Kraiburg TPE offers a new series for food contact applications, Thermolast K FC/AD/PP. The series features properties such as PP adhesion, optimized flow, and hardness range from 30 to 90 Shore A. The materials are easily processable by injection molding, extrusion and 3D printing. Furthermore, the compounds in the FC/AD/PP series are free from animal ingredients, heavy metals, phthalates, bisphenol A, and latex, accommodating to the production of sustainable goods. The compounds are available in natural and translucent colors with the option of in-house pre-coloring, allowing the flexibility of a variety of product solutions.

The compounding experts of Sirmax have increased production capacity with a 10-million-euro investment in new machinery. The Cittadella-based Group specializes in the production of PP compounds, engineering plastics, post-consumer compounds, and bio-compounds. The company produces a range of TPEs under the brand name Xelter.

This year again saw two graduates of the Technical University of Munich, Germany (TUM) awarded the Arburg Prize for outstanding theses in the field of plastics and medical technology: Dr André Hemmler for the best dissertation and Dario Pasquale Arcuti for the best master’s thesis. In both cases, the topic was the use of medical prostheses.

At the headquarter Sissach of toll compounder Polycompound AG new production, office and warehouse capacities - as well as a new technical centre - are being created. The company said that the expansion is a critical development step for the company, which has constantly grown during its over 30 years of existence.

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.