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2026.10.08 | TB | Materials | Plaskolite Polycarbonate & Renewable Materials

原标题：Plaskolite – Polycarbonate's Strength Against a Widening Gap in Renewable Materials

#materials #chemicals

Third Bridge · 2026-10-08

Analyst-led • 2 Oct 2026

Companies: HD US, PLRM IL

David Kotler (DK) Head, Marketing at Admetec Solutions Ltd

Quinton Flore (QF) — Third Bridge Sector Analyst

Agenda

Key Insights

Introduction

QF [00:00:04]: Welcome to Third Bridge's Interview entitled Plaskolite – Polycarbonate's Strength Against a Widening Gap in Renewable Materials. I'm Quinton Flore, and I'll be facilitating today's Interview with Mr David Kotler, former Chief Digital and Brand Officer at Palram Industries.

Before we start today's Interview, please state either I agree or I disagree to the following statement: You understand the definition of material non-public information and agree not to disclose any such information, or any other information which is confidential, during this Interview.

DK [00:00:39]: I agree.

QF [00:00:40]: Could you kick us off with a brief introduction to yourself and your background?

DK [00:00:50]: Sure. I'm David Kotler. I've been working with manufacturing companies for the past 20 years in headquarters usually. Up until three years ago, I've been the Chief Brand and Digital Officer for Palram Industries, which works in the same industry as Plaskolite.

Questions

00:01:18] Where is Plaskolite's product portfolio the strongest currently?

DK [00:01:31]: Plaskolite's portfolio has always been strong in acrylic and polycarbonate. Today, they've gone even stronger. I think their strongest part of the portfolio is polycarbonate following a few acquisitions. They also have a relatively strong PVC segment, and those are the top three.

00:01:56] How would you split Plaskolite's business and revenue across polycarbonate, acrylic and PVC [polyvinyl chloride]?

DK [00:02:11]: I would say polycarbonate right now is in first place with around 40-50% of their business. Acrylic number two with another 40%, which leaves around 10-20% for PVC.

00:02:29] What are the applications used for the polycarbonate segment? How do they differ?

DK [00:02:49]: When you talk about polycarbonate, there are three technologies, the solid, the corrugated and the multi-wall. The corrugated is, I think, the fastest-growing one and maybe even number one today globally in terms of not only Plaskolite, but in the industry as a whole, maybe the biggest market being used mainly for residential, like home patios, also commercial outdoor usages. The multi-wall is used mainly for agricultural needs, but also for some other home and commercial uses. The solid is what was historically the first type of polycarbonate, which was used for everything. It's still being used for everything, but it has the least technological advantages from its other two competing technologies.

QF [00:04:05]: Why is that? Where do those other two technologies beat the solid polycarbonate?

DK [00:04:19]: It's the reason they were created. Multi-wall has, like the name suggests, two or three walls of thin plastic with air being trapped in the middle that creates isolation [insulation], both for temperature and strength. The corrugated also by its corrugation allows for creating relatively strong architectural structures without having to use what, in the past, we used the solid flat polycarbonate sheets, which had to be much thicker. When the industry started using multi-wall and corrugated, you can use much less material while still getting the same strength and isolation that you will get with the solid.

QF [00:05:32]: Does solid still make up a decent share of the market?

DK [00:05:40]: Yes. I think out of the three, it still takes up at least 30% or maybe 40% because many people in the industry, that's what they're used to. It's also a matter of aesthetics. It looks the cleanest. A lot of people, both home users and professional architects, prefer that look. They still use it to this day, and it's still an important part of any plastic company, plastic sheet manufacturers portfolio.

QF [00:06:20]: It's interesting that it's still as high as 30-40%. Of the remaining 60-70%, how much do corrugated and multi-wall each take up?

DK [00:06:44]: I would say 40% for the corrugated because the multi-wall, these days, it's being used mostly for agriculture, which is a decreasing market. The agriculture is using many different types of technologies, trying to reduce cost. They don't care about aesthetics, using cheap polycarbonate that's not necessarily even rigid.

QF [00:07:20]: How do you see those trending? Is there a world where multi-wall becomes a significant part of that in the future?

DK [00:07:37]: It's an interesting question. I don't think so. I think multi-wall has been around for a long time now. It's not a very new technology. If it would have taken over, it would have done it by now. I still think that corrugated and solid have the bigger part to play.

00:08:05] Where is Plaskolite's portfolio the weakest?

DK [00:08:17]: PVC obviously wasn't always their strong suit. They acquired a PVC company a few years ago, which gave them a much stronger foothold there. Also, if we're talking about weaknesses, that's what you were asking, weaknesses, then I would say two other except besides the PVC, which I think they're positioned better than the other two because they purchased that company. Both are under, I would say, the title of product innovation because polycarbonate has a very strong distribution chain, strong control over the US market. In product innovation, not necessarily portfolio because they have a portfolio, but their innovation is not that great in two areas. One, I would say, is sustainable materials. They do have sustainable materials, but they arrived late to the game. I think they suffer from a bad brand perspective as being a company that's not that minded of the environment like their European competitors. Also, I would say another weakness in innovation is special shapes, colours, things that the high-end market architects look for, for their special products, when they're building big buildings for banks or special projects, they're looking for special materials, and Plaskolite is not that strong in those areas.

00:10:22] You mentioned Plaskolite being behind on renewable materials. What has been the company's stance on renewable materials over the past couple of years, and how has it changed recently?

DK [00:10:46]: First of all, to be perfectly candid, I've been out of the industry for the last three years, so I'm not that up to date on what's been going on in the last few years. I've been hearing things from the industry, but I'm not sure that I'm super in the know, but I would say that, for example, two different types of materials in this realm of sustainability are post-industrial and post-consumer. Where post-industrial is material that's been reused from the industry. That's where I think Plaskolite has been strong. Regulations in the past few years have been mandating or demanding post-consumer material to be used in these new products, and they've been late to the game there. I think they just started 2-3 years ago doing that kind of products or staple products that can really be used that are post-consumer. There are other types of trendy types of recycled materials, but I don't think that those are necessarily important to go over. I'm not even an expert on the technology behind it on the marketing side of things, but those are marketing stories, not necessarily materials that are here to last. I would say post-consumer is something that they're focusing on and rightfully so.

00:12:45] You mentioned brand sentiment – perhaps customers think that Plaskolite is still further behind than it might actually be. Do you think the company has tried to right the ship and might be closer to competitors than customers realise?

DK [00:13:15]: Yes, I believe so. It's maybe an unfair position in the mind of some industry people that because they're an American company, they're less sensitive to the needs of more advanced countries in the world or more demanding governments in the world, which is the main reason that plastic companies are going in this direction because of governmental demands and the European manufacturers have realised that and have been creating the right products 10-15 years ago or at least trying to and Plaskolite is branded as a company that's less in tune with the needs or the wants of the governments that are demanding more, which is less in North America and more in Europe.

QF [00:14:29]: Do you think there is anything the company can do to change that? What steps could it take to start to change that brand perception that may or may not be a little unfair?

DK [00:14:47]: From a marketing point of view, there's a lot they can do, I think, maybe doing some rebranding of their products, which aren't considered sustainably innovative. Pivoting around that, changing it up a bit, relaunching it under a different name, doing something maybe even visually different, a texture, a shape, something that can stand out, and also, how do you say, the proof is in the pudding, create some more convincing evidence like technical specs that show that they're more innovative than other companies. They haven't done that so far. I don't know how to say it, in a political way, but they haven't been very convincing. They've been dry about it. I think they can be much more bold in their statements.

00:16:01] For the competitors that are further ahead of Plaskolite, what specifically are they doing that has worked well for them, in terms of creating the brand sentiment that they're working more on renewables?

DK [00:16:22]: Basically, from what I remember from my time in Palram and also other companies that I've been looking at, first of all, they've been putting it forward. The first thing you see on their web page is their sustainable products, even though it's the smallest part of their revenue, still, it's an important flag to wave. They put it forward in every trade show booth. You see the main banner talking about their newest sustainable product, putting their green statements forward in everything they do, in every tender that they take part in. They always start and end with their commitment to the environment. Just understanding that this is the most important or innovative part of the business in these current times and not treating it like a small part of the business that's negligible because customers, even if they won't buy it in the end, they want to hear that you care about it and that you have something to offer.

QF [00:17:39]: Do any names of competitors come to mind that do this particularly well and really focus on that renewable aspect?

