JSP Resins LLC

1. How is your experience augmenting your current roles and responsibilities as VP of Technology at JSP?

My responsibilities include multiple departments within JSP North America, including Product & Application Development, R&D, Quality, Process Engineering and Purchasing, which cover a wide variety of disciplines. JSP North America has multiple locations, so this covers plants throughout the U.S. and Mexico. At JSP, the products we produce are used by a wide variety of markets ranging from automotive, packaging, HVAC, Building & Construction, Fitness, Marine, Military, and even Toys and Recreational products.

2. Could you elaborate on your journey in the industry?

I have been in the plastics Industry since I graduated from college, which amasses over 36 years of experience. I have been in the foams industry for over 32 years at which time I have worked for my current company; JSP (formerly ARCO Chemical – the JSP name has been in place since 1994). My background is Mechanical Engineering, and it has served me well at JSP. While we utilize many engineering disciplines at JSP to produce our ARPRO Expanded Polypropylene (EPP) and ARPAK Expanded Polyethylene (EPP) foam products, in the end, the Physical Properties are what our customers take advantage of when using our products. These include durability, multiple-impact characteristics, resiliency, insulation value, reduced weight (vs. competitive products), recyclability, etc. I am active in various industry groups including SPE, SAE, ASME, and ASTM, and this allows me to maintain business contacts and stay current with the latest technology being developed.

3. How would you describe the transition and development in the manufacturing space with the emergence of polymers?

Polymers and more specifically plastics have been around for well over 100 years from the early development of Bakelite in 1907 to the early commercial work in the 1930’s on what would become the most widely used commercial plastic in the world–Polyethylene. From there, plastics have played an increasingly important role in our lives. As technology moves ahead, we continue to optimize our processes to more responsibly utilize the resources we have, and this is especially true in the plastics industry. One example is the fact that today’s plastic water bottles use roughly one tenth the amount of plastic they did 20 years ago! We owe this success to new technology developed by both the raw material and equipment producers.

“As technology moves ahead, we continue to optimize our processes to more responsibly utilize the resources we have, and this is especially true in the plastics industry.”

4. What are some of the challenges and benefits of using polymers for manufacturing and how do you try to mitigate those challenges?

There are a number of challenges using polymers and plastics today, and one of them is the public perception of plastics in general, which is mostly based on single use plastics and the many stories that focus on plastic litter. The other challenge is the increased industry and government regulations my business faces, which includes sustainability, recyclability and compliance, all of which evolve over time. There is also the challenge of meeting the chemical substance regulations, which include CA Prop 65, RoHS, REACH, etc. all of which are updated regularly. This means we have to be diligent when choosing a particular polymer additive or formula to assure that it meets all these requirements. The benefits of using plastics and polymers are numerous, and range from weight reduction (which in turn, reduces the carbon footprint), to cost reduction, chemical/corrosion resistance, and design flexibility to name a few. Today’s availability of different polymers and polymer blends as well as additives make the choices virtually unlimited.

5. How have the researches you conducted regarding polyolefin foam and other polymers been relevant to the evolving manufacturing space? How are you leveraging that research knowledge into the real-case scenarios?

The ability to produce a polyolefin foam gives a new dimension to the use of plastics. With JSP’s Polyolefin bead/particle foam products, it is possible to over unprecedented weight reduction and in turn cost reduction. In the automotive industry where JSP produces foam materials using seating components such as rear seat cushions or rear seat backs, we see major weight reductions of over 50 percent and cost reductions as well. The other benefit of weight reduction is that it contributes to improved vehicle efficiency and energy savings over the life of the vehicle. This results in a reduced carbon footprint (lower CO₂e) of not only the component, but a reduction of the total carbon footprint over the life of the vehicle. The future looks good for Polyolefin Foams, as they are replacing many other materials ranging from crosslinked Polyethylene foams (XLPE), Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), Solid Plastics, and many metal applications. Expanded Polyolefin foams such as EPP are completely circular. Unlike crosslinked foams and EPS foams, which are repurposed into new products (underlayment, injection molded PS plastic, etc.), EPP can be collected, recycled and made into new EPP for the same application. JSP is offering a recycled grade of our APRRO EPP product called the 5000RC Series containing 30 percent Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) content, all of which comes from End-Of-Life EPP products such as totes, and other dunnage containers. Additional research focuses on new applications and the production of higher performance specialty grade products with characteristics such as Fire Retardant, Anti-Static, Dissipative, Conductive, UV Resistant, customer colors, etc.

6. As an ending note, what is your advice or message for other senior leaders or CXOs working in the industry?

The plastics and polymers industry is quite mature. I would encourage these senior leaders to further diversify the workforce so new ideas and new approaches can be realized. We need to recruit new talent with STEM degrees to further advance our industry. I also encourage all leaders to promote the teaching and university support of plastics and polymers programs. Today’s leaders also need to consider the global marketplace, and the fact that while some products thrive in one local market, others may not. Consider both the speed to market and the route to market when introducing new products and new technologies.