The 21st International Exhibition on Rubber Technology, due to be held on 1 - 3 December 2021 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre has been postponed to 6 - 8 September 2022.

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.

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.

In an extraordinary meeting on 17 November 2021, the Supervisory Board of Continental AG agreed to mutually terminate the appointment of Wolfgang Schaefer as member of the Executive Board and chief financial officer, effective immediately.

Evonik is continuing its material campaign in 3D printing. With Infinam RG 3101 L and Infinam FL 6300 L, the specialty chemicals company has developed two new photopolymers for industrial 3D printing. They expand the product line of synthetic resins launched in 2021 that are suitable for use in common photopolymer 3D printing processes such as SLA or DLP.

Following the acquisition of the closure materials business from Henkel in May 2021, the transfer of production from Henkel in France to Actega DS in Bremen has now been completed. The brands acquired from Henkel include Celox, Sincera and Daraform.

Combining additive manufacturing with new sustainable materials, allows for a more flexible and resource-efficient production. But for companies to be able to fully utilize the strength of the technology, support is needed in every step along the supply chain ranging from development of new business models to product design and testing in a real production environment. Therefore, Rise is opening up the Application Center for Additive Manufacturing together with industrial and academic partners.

BIC, a globally operating company specialising in stationery, lighters and shavers, has chosen to team up with Avient. When BIC engineers recently were challenged to incorporate more recycled materials in a new women’s razor, they found answers in Avient’s reSound R recycled-content TPE. The TPE has a soft, grippy feel and is highly colourable and is formulated to achieve 62 % recycled content.

Arburg has founded a new subsidiary, the Arburgadditive GmbH + Co KG. It will be based at the company’s headquarter in Lossburg, Germany, and will house activities related to additive manufacturing. Managing Director will be Dr. Victor Roman, who is set to join the company on 1 December 2021.