A shining star in the film industry.

Byline: Anastasia Weiner

Bunging a ready meal into a microwave oven is something we take for granted in our busy modern lives.

So too is watching a crystal clear image on a flat-screen TV or playing a video.

So learning that plastics - or more precisely polyester, is what makes it possible for us to enjoy dinner in a mere seven minutes or put our feet up in front of the latest LCD or plasma screen television may come as a surprise.

From X-ray film to recycleable food packaging - its uses are infinite. Plain polyethylene terephthalate (known as PET or PETE) is most commonly associated with a material from which cloth and high-performance clothing are produced.

But PETG, also known as glycolised polyester, is also used in the production of polyester film and has a variety of uses, while polyester film (PETF) is used in many applications such as videotape, high quality packaging, identity cards and professional photographic printing.

Chemical manufacturing giants ICI and DuPont both lay claim to its creation, although it was British chemists John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson that patented polyethylene terephthalate in 1941, after advancing the early research of Wallace Carothers.

Today, DuPont Teijin Films (DTF) - a 50/50 joint venture between DuPont and Japanese manufacturing firm Teijin formed in 2000 - is seen as the leading supplier of PET and PEN - a high-grade polyester film - under trademarks including Melinex and Mylar.

A global organisation with manufacturing sites across the US, Japan, Europe, the UK, China and Indonesia, it employs 4,000 staff, has a turnover of $1.4bn and produces 300,000 tonnes of polyester film a year.

But the evolution of polyester, its uses and potential, is carried out on Teesside. Based at Wilton, the research facility works with the firm's manufacturing operations as well as outside organisations such as the North-east's Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), to develop the technology and drive new markets.

Originally under ICI ownership until 1998, when it was sold to DuPont, the research and development centre employs 100 staff.

John Purdy, DTF's Teesside's site manager and director of global research, admits that few people give a thought to the PET-based plastics that they use, or how they were developed.

"When you tell people what you do they imagine a lab full of white coats," he says. "While that's true, we also spend a lot of time doing market research. The team is split about half and half into product and process development. Much of our work is about discovering new markets as developing new technologies."

According to Mr Purdy, the packaging and imaging markets are currently showing the greatest demand, resulting in some innovative and futuristic advancements such as flexible polymer electronics.

Flexible electronics is a term used to describe electrical components and displays using polymers rather than silicon and glass based materials. The products being developed fall into three categories; flexible displays, electronic devices such as smart tags, and photovoltaic cells.

"A lot of polyester film is sold into the electronics industry, such as polyester film for wide-screen televisions," Mr Purdy explains. "But flexible electronics is an exciting application. At the moment only a limited amount of information can be seen on mobile phones and PDAs. But with a flexible roll out screen, a lot more information can be projected."

DTF, which also has a manufacturing site at Dumfries, is also pioneering a new generation of food packaging.

"Polyester is a material which is inherently recyclable," says Mr Purdy.

"Many other plastics are either expensive to recycle, or chemically can't be recycled."

With DuPont Teijin being a true 50/50 joint venture, it's hard not to wonder about the cultural influences. But although Mr Purdy admits they are very different, he says they are very complementary.

"The US culture is very much about the Eureka moment," he says. "While the Japanese concentrate on working alongside the customer. We work very closely with Teijin and often have people here on placement and vice versa."

Teijin is another chemical giant with its roots very much entwined with polyester. The firm - one of the country's biggest manufacturers - has an $8bn turnover and employs 25,000 worldwide.

"Teijin was one of the first companies to manufacture polyester under licence," says Mr Purdy. "So the relationship has always been there in one form or another."