DK [00:17:48]: I think the European companies, I consider Palram one of those companies, Exolon out of the Covestro Group, they're a Germany-based company. They're super sensitive to that. Really it looks like the only thing that they're focusing on is this part of the portfolio.

00:18:15] Does leading on renewable materials really win customer contracts today? Are people paying a premium for that?

DK [00:18:29]: It's an interesting question. Again, they're not doing it because they want to or they care about it. They're doing so because either they have to because of the terms of the contract they have with a certain city or country that they're working with or their client, if you're building a bank for Bank of America, then they also have to adhere to their environmental policy. They're doing it for that. They won't build everything because those materials are very expensive. They won't use it for 100% of the materials in the project, but they will do some of it, maybe 5-10% of the material would be recycled. They will flaunt it very strongly in their next project to say, "We've done this in our project. This is important to us." I think it's a small part of the business, but it creates a lot of noise.

00:19:42] Which end markets are most likely to pay a premium to use more renewable materials?

DK [00:19:57]: Those would be either the speciality architectural markets, like I said, special needs, special construction is not like the generic ones. The residential market also, not everybody would invest, but some of them mostly in Europe, people buying for their own homes that are conscious about the environment also, I think, has a big part of it. Also institutional, like medical applications, security applications because they have to adhere to regulations more than others because they are super enforced or what's the word, looked at by…

QF [00:21:06]: Regulated or scrutinised.

DK [00:21:08]: Exactly, yes.

00:21:10] Which end markets that Plaskolite is targeting would you say are growing the fastest currently?

DK [00:21:31]: The fastest growing, I think, is the residential market, patios, DIY sheets. People are more and more in their homes, renovating their homes, replacing at a higher rate than before. I think since COVID, we've been seeing this kind of investment of people in their homes. It has gone down, obviously, since COVID, but it's still at a higher rate than it did before. I still think it's an important or a fast-growing market. Also, like I mentioned, speciality architectural projects that you don't see a lot of them, but they're huge, like we had a project for a stadium in Ireland, I believe it was. They have a very unique vision. It costs them a lot of money, and I think it's more and more going in that direction that architects are trying to stand out and do these kind of… They're looking for special materials, special colours, special textures. That's also growing, and that's a very profitable domain. Agriculture, on the other hand, is going down.

00:23:17] How much of Plaskolite's revenue would you estimate to come from the DIY, home patio or outdoor living segment?

DK [00:23:39]: If we include acrylic also, it's relatively small, it also exists, then I would say I think 60% is the residential market.

It's my opinion. I'm not sure if it's accurate.

QF [00:24:02]: Interesting. It sounds as if that's trending upwards. Do you see that taking a larger share in the coming years? Might that get up to 65-70%? How do you see that going?

DK [00:24:15]: 70% is very high. Also, it's a different question if you're asking about Plaskolite or the industry as a whole.

QF [00:24:30]: How would you differentiate between Plaskolite and the industry as a whole?

DK [00:24:40]: I think Plaskolite is going more in that direction because it's looking for better revenue, higher profitability, and that's where Plaskolite is going to get that. The industry as a whole, it still needs to provide solutions for the less attractive markets. There are still and even more and more Asian manufacturers that are working both in Asia and also importing into Europe and North America that are doing other industries or other solutions that are not just the residential market. It won't go away. You still need to do agriculture. You still need to do apartment buildings. That's still going to exist for other companies, but I think Plaskolite is looking to go in a more high-end part of the business.

00:25:51] How closely is the patio furniture or outdoor living demand tied to overall home repair and remodel spending?

DK [00:26:14]: I think they're closely tied. If someone is investing in their patio furniture, chances are he's also investing in his deck and his patio. If I understood the question correctly, then I would say, yes, it's very much tied together.

QF [00:26:38]: If there's an economic downturn or great economic times in the coming years, would you expect that to be reflected in sales for patio-related plastics?

DK [00:26:56]: Yes, sure. If people have less money in their pockets, Plaskolite's going to feel it also in that part of their business, yes, of course.

QF [00:27:08]: Is it tied at all to new home build rates?

