The polystyrene producers AmSty, Ineos Styrolution and Trinseo have signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to jointly explore recycling options for polystyrene. According to the three partners, the companies are committed to a circular economy for polystyrene.

Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd. announced that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with First Quality Chemicals, a speciality chemicals distributor in Mexico, for the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) markets.

The Plastics Industry Association, producers of NPE: The Plastics Show, announced the opening of attendee registration for the industry’s largest trade show in the Americas.

In response to the new report “Biodegradable and compostable plastics – challenges and opportunities” by the European Environment Agency (EEA), European Bioplastics (EUBP) highlighted the need to acknowledge successful precedents in the deployment of these innovative materials in collaboration with a receptive community of consumers. Unfortunately, several media outlets made use of a biased interpretation of the report to draw a distorted picture of biodegradable and compostable plastics.

OECD countries have agreed to update rules on the export of hazardous plastic waste for recycling in line with international changes so that advance consent from destination countries will be required ahead of shipping. However, they did not reach consensus on updated arrangements for the export of non-hazardous plastic waste. OECD countries have agreed to review the situation for non-hazardous plastic waste in 2024.

Melanie Kostka has been awarded the Reifenhäuser Sponsorship Award on the occasion of IKV’s 30. International Colloquium Plastics Technology. With the Sponsorship Award, the Reifenhäuser company honoured the outstanding research work done by Melanie Kostka, who is employed as a scientific assistant at the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University.

Nova-Institute, a private and independent research institute, and the consulting group COWI announced that they have conducted the first survey on renewable carbon in the chemical industry. They estimate that 20 – 25 % of the carbon supply is already renewable.

The Argentine footwear brand Maincal is partnering with BASF to launch the first safety shoe in South America made with Infinergy expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (E-TPU). Voran SportSafe, the new safety shoe series by Maincal, is said to enable safety footwear users to move and work in comfort with all day compression technology. According to BASF, the E-TPU enhances the safety shoe with superior responsiveness, comfort and durability.

Thanks to studies carried out in the R+D centre of Offanengo (CR), the Italian company Coim is successfully moving to the manufacture and distribution of the new Laripur RS TPUS which contain raw materials from bioderived, renewable sources. The grades have been developed ensuring the same performance, as seen with standard products, without having to change or modify the processing or equipment in the manufacturing environment, whilst maintaining recyclability and the same possibility of adding various types of masterbatch (colour, expanding agents, antistatic agents, 2D additives etc.).

The 2020 Ringier Technology Innovation Award – Plastics Industry in the Raw Material & Additives category – goes this year to the Kraton IMSS Technology.