OSV Technology, LLC from Ukraine announced the launch of a new generation of metering and mixing machines designed for cast PU elastomers based on MDI and TDI.

The Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA) announced it has secured Shawn Van Dyke as keynote speaker for the SprayFoam 2022 Convention & Expo to be held February 28 through March 3 in San Antonio, TX, USA. A construction business expert, coach and author, Van Dyke will present All-Star Creator: How Employees and Employers Create a Culture that attracts Top Talent, a session designed to provide attendees with a framework for attracting and creating an all-star team amidst the skilled labor gap. Van Dyke’s keynote will be held on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 08:00am CT at the largest annual U.S. event dedicated to Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF).

Covestro and industrial 3D printer manufacturer voxeljet are collaborating to develop a material-machine combination for economic large series additive manufacturing. With High Speed Sintering (HSS), voxeljet combines the advantages of two existing additive technologies: selective laser sintering and binder jetting, giving the benefit of both SLS part properties and binder-jetting productivity. The companies have jointly developed and qualified a TPU powder for HSS. voxeljet will contribute to the cooperation its knowledge with its large format VX1000HSS printer platform, and Covestro its expertise in designing functional materials, to develop a seamlessly working material-process solution that can be deployed for large scale manufacturing.

On the opening day of Utech Europe, Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman’s Polyurethanes division, was inducted into the Utech Hall of Fame. He joined a select group of senior polyurethane industry executives and thought leaders whose work in the world of polyurethanes is celebrated. The Hall of Fame recognizes leaders who have made a significant contribution to the global polyurethane industry and have spent at least 25 years working within the sector.

Sabic has launched Noryl AP2001G, an aromatic polyol that is said to significantly improve the performance of hot cast polyurethanes. Sabic said that by boosting the hardness, toughness and stiffness properties of cast PU by double digits, this polyol can enable MDI formulations cured with 1,4-butanediol to deliver equivalent or better performance compared to TDI and PTMG PU formulations cured with MOCA (4,4'-methylene bis(ortho-chloroaniline)).

Recticel announced on 18 November that it has entered into a binding agreement to sell its Bedding business line to the Portuguese privately owned Aquinos Group for an enterprise value of EUR 122.4 million. The transaction is expected to be closed in Q1 2022. The Nordic bedding activities will remain with Recticel and be integrated in the Living & Care segment of Recticel Engineered Foams.

Regulation(s) on the curing agent MbOCA (4,4'-methylenebis[2-chloroaniline]) has been in the news for many years and as ECHA updates information on authorisation for use under REACH, it is ever important to be ready to comply. As polyurethane elastomer processors identify alternative products to substitute the incumbent MbOCA based technology, the Notedome team while providing information on alternative curatives for their Neuthane TDI prepolymers have at the same time been developing the next generation of MDI-based technology to give their customers’ another option as they seek alternatives.

Larisa Bondar, Head of Sales Synthetic Rubber, Plastics, Elastomers, and Organic Synthetic Division at Sibur, was elected President International of the International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers (IISRP) for the year 2021 - 2022 at the association’s 61st Annual General Meeting on 4 November 2021.

Instead of in March, IKV (Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung in Industrie und Handwerk an der RWTH Aachen) will invite plastics experts from around the world to network personally on 7 - 8 September 2022 in Aachen. The International Symposium on Plastics Technology is also being postponed.

Markets, liquidity problems in the automotive supply chain, and increasing regulation – these mixed and volatile developments were the focus of this year's fall conference of the Wirtschaftsverbands der deutschen Kautschukindustrie (wdk, German Rubber Industry Association) in Frankfurt am Main on 18 November 2021.