DK [00:27:19]: That's a bit of a different story because new homes, again, it's different in the US, I assume. I'm more in the know for what's going on in Europe, but I think it's similar. They're being constructed most of the times or I don't know the numbers, but not by private individuals, but by contractors. They buy the project, big stock. Their thinking process is different from the residential buyer, which is renovating his patio than from the contractor that's bidding a project of condominium of eight flats. He's being financed by a different source. I don't think one is tied to the other.

QF [00:28:20]: When thinking about those two different avenues, does Plaskolite specifically take advantage of one more than the other?

DK [00:28:32]: I think currently, they have a better infrastructure for that more commercial contractor side of the business in North America because they have such a strong footholding with the lumber yards and contracts that are being done in the US, but also, they have a strong foothold in Home Depot and getting to the residential market. If they just bring the know-how and the portfolio to where it should be, they will grow in the residential market even more through the home users and not through the commercial side of the construction, which is more profitable and which is where I think they want to be.

00:29:29] You mentioned that agriculture is probably declining. What is leading to that decline for Plaskolite?

DK [00:29:45]: I can only estimate because it wasn't an important part of the portfolio when I was in the business, but I would say two causes. One, like I mentioned, penetration of manufacturers from Asia, which have much cheaper pricing, lower quality, but it's good enough for agriculture. They're not looking for aesthetics. Also, and this is just my personal guess, there's been no innovation in agriculture cover plastic sheets. It's basically the same technology for the last 20 years. Many farmers are not replacing because they don't see a reason. People replace products when there's something new coming out that can give them greater value. I don't think that they feel that they saw any big changes in agriculture in the last few years.

QF [00:31:03]: I guess it's a mix of pivoting to cheaper suppliers and not replacing or buying as much plastic as they used to. How would you split the issue across those two categories?

DK [00:31:28]: I would say 70-80% is the cheap pricing out of the east. I think that's the most influential part of the decision.

QF [00:31:43]: Unless Plaskolite or other western suppliers drastically reduce prices, that demand is probably never coming back for them. Is that fair to say?

DK [00:31:58]: Yes. Unless, again, they would come up with some special innovation that would make consumers think again about investing because, I don't know, for example, it would increase their crops by 50% more efficiency.

QF [00:32:20]: Have you seen any technologies such as that? How likely is that?

DK [00:32:35]: No, I don't think so. I don't think any of the manufacturers are focusing on this. It's not like a sexy part of the business. Everybody is looking at the commercial and residential usages. Nobody is looking at agriculture.

QF [00:32:50]: Regarding agriculture, how much cheaper are China-based or eastern suppliers than a typical US or European supplier?

DK [00:33:08]: Last time I checked when I was in my Home Depot closest to my house, and I was asking about alternative options, it was 30-40% cheaper.

00:33:23] There has been a recovery in display materials after a couple of years on a plateau. What is driving that?

DK [00:33:46]: That's a good question. I think, again, the plastic industry, like many other industries, was affected very much by COVID in the early 2020s. I think the display industry was hurt the most because people were staying in home and shopping malls and stores were not visited and they were not invested in, but that's not the case anymore. People, I think, are mainly, even I would say, in North America are going out more and more because they're missing that human experience. As much as we get more and more digitally advanced with AI replacing human beings, the want for human interaction is growing paradoxically even more. That's why I think we're seeing more people coming to trade shows. We're seeing more people going shopping outside. That's where I think the display industry are profiting and getting more and more business back, but I don't think it's gone back to where it was before COVID.

QF [00:35:24]: In terms of post-pandemic restocking bounce vs a structural societal change that will lead to growth in the future, which category would you put display materials in?

DK [00:35:40]: It's hard to say. We don't have the privilege of saying post-COVID bounce because it's been a while now. We can't keep counting on that bounce, so I would say the other.

QF [00:36:08]: Interesting. Are there any specific new components or new materials that are going into this display materials category causing growth?

DK [00:36:23]: Not really. Foam, interior, double-sided exterior is still the most important part, I think, of the industry currently. I see it everywhere. It's been taking more and more over other materials, but no, I don't think there's been… Not that I'm aware of any special innovation.

00:37:13] What CAGR would you expect for Plaskolite more broadly over the next 3-5 years?

