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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The rise of circular economy principles has led to a new collaboration between Covestro LLC and the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) and Swanson School of Engineering will house the new Covestro Circular Economy Program at the University of Pittsburgh.

The world is facing major challenges: Climate change must be fought; the environment must be protected, and resources must be conserved. It is also important to make good use of the opportunities offered by digitalisation. The plastics industry has a key role in this process because plastics are ubiquitous in the world. Climate protection, digitalisation and the circular economy are therefore also the three major topics at K 2022, the world's leading trade fair for the plastics industry. To get in the mood for the industry meeting in autumn 2022, the VDMA is letting representatives of the plastics machinery industry and all other stakeholders in the sector have their say through weekly interviews.

On 9 November 2021, private equity firm Gamut Capital Management, L.P. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Davis-Standard, LLC and its affiliates from Oncap, the middle-market private equity platform of Onex. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in Q4 2021.