World-class in Advanced Materials
The UK's dynamic materials industry is at the forefront in all kinds of sectors. Advanced materials bring improved performance and functionality in new products - something craved by ever-more demanding consumers.
Materials technologies underpin manufacturing and innovation in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, power generation, construction, security, healthcare, electronics, consumer goods and retail. The continued growth in the use of materials, the challenges of climate change and the quest for sustainability require increasing innovation. The UK has the expertise and experience to deliver.
Global reputation
Directly employing around 1.5 million people, with another four million in related industries, the UK advanced materials sector has annual sales of £200 billion, gross value-add generation of around £70 billion and higher than average productivity. Total exports are valued at about £50 billion.
The UK has a long-established reputation for academic excellence in materials science, research and development. It is ranked fourth in the world, hosts five of the top 100 institutions (in terms of the total number of papers and citations) and has universities attracting at least £95 million each year in research funding.
In the private and industrial materials research sector, there are organisations such as TWI, QinetiQ, NPL and CERAM and heavyweights like Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Corus, GKN and Hexcel. Moreover, the network developed by groups such as the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), Materials UK and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining fosters healthy collaborative research.
This helps companies benefit from excellent research and gain maximum leverage from their input to a project. It also extends beyond part-funded research projects to commercialisation projects, and occurs in the UK and overseas.
Plastic electronics and structural materials
The UK is a world leader in plastic electronics and structural materials.
Plastic electronics allows the creation of inexpensive flexible devices and the integration of electronics with fabrics and other non-silicon devices. One example of the UK's commitment is the £10 million regional, national and EU investment in the Plastic Electronics Technology Centre (PETeC) in County Durham.
Structural materials make one of the greatest contributions to employment and GDP in the UK. Through world-class expertise in metallic systems, and recognised strengths in composite materials, the UK leads the way in developing new lightweight and recyclable solutions for many sectors, including transportation.
Examples of success include the collaboration between Advanced Composites Group and GE Aviation with Swedish sports car company Koenigsegg for composite material and part production respectively for the CCX and CCR, dominance in Formula 1 (where 60 per cent of cars are designed and produced in the UK), GKN's production of the A400m composite spar, and Airbus UK's wing production.
Sector statistics
Metals
The UK's world-class expertise in developing metallic systems covers steels, aluminium, high-temperate superalloys, titanium and magnesium. An extensive R&D infrastructure provides a strong, innovative platform of skills in design, structural integrity, surface engineering, powder metallurgy, modelling, process development, fabrication and joining.
The UK metals sector
- Produces around 14 million tonnes of steel, 1.2 million tonnes of castings and 500,000 tonnes of aluminium each year.
- Creates £15 billion of added value for the UK economy, equivalent to 10 per cent of all UK manufacturing.
- Employs over 470,000 people.
- Sells a total of £38 billion of metals into engineering, construction, automotive, aerospace, energy and other manufacturing sectors.
Composites
The UK leads in developing and producing advanced composite structures for aerospace and automotive applications. Examples include the British-built Mercedes SLR McLaren, the Airbus A380 wing and the A400m wing spar built by GKN.
The UK composites sector
- Has 1,000 companies directly manufacturing products or precursors (another 1,500 have them as a significant proportion of their business).
- Employs 10-12,000 people directly and 15-20,000 indirectly.
- Produces 240,000 tonnes each year, of which it exports 40 per cent.
Plastics
In the UK, business organisations and academic institutions, supported by Government, are investigating how to re-use the plastics that make up nine to twelve per cent of every vehicle. There area several End of Life Vehicle (ELV) initiatives, including the Automotive Consortium on Recycling and Disposal (ACORD), the Consortium for Automotive Recycling (CARE) and the International Dismantling Information System (IDIS).
UK plastics companies operate at the cutting edge of technology and are dominant international players in material and additive manufacture, material processors and machinery manufacture.
The UK plastics sector
- Has sales that make up about £17.5 billion (2.1 per cent) of UK GDP. Of this, the processing sector accounts for £12.4 billion.
- Employs around 220,000 people.
- Produces 2,500k tonnes of plastics per annum.
- Has over 3,000 primary processors.
Nanotechnology
The UK nanotechnology sector's extensive infrastructure of research and manufacturing make the country the ideal place for international commercial partnerships to identify and demonstrate breakthrough technologies. A world-class reputation in nanotechnology research receives support through the UK Nanotechnology Strategy.
- There are over 1,400 active companies.
- More than 35 UK universities and 1,500 research scientists are involved in nanotechnology development.
- The global market in nanotechnologies is expected to grow from $2.3 billion in 2007 to $81 billion in 2015.
- The number of nanotechnology products on the market has risen from approximately 210 in 2006 to around 800 in 2010.