DK [00:37:27]: Seeing as they've been coming over more and more to the residential market and with polycarbonate materials that they've been acquiring, I think their growth rate is going to be growing. If I estimate they were around 5-7% in the last few years, I think they're going to be around 7-10% in the next 3-5 years.

00:38:00] Some third-party forecasts showed that the acrylic and polycarbonate sheet markets combined should be growing at about 6.2% per year until 2029. What factors lead you to put Plaskolite higher than the global polycarbonate and acrylic markets?

DK [00:38:27]: I think it's all thanks to their super strong distribution channels. I think they have been doing a very smart strategic process in the last few years with acquiring the companies that have the right portfolio, not necessarily for their existing business, more for their business know-how and technological know-how. I think that know-how, combined with their super strong foothold on distribution channels in North America, positions them in a place to be a major player to take over the parts of the industry that they weren't number one at like corrugated and multi-wall polycarbonate. That's why I think they will be above the industry average. I see a bright future for them.

00:39:40] How are Plaskolite's US customer relationships structured?

DK [00:39:57]: They have the strongest, I would say, relationship in both the big box, how is it called, like department stores and also the smaller lumber yards for the contractors. They're dominating for many years. They have very long-lasting draconian contract that other companies simply cannot compete with. They're considered in the US the industry standard. I think this worked against the consumers for many years because it's the only thing that they knew and they didn't necessarily have the best products. Now that they do, that's the reason I think that they're going to make this next jump forward based mainly, as I said, on this existing infrastructure.

00:41:36] Regarding distribution channels, how would you break down Plaskolite's volume across big-box retailers, lumber yards, distributors and large-project buyers?

DK [00:42:05]: I would estimate that the big retailers are at least 50%, maybe 60% of their business, the lumber yards coming in second at another 20-30%, and all the rest are the projects and the distributors.

QF [00:42:30]: How did it get so entrenched with those big-box retail stores?

DK [00:42:51]: Story old as time, when you have the bigger players in the market, both in the retailers and the manufacturers in this case being Plaskolite, it's only natural that they would feel safe and secure working with one another, not with Home Depot would put a very high bar that other smaller manufacturers will have a hard time reaching. Plaskolite, their entire philosophy is built around that. They have huge legal teams and purchasing and they're super-efficient, really, I would say, number one in the world in terms of logistics, supply chains. No one can compete with them. That's what those big customers require because they must secure their supply chain. I think it's a match made in heaven, and it's going to be very hard to break for other companies.

00:44:11] Are there any risks in the retail department?

DK [00:44:28]: I touched on in the beginning, I think that the risk for shelf space is around speciality items. Customers are looking for what's new, what's different, what's special. Special types of plastic, shapes, colours, textures, if Plaskolite won't be able to fill those needs, then the retailers will have to introduce other suppliers just to keep it interesting for their consumers, but I do believe that Plaskolite realised this, and they purchased the know-how with the companies that they acquired to come up with these more specialised products that draw the attention of the audience in the top shelf.

00:45:31] Why hasn't Plaskolite built direct relationships – as you're describing within the US – in Europe or any other regions?

DK [00:45:48]: I think for the same reason, it's so hard for European companies to do business in the US. The same goes the other way around. German big box stores feel more safe with the German manufacturer. The bar that they set, the types of legal requirements, regulation requirements, they are all set around what the European companies can provide. It works very well together, and Plaskolite are not in that game. It's a simple enough equation that American companies are easier to work with for an American company and the European for the European. I do think that that's going to change and the borders are being diluted on both fronts. I think Plaskolite are looking to penetrate more on other markets, but also the competition is looking to try and penetrate the US market. They need to watch out for that.

00:47:17] What would it take for Plaskolite to meaningfully compete in the European market?

DK [00:47:27]: The number one thing, and we touched on this, would be regulation, environmental, adhering to environmental rules, creating the right products and other standards like ISO, European regulations that are not only sustainable plastics, but also on how you manufacture and footprint and all kinds of lead times, which I think in terms of operations, Plaskolite won't have a problem. It's more on the regulation side.

QF [00:48:15]: It sounds as if Plaskolite is already well-placed operationally to fulfil those regulations. Does the company need to change its processes and footprint at all, or does it just need legal and administrative work to fit into European regulations?

