Eco-friendliness and emission reduction are already common trends and targets for car companies internationally. All nations aim at increasing the efficiency of fuel consumption, which forces auto-makers to further reduce the weight of the vehicles. Plastic has a good strength-to-weight ratio, has good design flexibility, could improve aerodynamics, enhance style differentiation, and it has better crash protection —these incomparable strengths are the reason why companies are starting to use more plastic materials on automobiles, and hence make utilizing plastics as the most efficient way of reducing weight on automobiles by far.

Responding to an increasingly strict market regulations, many automotive companies choose to seek new environmentally friendly alternatives to replace traditional plastic materials. Because of that, paint-free plastics and bioplastics, with their low VOCs, high salt and wear resistance, would be more widely utilized.

Paint-Free Plastic

Elimination of spray painting on plastic parts becomes a new trend for automotive industry. Injection molding can create the surface appearance of matte, high gloss or pearl effect. Paint-free plastic controls effectively the VOCs emission and reduces environmental impact. Additionally, it reduces the cost of production, and the parts could be recycled, meaning that it is a good choice for automobiles, as it is eco-friendly and sustainable.

Currently, paint-free plastics are already successfully implemented onto the side skirts, center panel, DVD panel, glove box, sun visor, dashboard cover on both sides of the cars.

Bioplastic

Bioplastic refers to plastics produced by the plants, like corn and sugar cane, undergoing microbial action.

Conventional plastic is usually synthesized with petroleum, and would often contain harmful substances that are not completely reacted; On the contrary, since bioplastics utilizes low-toxicity and harmless organic materials, it drastically lowers the emission of VOCs in a vehicle. In addition to that, bioplastics are also biodegradable, therefore it could be recyclable and more friendly to the environment.