinforced plastics.
During our work in the Amazon basin we have discovered natural fibers which exhibit greater strength and better processing characteristics than our own native flax. This means there are potentially new applications which we did not consider realistic in the past. In addition, this region offers an untapped potential in plant oils and tree resins. It is our aim to employ both plant oils and tree resins in the manufacture of plastics.
And we have already managed to chalk up first successes: fuel lines, sun screens, wheel caps and soft trims are being manufactured on the basis of a plastic made from castor oil. Meanwhile, our researchers are examining the potential of other plant oils and resins.
Looking to Europe, you will no doubt ask yourselves whether or not this project represents new opportunities for agriculture and the environment here. I believe it's safe to say that the Pará Project has given a tremendous boost to renewable raw materials here too. For example, Mercedes-Benz AG has made a conscious decision to replace successive glass fiber-reinforced components used for interior paneling with natural fibers. Our researchers and developers are working hard to speed up the component qualification process. In doing so, they are starting with the use of fibers made from home-grown flax. It has been shown, you see, that the main specifications governing use in composite materials can be met given suitable processing of the flax, as happens in the textile industry. This has encouraged our researchers to develop a new process for manufacturing components, which in turn has provided the conditions for embarking on series production. Our researchers were certainly convinced that the home-grown flax, given suitable cultivation, can find an even broader spectrum of application. The proof came in 1994 with the harvest of a so-called "green flax." This variety of flax was developed in collaboration with an institute at the University of Bonn. The advantage of green flax is that the fibers are stronger and, more importantly, can be processed much quicker. While normal flax, as it is used in the textile industry, lies in the fields for about 30 days after being harvested, green flax can be decorticated just one and a half days later. This is important, since it vastly reduces the threat of damage to the fibrous material due to the weather. It can then be assumed that the required standard of quality is being met. Through appropriate contact with agricultural organizations, we want to ensure that the cultivation of green flax is pressed on with. Such a step is unavoidable if we are to secure the requisite quantities of the plant for industrial applications over a discernible period. We know that this is a difficult process, which is also accompanied by a certain amount of skepticism on the part of agriculture. For, after all, the farmers might then be assured of an additional source of earnings. On the other hand, we are also aware that it is not possible to put agriculture back on its feet through the cultivation of green flax alone. Nevertheless, the opportunity should not be missed to exhaust the available potential if it means that, by doing so, we can make a contribution to environmental protection.
Such a contribution is twofold. On the one hand, the recyclability of natural-fiber components is considerably better than glass-fiber ones. On the other, natural fiber disposal is a "zero-CO2" process. This means that the burning or rotting of natural fibers doesn't produce any more CO2 than that originally assimilated by the plant during its growth. Moreover, the situation will be further improved once we succeed in producing the so-called "eco-composite" made from natural fibers and a synthetic matrix on the basis of plant oils.
However, these developments alone will not - and indeed cannot - solve the CO2 problem. Though each contribution, however small, can lead to an improvement in the situation - we also know that you can't get something for nothing. This is true for all action taken to preserve the environment. We do believe, however, that through the increased use of renewable raw materials, a step is being taken in the direction of "sustainable development." And we are willing to go along this path, in association with political groups, agriculture, science, and other partners in industry. In doing so, we won't be pursuing only local or regional approaches, instead our orientation is a global one. This fits in with our philosophy of sustainable development, which is firmly anchored in our Environmental Code for environmental protection.
It is our goal to do everything in our power to use - and not misuse - resources. That's the reason we are treading completely new paths, so as to harmonize ecology, economy, and technology. It is in this respect that renewable raw materials provide us with an unique opportunity. We hope that this will also be recognized and implemented by other companies. Our offer remains: to accelerate this process for the sake of the environment by means of cross-industrial cooperations.
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© 1995 Daimler-Benz