Growth in Construction Plastics Moulded Parts
8 November 2021
When you think of construction, you may think of wood, bricks and concrete - but there’s been a dramatic increase in the use and application of plastics within the sector.
Plastics can offer characteristics to survive in almost any environment.
Construction is a key driver of the economy and throughout the last year those operating in this sector have ridden a rollercoaster of challenges. However a surprising winner of the past 18 months, plastic has slowly trickled into the construction industry from protection equipment, tools, and now into building materials.
Remote working drove home improvement and commercial redevelopment
With many people initially forced to work from home, businesses soon realised this could be a new more agile way of working. Reducing the need for large expensive office space, they could downsize to adapt to smaller office based staff and decreasing their costs. Which did two things - huge offices then needed to be repurposed to smaller spaces or even apartments. Whilst people working from home wanted a dedicated space - meaning garages got converted and garden offices got built.
With shortages of traditional products, plastic alternative parts increased
Whether it is light weight plastic roof tiles, drainage solutions, plastic components or some other innovation - construction is a real growth area in plastic injected moulded parts.
Key reasons Plastics are such a great alternative material are:
Plastic injection moulded parts are very economical, especially when they are compared to materials like wood, metal, and even glass. Injection moulding offers clear advantages over other production techniques with regards to costs, production numbers and application possibilities.
Appearance & Finish - Plastic has the ability to be coloured, have a specific finish, ultraviolet protection, textured and protected material ready for construction.
Resistance Properties - Plastic can be made to be fire, climate, weathering and corrosion resistant.
Dimensional Stability - Extreme temperatures can warp metal and make other materials brittle, yet plastic can offer stability in these same extreme environments.
Weight & Strength - Plastic can offer a lower weight and strength to comparable metal parts and other materials
Low Maintenance - Plastics offer the opportunity to reduce or eliminate long-term maintenance.
Plastics can offer characteristics to survive in almost any environment.
The construction sector is very demanding on plastic injection moulded components, and no environment is more challenging than the construction industry. Whether moulding plastic parts for the outdoor environment or inside buildings, the technical mould design right through to post moulding operations is key. It’s not simply about low cost, rapid turnaround and reliability of the bespoke plastic components. More often it’s because our technical team help enhance the product strength, durability and performance through their in-depth knowledge of the plastics and the injection moulding process in relation to construction.