Recognising breakthrough products using DuPont fluoropolymers: DuPont marks 70 years of Teflon® with call for entries to 2008 Plunkett Awards for sustainability and innovation

DuPont (www.dupont.com) has issued a call for entries for the 2008/2009 DuPont Plunkett Awards, which this year mark the 70th anniversary of the discovery of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), later branded as DuPont™ Teflon®, with the addition of environmental sustainability as a new selection criterion. In common with previous editions, the 2008 DuPont Plunkett Awards will recognise innovation in products or applications incorporating DuPont fluoropolymers as a critical component. DuPont fluoropolymer materials include Teflon®, DuPont™ Tefzel®, DuPont™ Nafion®, DuPont Tedlar® and DuPont™ Zonyl®, available as films, fibres, finishes, coatings, resins and fluoroadditives both for industrial and consumer applications. All competition details, including entry forms can be found at http://teflon.com/plunkett.

“The Plunkett Awards for Innovation & Sustainability recognise companies around the world using fluoropolymers to create innovative solutions that contribute to sustainable growth and help reduce environmental footprints,” said Patrick E. Lindner, global business director, DuPont Fluoropolymer Solutions. “DuPont has a strong tradition in innovation and sustainability that makes our lives better, and as a global leader in fluoropolymers, we want to recognize others who have the same commitment.”

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In its latest edition, the Plunkett Awards 2008/2009 will include increased award values and a new honourable mention category. Winners will be announced at special events around the world in 2009. Entries may be submitted by representatives of a company or by independent professionals who, working alone or as a team, are primarily responsible for the development of a new product or application. The competition encourages joint entries representing the work of several companies. Products and applications must have been in commercial service no more than five years prior to August 1, 2003.

Entries will be evaluated using four criteria:
• The novelty of the product or application;
• Its contribution to sustainable growth and reduced environmental footprint;
• Its current use and whether it can create opportunities for additional new uses in current or additional markets; and
• Its commercial significance, including demonstrable benefits and its ability to satisfy important or unmet needs.

Entries will be judged by an independent panel of industry experts representing academia, the plastics industry, industry associations and the industry trade press.

Those interested in entering the competition can download an entry form at http://teflon.com/plunkett. All entries must involve the use of DuPont fluoropolymers. Entries must be completed in English and received by 15th January 2009. Completed entries may be either mailed to DuPont de Nemours Int. SA - Fluoroproducts, 2 chemin du Pavillon, 1218 Grand-Saconnex - Geneva-Switzerland, faxed to +41 22 580 2346 or submitted via the website www.teflon.com/plunkett.

The awards are named after DuPont scientist Dr. Roy Plunkett, who discovered PTFE in 1938 as he was experimenting with refrigeration gases. Since that time, the company has introduced an entire family of these versatile plastics with unique properties that have made possible hundreds of significant developments across many diverse industries.

DuPont de Nemours (Deutschland) GmbH, Bad Homburg v.d.H., Germany

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