Amid an unprecedent year, DSM Engineering Materials applied our scientific knowledge and resources to contribute to helping ease the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thanks to the efforts of our partners and employees, production sites remained open this year, and we contributed to serve our customers and society at large.

Our automotive partners played an imperative role fighting the pandemic by transitioning to produce medical equipment, and we supported them with our expertise and available material grades for manufacturing medical components. We also worked with molders and aided them in tooling efforts for these specific projects.

You can read more about the projects I am most proud of in these news articles:  

• Ford partnering with GE and 3M to build ventilators, respirators, face shields
• Ventec Life Systems and GM Partner to produce ventilators

Other DSM business units stepped up to help fight the pandemic. For example, we and our partners  developed new safety gear, medical face masks and virus testing kit designs, and lead international consortiums in the sourcing and production of crucial healthcare equipment.  

Also, our Nutrition division distributed immunity-boosting vitamins and nutrients to first responders and healthcare professionals in the U.S., Europe and China to support the well-being of those on the front line.

There were also many other initiatives at DSM manufacturing sites. In The Netherlands, some plant capacity was converted to produce hundreds of thousands of gallons of disinfectant, which was donated to nearby hospitals. Also in the U.S., the East Providence, Rhode Island, and Wilmington, Massachusetts, sites produced hand sanitizer.

Ready to face challenges beyond the pandemic

There will be challenges to face beyond Covid-19, such as climate change, plastic pollution and resource depletion. It is more important than ever that we collectively step up our efforts to drive circularity and live sustainably.

DSM Engineering Materials has a long history of developing sustainable materials. Well-known examples include our EcoPaXX^®, which is our most established bio-based high performance polyamide, and Akulon^® RePurposed, our high-performance polyamide recovered from wasted fishing nets.

This year we took, together with our partners and suppliers, another ambitious step in our sustainability journey by introducing new bio- and/or recycled-based grades for Stanyl^®, Akulon^® and Arnitel^®—a big step forward to establish bio-based and recycled-based alternatives for our entire portfolio by 2030. These alternatives will contain at least 25% recycled-and/or bio-based content via a mass balance approach while keeping the exact same properties as those in our current portfolio.

We furthermore commit to reducing greenhouse emissions with 30% by 2030 and to increasing our share of purchased renewable energy across the world to over 75% by 2030.

As you can see, all of us at DSM and our partners have been very busy contributing to helping others during this trying time, while focusing on a sustainable future. DSM has been and will also be focused on Doing Something Meaningful, and helping our partners Do Something Meaningful.

This season, I want to give thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our partners, and our combined focus on health and safety. I wish you all Happy Holidays, good health, and a Happy New Year!