Resins - Indian Laws - General

Resins The term `resin originally referred to natural products (particularly of vegetable origin) but now includes the man-made substances. Webster s Dictionary defines Resins (synthetic) as : any of a large class of synthetic products (as alkyd resins or phenolic resins) usually of high molecular weight that have some of the physical properties of natural resins but typically are very different chemically, that may be thermoplastic or thermosetting, that are made by polymerization or condensation, and that are used chiefly as plastics or the essential ingredients of plastics, in varnishes and other coatings, in adhesives, and in ion exchanges (when the resin itself is capable of being shaped into a finished article without a plasticizer, as polystyrene), the terms resin and plastic are interchangeable for that material - in industrial terminology the unfabricated material is sometimes called a resin and the fabricated article a plastic. (underlining ours). Apart from the portion underlined, the reference to thermoplastic and thermosetting qualities of such resins is also a reference to their plastic qualities. The British Plastics Year Book of 1967 describes synthetic resins as resins produced by chemical reactions, they are of different chemical composition and behaviour from natural resins. The term is now generally applied to all polymeric plastics materials with the possible exception of cellulosic and casein materials. Synthetic resins are classified by the initial reacting materials, e.g., as phenolic amino, acrylic or vinyl resins, or on chemical composition, e.g., polyester and epoxy resins. Sorenson and Campbell in their book Preparation Methods of Polymer Chemistry in Chapter 7 `Cross-linked synthetic Resins have said: Today, `resin covers a multitude of polymer types, including the classical phenol-formaldehyde condensation and the relatively recent epoxy resins, vinyl polymers such a polystyrene and poly methyl methacrylate and condensation polymers of the polyamide or polyester class. Most of the application of the term `resin is to those linear or cross-linked (or cross-linkable) polymers that are used in molding, casting, or extruding operations and in surface coatings; and, to most cross-linked (or cross-linkable) polymers, no matter what the end use (as in adhesives, textile finishes, etc.). Thus poly methyl methacrylate and various polyamides, both essentially linear polymers, are termed molding resins when directed to a molding end use. However, polyamides would not be termed resins by the synthetic fibre industry in their usage of the material. (underlining ours) In other words, synthetic resin is a term used in plastic industry and possibly in other industries, but not in the textile industry to refer usually to unfabricated material out of which the end product is made. The term ` synthetic resin or artificial resin , therefore, far from being scientifically precise, seems to be as elusive to define as the term plastic . The preponderance of view appears to be, however, that the term `synthetic resin is used in connection with material which is used for producing articles of plastic and is not used to refer at least to material used in the textile industry. As per Concise Guide to Plastics by Simmonds and Church in which a passage under the heading Polyester Resin is as follows : In the broad sense of the term polyester resins include many types of resinaous condensation products and collectively represent a broad and expanding field in the plastics industry........ As indicated in other section, alkyd resin are basically polyster. Saturated liner polyester resins can be film or fibre forming material, for example, polyethelene, terephathalate . CHEMICAL AND FIBRES OF INDIA LTD. VERSUS UNION OF INDIA - 1997 (1) TMI 75 - SUPREME COURT