News & Industry Insights

Material decisions are increasingly made under tension. Performance requirements are rising. Sustainability expectations are accelerating. Cost pressure has not gone away (but is always increasing). In most real-world situations, these 3 forces do not move in the same direction. The myth of the perfect material There is a common expectation that innovation will eventually deliver...

Join Mitsui Plastics for a free live webinar on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026 at 11 AM EST, featuring Janice Pan, Project Manager at USI Corporation in the Advanced Materials Business Unit. Learn more about ViviOn™, a cutting-edge material that is transforming PE and PP packaging with:✓ Easy‑tear functionality✓ Downgauging capability✓ Enhanced rigidity for improved performance...

In many organizations, material selection is treated as a downstream decision: something to be finalized once product design, cost targets, or timelines are already defined.  On Excel, the material may be “right”. In practice, choosing it too late often becomes one of the most expensive mistakes in a project.  When late material decisions become a marketing problem  Delaying the adoption of a...

In business, it is common to highlight what we do: investments, projects, technologies. But increasingly, what defines long-term success is how we think — or even how we feel — when facing complexity. This is where the idea of connecting worlds takes on a new meaning. In our previous reflections, we spoke about connecting industries...

When we think about sustainability, we often picture renewable energy, electric vehicles, or recyclable packaging. Yet, a crucial driver lies behind these transformations: advanced materials. They are the silent enablers making large-scale change possible across industries. Mobility: Lighter Vehicles, Lower Emissions Replacing steel with polymer composites can cut component weight by up to 50%. This...

Packaging is under unprecedented pressure. Consumers demand sustainable choices, with 78% saying companies must take responsibility for waste (Ipsos, Kantar). Investors are shifting capital, with ESG-focused assets surpassing USD 30 trillion, and increasingly moving away from polluting companies. Peers and clients are committing — Nestlé, Unilever and PepsiCo aim for 100% recyclable or reusable packaging...