With HEY! TALKS online talk-shows, KraussMaffei will this year provide compact information on novelties in plastics processing. Six half-hour talk rounds will take place from 20 – 22 October 2020. The themes will range from digitalisation in service and production, innovations in injection moulding, extrusion and reaction process machinery, to solutions that promote the circular economy, plastics recycling and recompounding.

The European Coatings Show (ECS), a leading trade fair of the international coatings industry, has been postponed. Instead of holding ECS 2021 in March next year as planned, Vincentz Network, the organizer of ECS, and NürnbergMesse have rescheduled it for 14 – 16 September 2021 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the associated travel restrictions.

On 7 October 2020, The Vita Group and Dow jointly announced a new collaboration for the production of flexible polyurethane foams made with Renuva polyols – raw materials created from recycled mattress content. The Renuva mattress recycling programme is a circular economy initiative from Dow.

EuPC, the European Plastics Converters Association, partnered with the Circularise Plastics Group – currently composed of its members Covestro, Domo Chemicals and Circularise – to cooperate in the development of a tool to monitor the use of recycled plastics by converters in Europe.

In a year that will not let the Fakuma show happen, Engel will present its innovations at the Engel live e-xperience from 13 to 16 October 2020. The injection moulding machine manufacturer and system solutions provider has developed a completely new virtual trade fair and event format to meet customers and prospects despite contact restrictions and travel restrictions. Live exhibits, an online specialist congress and one-on-one meetings with familiar local contacts and other experts ensure that the Engel live e-xperience is on a par with a physical trade fair.

On 30 September 2020, Dow Inc. outlined the series of actions it will take to achieve previously announced structural cost improvement targets and further enhance its long-term competitiveness as the global economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

MBCC Group has emerged from the former BASF Construction Chemicals business after its acquisition by Lone Star Funds and has started operations as of 1 October 2020. The transaction between BASF and Lone Star was closed on 30 September 2020. Lone Star is now the new owner of the business. MBCC Group has been carved-out from BASF Group over the past 18 months and has been built as a stand-alone organisation.

On 30 September 2020, Covestro signed an agreement to acquire the Resins & Functional Materials business (RFM) from Royal DSM. According to Covestro, by expanding its portfolio in the attractive growth market for sustainable coating resins, the company is taking a significant step in its long-term corporate strategy to strengthen its sustainable and innovation-driven businesses.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Borealis have closed a benchmark financing agreement that supports the Borealis research, development and innovation (RDI) programme in the circular economy sphere. The EIB will provide a EUR 250 million loan supporting the company’s multi-year investment programme in the area of plastics circularity, in line with its objectives to support innovation, climate action and sustainability. The loan enables Borealis to intensify the development of new polyolefins-based circular solutions at its Innovation Centres in Austria, Sweden and Finland. Polyolefins produced by the company are used in a wide range of applications in consumer products, packaging, power transmission cabling, and industrial and construction materials.