Effective from 1 August 2019, Sucheta Govil has been appointed as new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and member of the Management Board of Covestro. She succeeds Dr. Markus Steilemann, who has so far continued to work as CCO on top of his role as CEO. Govil will be responsible for the three business segments Polyurethanes, Polycarbonates as well as Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties.

BASF has announced new investments to strengthen its global footwear presence: opening new Footwear Development Centers in the USA and Thailand, launching a Footwear Innovation Center in Taiwan, and expanding the Footwear Development Center in Italy.

According to Covestro, wearable electronic patches (wearables) are already being used in many areas of medicine, including patient monitoring and diagnosis. Market demand is rising rapidly, in line with a growing digitalization of the healthcare sector. The design of these patches allows a variety of applications in monitoring vital parameters. They offer patients more freedom of movement. The wearables must be worn on the skin around the clock for a prolonged period of time so they need to be particularly kind to the skin, comfortable, but also adhere to the skin. In addition, they should be removed as painlessly as possible.

Styrenics Circular Solutions (SCS) announced a collaboration between Ineos Styrolution, Trinseo, and Agilyx to advance the first-of-a-kind polystyrene (PS) chemical recycling facility in Europe. The SCS members Ineos Styrolution and Trinseo, global leaders in the manufacturing of PS and other styrenic materials, have combined resources to advance the development of a full commercial scale chemical recycling plant. The new plant will be capable of processing up to 50 tonnes-per-day of post-consumer PS feedstock.

Dr. Akira Yoshino, Asahi Kasei Honorary Fellow, has received the European Inventor Award 2019 by the European Patent Office (EPO) in the category of Non-EPO countries for his invention and refinement of the lithium-ion battery.

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 this contribution, Dr. Christoph Schumacher, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Arburg GmbH & Co. KG, explains his views on the subject.

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.