DK [00:48:37]: Yes. I think it's technical. They can definitely do it. They need to understand the culture in order to be able to do business there. Sometimes things take more time than they're used to. Sometimes they would have to provide more paperwork than maybe they're used to, but I definitely think it's doable.

00:49:08] How much of a threat are Asian imports across Plaskolite's whole portfolio?

DK [00:49:24]: I think it's dangerous only in the low-margin area products, which is mainly agriculture. I don't see in the near future being a threat in the commercial or residential areas. I do think looking 5-10 years from now, it will be a threat. They're going to get better and better in terms of quality, and pricing is going to be very competitive, but it's not in the near future. It is in the far future, and I don't know exactly how they're going to handle that.

QF [00:50:02]: An important part of the conversation is the current US tariff picture, which could change pretty drastically in the next couple of years. If Asian suppliers are producing higher-quality products and are no longer impacted by those same tariffs in 2-3 years, how impactful would that be to Plaskolite's position?

DK [00:50:35]: I don't know. I have a hard time. The whole tariff story is relatively new and a bit crazy. It's very hard to try and estimate how that would look like and how it would influence Plaskolite's business. Sorry, I don't want to comment on something that I'm not sure about.

00:51:06] Plaskolite has acquired companies over the past 3-5 years. How well does it integrate those companies?

DK [00:51:25]: That's a good question. I can tell you from a relatively close competitor, Plazit-Polygal, which are also an Israeli company like Palram, we had friendly relationship with them. From what I hear from the industry as a whole that it was a smooth process. They did a good job in terms of introducing the products into their portfolio in a very good way. I don't think that they necessarily took over the business as well as they wanted because they couldn't take over 100% of the business. When you do these kinds of acquisitions, there's also always a few customers, be it even strategic customers, that have a conflict of interest. They can't work with you once you've changed the name because they're working with some other competitor or something like that. They didn't succeed in taking over the business as much as they necessarily wanted to, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing because the most important thing that they needed to take over, which is the expertise, both of understanding the product, the market and the technology is something that I think that they did succeed in maintaining and absorbing into themselves. I think they did a good job.

00:53:16] Are there any remaining gaps in Plaskolite's product portfolio that you think might make sense to fill through an acquisition?

DK [00:53:33]: It's a great question. Not that I can think of, but I'm not an expert in all the types of plastics and all the sub-industries. I was mostly in the polycarbonate corrugated and multi-wall business, and I think that they've covered that pretty well. Maybe some smaller niche markets that they can still handle, but I don't think that necessarily they have to be everywhere. I would focus on the big areas.

QF [00:54:08]: We've mentioned renewable materials as an area Plaskolite has been behind in the past. Would it make sense for the company to buy a renewable materials company, rather than continuing to develop on its own and build something in-house?

DK [00:54:28]: From a technological perspective, I'm not sure. I'm not sure that they would necessarily earn much from that, maybe yes, but from a branding and marketing perspective, definitely, yes. I think the reputation as being a company that's not focused on sustainable materials can be pivoted or leveraged by acquiring a company that is perceived as such, and then they can win both worlds.

QF [00:55:12]: That would be an interesting way to do it. Do you have a sense of what size or type of company it would want to acquire to really drive home to the market that it's taking sustainability more seriously?

DK [00:55:27]: I'm not sure. I'm racking my head for these types of companies, but talking theoretically, it can't be a super small start-up. It has to be an established company that has a track record of at least 10 years, of at least, I don't know, a few dozen engineers that can prove that they know what they're doing, probably European or from a country that's perceived as environmentally advanced like Switzerland, Germany, one of those countries. It's all about branding. I think it's a branding exercise, not technological.

00:56:37] Regarding Plaskolite's integrations, has the company done any cost-cutting, consolidated any plants or let people go, or did it essentially run those companies as they were when they came in?

DK [00:56:59]: From what I know, they initially allowed them to continue as they were. They didn't want to create any shock, but after a few years, they did start consolidating and trying to improve efficiency in different ways, merging management team, stuff like that, but I didn't hear of any major shocks or strong cutthroat reductions that shocked the industry.

QF [00:57:37]: That's all I wanted to run through today. I appreciate your time. This has been an interesting conversation.

DK [00:57:54]: Thank you so much.

QF [00:57:55]: I appreciate the time. Have a good one.

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