Trinseo announced the opening of a new compounding factory at its Hoek Site in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, on 26 June 2019, which will replace the old compounding plant at Terneuzen Industrial Park.

Texon announced the launch of Texon Vulcan, a product that can provide extra shape and enhanced levels of support in vulcanised shoes, and contains up to 50 % recycled fibre content. According to the company, the product is a non-woven polyester felt with strong performance properties that can be used as an alternative to traditional rubber heel reinforcements.

Covestro announced that two research projects have succeeded in making elastic textile fibres based on CO2 and so partly replacing crude oil as a raw material. The company and its partners, foremost the Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University and various textile manufacturers, are developing the production process on an industrial scale and aim to make the fibres ready for the market. They can be used for stockings and medical textiles, for example, and might replace conventional elastic fibres based on crude oil, said Covestro.

Lubrizol Corporation has announced the acquisition of Bavaria Medizin Technologie GmbH (BMT) by its German subsidiary Lubrizol Deutschland GmbH from its current majority shareholder Custos Vermögensverwaltungs GmbH as well as from the minority shareholders. Financial details were not disclosed.

Borealis and the Erema Group have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to intensify their cooperation in the field of mechanical recycling. The shared goal is to advance mechanical recycling technologies in order to accelerate the transition to a circular economy of plastics. The companies also aim to enhance recycling processes in order to satisfy increasing market demand for higher-quality recyclate used in high-end applications.

Lubrizol Engineered Polymers announced that its portfolio of thermoplastic polyurethane for footwear applications is designed to meet the growing demands of footwear producers. The company said that the increasing demands include having the ability to streamline the shoe manufacturing process, producing less material waste and using a more sustainable material option that still meets performance needs.

The K 2019 trade fair for plastics and rubber will take place from 16 – 23 October 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany, where the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association will shine the spotlight on the recycling sector and show how closed loops can work effectively. A series of interviews will shed light on why it is doing this and the significance of the "Circular Economy" for member companies of the association. In the second contribution, Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of the trade association, expresses his views on the subject. Kühmann is convinced that the plastics industry can offer solutions that help to eliminate the environmental problems caused by plastic waste. The guiding principle is circular economy. The global challenges for circular economy in the plastics industry are economic efficiency, political and regulatory constraints, quality standards and availability of recyclates and especially the establishment of functioning waste collection systems worldwide.

Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. announced that it will expand its production capacity for gas blacks at its Cologne (Kalscheuren) plant in Germany. The company said that it is responding to the continuously growing global market for waterborne and solventborne coatings by debottlenecking its gas black production. The gas blacks are said to feature very good fineness and a very narrow particle size distribution to provide the deepest blackness for demanding coatings applications.

The new “Market Study: Fillers – Europe” from market research company Ceresana provides a description and analysis of the European market for fillers, including forecasts until 2026. Ceresana has already analysed the global market for these important materials several times. Now, the company has published a study on the European fillers market for the first time. Fillers not only make many products cheaper, they often also improve their properties, such as stability, weather-resistance, and electrical conductivity. According to the study, the European demand for ground calcium carbonate (GCC), precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), kaolin, talc, carbon black, and other fillers will presumably increase to about 18 million t in 2026.

Zotefoams plc announced that it will be using Foam Expo Europe 2019 as a platform to premier its latest thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) foam as the company extends its High-Performance Product (HPP) line. The trade fair for the technical foam industry will be held from 10 – 12 September 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany.