Raw materials

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• 25.07.2023

  High-performance additives for sustainable plastics: Evonik invests in Interface Polymers

  Copyright: Evonik Industries AG 04.05.2023 Evonik has invested in the British company Interface Polymers Ltd. This company's Polarfin® additives simplify the processing of plastics such as mixtures with polyethylene or polypropylene. At the same time, its technology makes it possible to recycle such plastics, thereby solving one of the biggest problems in the recycling process emissions. Bernhard Mohr, Head of Evonik Venture Capital. Source: Evonik Industries AG As a specialty chemicals company, Evonik is working on solutions for the circular economy at many levels. Polyethylene and polypropylene are versatile and widely used plastics because of their low weight and durability. However, their poor compatibility with other materials is a drawback. So far, costly and time-consuming surface preparation was the only solution. The unique Polarfin® additive technology developed by Interface Polymers makes such preparation unnecessary. Moreover, it greatly reduces the amount of additives needed. As a result, mixed plastics are easier to recycle. Bernhard Mohr, head of Venture Capital at Evonik: "Many modern applications would be unthinkable without plastics, but recycling them is still a big challenge. Interface Polymers' additive technology offers a solution and is an excellent fit with Evonik's Circular Plastics Program." The Sustainability Tech Fund launched by Evonik in 2022 is adding Interface Polymers to its investment portfolio. In this way, the Evonik Group is strengthening its technological expertise to realize its sustainability goals. Exhibitors & products around recycling Recycling plants Separating and sorting systems for waste Size reduction equipment (crushers, shredders, grinders) Compounding lines Recyclates Interface Polymers' technology enables easier processing and recycling of plastics. Source: Evonik Industries AG Ross Baglin, CEO of Interface Polymers, said: "Our Polarfin® additive technology modifies and improves the properties of the world's most commonly used plastics. It can solve several key environmental challenges with their use today. We are delighted to have a world-class company like Evonik as an investor and development partner, and we look forward to making polymers the best solution for so many human needs." In addition to the investment by the Sustainability Tech Fund, Evonik's Coating Additives business line has agreed to an extensive development partnership with Interface Polymers with the aim of using its technology in paints and coatings. Elias Lacerda, head of Evonik's Coating Additives business line: "We are impressed by the speed with which Interface Polymers has developed in the past two years. With its help, we want to reduce or even eliminate the intensive pretreatment of surfaces." Polarfin® technology makes it possible to reduce the surface treatment of plastics. Source: Evonik Industries AG Interface Polymers was established in 2016 to commercialise inventions made in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick in Coventry (UK). A core competency of this company is the use of its Polarfin® technology to make the surface of polyolefins compatible with other materials. Diblock copolymers combine polyethylene and polypropylene with polar materials to improve their compatibility with metals, ceramics, and other plastics. This offers advantages in recycling of mixed plastics, adhesion of paints inks and glues to plastic surfaces, and dispersion of materials within molded plastics. Source Evonik Industries AG More around Plastics

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• 25.07.2023

  Covestro expands production capacity for polycarbonate films in Thailand

  Copyright: FabrikaPhoto 20.04.2023 Covestro plans to further increase its global production capacity for polycarbonate (PC) specialty films to meet the rising demand in the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide. The company has started building new extrusion lines at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Park in Thailand. The films of the Makrofol ® range are used primarily in identity documents, automotive displays, and electrical and electronic applications. The investment is in the higher double-digit million euro range, the completion is scheduled for 2025. A total of around 50 new jobs will be created. "With this investment, we are strengthening our Solutions & Specialties segment and are committed to further expanding our growth businesses," says Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer of Covestro."At the same time, we are responding to an increasing demand and supporting the expansion of future technologies and industries." Groundbreaking ceremony for the new polycarbonate film plant in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, with Aleta Richards, Global Head of the Specialty Films segment, Timo Slawinski, Head of Covestro's Map Ta Phut site, and Michael Boediger, Head of Operations in the Specialty Films segment. Source: Covestro "We want to drive growth in the polycarbonate films business with innovation and a strong customer focus," says Aleta Richards, Global Head of the Specialty Films segment. "In doing so, we aim to intensify our collaboration with customers in the Asia-Pacific region and expand our product portfolio for the circular economy." Expanded range of films made from alternative raw materials ID documents are one of the most important applications for polycarbonate films. Source: Covestro Covestro already offers a whole range of more sustainable PC films, for example mass-balanced grades certified to the internationally recognized ISCC PLUS standard. Raw materials for these films are produced using biowaste and residual materials, which are taken into account in the value chain and in production and attributed to the products. Since 2022, the Map Ta Phut site has also been ISCC PLUS certified, enabling it to manufacture and supply mass-balanced products. Customers can use these products in their established processes and apply them to meet their sustainability goals. In addition, Covestro already offers a range of films made partly with plant-based raw materials or recycled plastics. Source Covestro AG More around Plastics

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• 25.07.2023

  From Rubber Tree to Rubber Tyre: A Brief History of Rubber

  How a sticky plant sap from the rainforest became the basis of modern mobility – and why its future lies in recycling Exclusively for K-Mag Rubber has been a sought-after material for centuries – from ancient civilisations to the global tyre industry. Its history is closely linked to technology, mobility and social change. Copyright: Messe Düsseldorf 11.06.2025 Elastic, versatile, indispensable: rubber has had an amazing career – from ritual play ball of the Maya to vulcanisation in the industrial age to high-tech tyres on our roads. But with every kilometre driven, the ecological footprint also grows. Reason enough to take a look back at the eventful history of a special material that keeps us moving to this day. More than 3,000 years ago, the Maya and other peoples in Central America used natural rubber to make elastic balls for playing games. Copyright: Madman2001 Around 1600 BC Rubber? The Maya Already Had it! What do rubber and an ancient ball game have in common? A lot! Over 3,000 years ago , peoples such as the Olmecs, Maya and Aztecs tapped the white milky sap from the rubber tree – what we know today as natural rubber. They used it to make not only weatherproof clothing and drinking vessels, but also elastic balls . These bounced around on the ritual playing fields. Who would have thought that the ancestor of our car tyres was flying through the air in Mexico – in the Mesoamerican ball game? In the 18th century, rubber was accidentally discovered as an erasing agent by Edward Nairne. Copyright: Houghton Library, Harvard University / 90W-164 18th century Europe Discovers Rubber Europe's first encounter with rubber is bumpy: in the 18th century , explorers bring samples home. But the material smells strange, sticks in the heat and crumbles in the cold – not a big seller. It is only when Edward Nairne , a London instrument maker, accidentally discovers in 1770 that it can be used to remove pencil marks that it finds a purpose. He began selling small pieces of rubber as erasers. In the same year, chemist Joseph Priestley described the ability to ‘rub’ writing and gave the material its name: rubber . With Charles Goodyear's discovery of vulcanisation, rubber became permanently elastic for the first time and thus usable in industry. Copyright: Goodyear 1839 Goodyear and the coincidence of the century Sometimes it takes a little chaos for great discoveries to be made. In 1839 , entrepreneur and amateur researcher Charles Goodyear accidentally dropped a mixture of rubber and sulphur onto a hot stove – and lo and behold: instead of melting, the mixture became elastic and robust. Vulcanisation was born. Suddenly, natural rubber was suitable for everyday use: weather-resistant, resilient and durable. And yes, without Goodyear, not a single car would be on the road today – even though he himself never saw a car. The man died in 1860 – a full 25 years before the automobile was invented. Air-filled tyres, initially for bicycles and later for cars, made rubber a key material for modern mobility. Copyright: user:geni 1888 From Air-filled to Production-ready: The Tyre Rolls Out In 1888 , a dentist enters the scene: John Boyd Dunlop tinkers with an air-filled tyre for his son's tricycle. The effect? Less rumbling, more riding comfort – a revolution on wheels. The automotive industry soon adopted the principle. The first car with pneumatic tyres drove through Clermont-Ferrand, France, in 1895, home of the future tyre giant Michelin. The tyre was engineered, stabilised and mass-produced. And suddenly everything was turning – not only on the road, but also in industry. The global rubber boom brings economic prosperity – but also colonial exploitation, environmental destruction and social inequality. Copyright: PRA Late 19th century/early 20th century Rubber Boom with a Bitter Aftertaste Tyres are not yet a mass product – but the demand for elastic material is exploding. From the late 19th century onwards, the rubber trade experiences a global boom . Huge plantations are established in Brazil and later in Southeast Asia. Natural rubber is in demand for bicycle tyres, telegraph cables, machine belts – and increasingly also for the emerging automobiles. The boom had a dark side: colonial exploitation , brutal working conditions and massive environmental destruction. Although the growing demand for elastic materials was a driver of progress, it also raised early questions about how global raw materials could be used fairly and responsibly. The first processes for producing artificial rubber were based on coal and lime . Today, synthetic rubber is mainly obtained from petroleum . Production takes place via polymerisation , in which monomers such as styrene, styrene acrylate, pure acrylate or vinyl acetate are linked to form long polymer chains of hydrocarbons. A significant proportion of the rubber processed worldwide now comes from this chemical production process. Synthetic rubber such as Buna was developed in the context of political self-sufficiency and was strategically promoted during the Nazi era. Source: "Gummi - Die elastische Faszination", Page 124 1930s War, Crisis and the Triumph of Synthetics After the raw material shortages of the First World War, the National Socialists focused on independence – including in the field of rubber. Together with the chemical industry, IG Farben developed the synthetic rubber Buna , a copolymer of butadiene and styrene. In 1936 , the first car tyre made from this material was publicly unveiled. This was not only a technical step, but also a political one: in future, tyres could be manufactured without having to rely on imports of natural rubber. Buna became a strategic resource during the war years and later became the industry standard. The fact that IG Farben cooperated closely with the Nazi regime is one of the dark chapters in this development. As a recyclable material with recycling potential, car tyres now play a key role in sustainable material and mobility solutions. Today Tyres for the Trash? Or for the Future? Used tyres are a global problem today – and a huge resource . Every year, over a billion tyres end up in landfills worldwide. Too big for landfill, too good for incineration. The good news is that companies, start-ups and research institutes are now working on solutions. From pyrolysis and retreading to high-quality rubber recyclates . The industry is at a turning point. And what used to end up in the dustbin of history could soon be rolling into a sustainable future as a new raw material. Outlook: A Material with a Future Rubber has a long and eventful history – and it is not over yet. While the material once paved the way for modernity, today it presents us with new challenges: How do we deal with the traces of decades of mobility? And how can a material that is so difficult to replace still be used sustainably? The answers to these questions are currently being developed – in laboratories, in factories and in the waste disposal industry. One thing is certain: the rubber tyre remains a symbol of movement. The only question is, in which direction will we let it roll in the future ? Find out exactly how old tyres are recycled (and much more on the subject) in our comprehensive overview article! Exhibitors & products around raw materials & auxiliaries Thermoplastics Thermoplastic elastomers Resins & compounds Foams & intermediates Fillers To all exhibitors in this category The portrait was generated by AI. Author: Elena Blume | K-Mag Elena Blume has been writing for various industry magazines for eight years and joined the K-Mag editorial team in 2021. She is particularly interested in topics related to innovative plastics solutions that contribute to sustainability and address current challenges relevant to industry and society. At a glance Rubber has been with us for thousands of years – from the Mayan play ball to vulcanisation in 1839, which made it suitable for everyday use. With the advent of the automobile, demand boomed and rubber plantations sprang up. From the 20th century onwards, petroleum-based synthetic rubber dominated. Today, the material is once again in the spotlight – as a raw material for the circular economy. More around Raw Materials

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• 24.11.2020

  Polymers and music

  Topic of the Month By Guido Deussing und Lennart Wehmeier Source: istock / Searnartini Plastics and rubber are not only remarkable materials that inspire developers and engineers to make technical or application-specific innovations. Polymers also prove to be inspiring for art and culture. Today's Topic of the Month looks episodically at the influence and use of the term plastic in and around music. Grammophone. Source: istock / Antonio-BanderAS There is no one who wants to write about the special relationship between plastics and music. We are talking about "black gold". To avoid misunderstandings, we are not talking about oil, at least not primarily, although oil is one, if not the most important source of hydrocarbons as a starting point for the production of polymer materials. Black gold, in the context of music, does not refer to oil, but to records. For the conservation of music, the record, this circular black disc with a hole in the middle, was for a long time the most important sound carrier. In gramophone times the record (source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schallplatte#Formate) was made of shellac, a natural polymer obtained from the excrements of the varnish scale insect Kerria lacca. Later shellac was replaced by the cheaper synthetic polyvinyl chloride (PVC). It is this plastic material that the record owes its abbreviation "vinyl" to. Record lovers take precious discs out of the record cover with white gloved hands, that due to its size offers a lot of space for pictures and texts - and that is considered a work of art in its own right from case to case. The special enjoyment of music Tape recorder. Source: istock / Magnillion One thing seems certain: the record "lives" and is right on trend. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), records are enjoying greater sales than the CD, the compact disc [as of February 2019]. The CD, made of plastic polycarbonate, came onto the market in 1979 as a product competing with the LP. The digital sound carrier is characterised not only by its large storage capacity, but also by its particularly pure sound, which, however, suffers just as much if the surface of the small silver-looking disc is scored like that of the LP. For musicians as well as for music lovers, vinyl records usually have a higher value. Example: A collector paid 110,000 euros for an originally packed copy of the Beatles album "Yesterday and Tomorrow" from 1966 (source: https://www.musikexpress.de/die-acht-teuersten-schallplatten-der-welt-340177/). The whoop-sound alone, which pops out of the loudspeakers when the needle touches the record, followed by an expectant crackling sound, which the pickup produces when it slurps through the millimetre-deep grooves in the vinyl in search of sounds and tones, rhythm and music, round after round, makes many a record lover hold his breath for moments and go into rapture. Plastic and music Cassette recorder. Source: istock / tarras79 But not only are records made of plastic. For a long time it was impossible to preserve music without plastic. Tapes and music cassettes made of plastic came onto the market. The world of art and culture would be much poorer without polymeric sounding bodies. Plastic, however, does not sound as a sounding body alone, but is itself the very essence and content of music. Music, like literature - which we will talk about later - and the other performing arts, is always a mirror of the times, as singer Diana Ross suggests, and thus reflects, not surprisingly, the decades-long presence of plastics and rubber. Would you like some examples? How about the album "Plastic Beach" by the virtual cartoon band "Gorillaz"? Behind the drawn characters who embody the band are Damon Albarn, singer and musical head of the British rock band "Blur", as well as comic artist Jamie Hewlett. The image on the album cover shows a towering island somewhere in the ocean, drawn in drastic colours. The song On Melancholy Hill draws an apocalyptic world view: Survivors cross our planet in submarines without really finding refuge, a new home. Plastic palm trees on the island as a symbol of the past and the new art world. Cover of the album "Plastic Beach" by the band "Gorillaz". Source: Archives Plastic is part of the band´s name "Plastic Ono Band" founded by ex-Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono. Their debut album of the same name, released in 1969, was John Lennon's first album after the Beatles declared the end of the band. With songs like Give Peace a Chance or Happy Xmas (War Is Over), Lennon and Ono paved the way for peace activism, which ended for Lennon on 8 December 1980. The ex-Bealte was shot dead in the streets of New York City by Mark David Chapman. After Lennon's death, maintaining his works became one of Yoko Ono's most important tasks. By the way: According to legend, the word "Plastic" in "Plastic Ono Band" refers to her work before she met Lennon: Yoko Ono had performed in a show accompanied by plastic stands equipped with four cassette recorders, which led John Lennon to call her "Plastic Ono Band". Record cover "Liverpool Sound Collage". Source: Archives Speaking of the Beatles: On 21st August 2000, band co-founder Sir Paul McCartney released the song "Plastic Beetle" on the album "Liverpool Sound Collage". Can one really speak of a song? Basically, it is an 8:23 minute long musical collage of word and sound snippets that were recorded during the Beatles' numerous recording sessions but never before released. Although there is no clear source, it is believed that the title of the song "Plastic Beetle" is a reference to a conspiracy theory that Paul McCartney died in a car accident in 1969 and was replaced by a double. In her book "Plastic Macca: The Secret Death and Replacement of Beatle Paul McCartney" published in 2019, author Tina Foster dealt with McCartney's alleged death CD cover "Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen" (You forgot the color film). Source: Archives Leap forward in time to the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In 1974, the singer Catharina Hagen, better known under her stage name "Nina Hagen", landed her first big hit with the song "Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen". Its story is quickly told: Everything is so beautifully colourful here on holiday, but because "Michael" has forgotten the polyester colour film required for the camera, there are no photos, so they can’t show it to anyone. The chorus goes accordingly: "Now nobody believes us, how beautiful it was here, ha-ha, ha-ha". Apropos: The cradle of colour film is in Wolfen, a small town with 17,000 inhabitants belonging to Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt. Wolfen owes its development into a chemical site to the film factory founded by the Aktiengesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation (Agfa). It was here that colour film was invented in 1936. In 1945, American troops confiscated the patent and handed it over to the US company Kodak. Cover from "Fake Plastic Trees". Source: Archives In 1985, the British rock band "Radiohead" experimented with different sounds in the studio, producing music that could not be clearly classified, at best somewhere between classical, alternative and experimental rock. Frontman of the band Thom York is characterised by a distinctive falsetto voice, which inspires other musicians. In the song "Fake Plastic Trees", a deeply sad ballad, part of their second studio album, Radiohead illuminates the lives of lovers who believed they had found the great, real happiness, which in the end always turned out to be a beautiful illusion. The artificiality of life - represented by various plastics as a metaphor. Excferpts from the lyrics: A green plastic watering can / For a fake Chinese rubber plant / In a Fake plastic earth“ ... „She lives with a broken man / A cracked polystrene man / Who just crumbles and burns“ ... „She looks like the real thing / She tastes like the real thing / My fake plastic love“. In real life, plastics faithfully and reliably meet the expectations that are placed in them and, above all, those that have been designed beforehand. Record cover "Barbie Girl". Source: Archives The song "Barbie Girl" by the band "Aqua", a Danish-Norwegian Eurodance group (Eurodance is a musical style within electronic dance music), which was founded in 1989, is also about beautiful appearance. The Barbie fashion doll is, by the way, one of the best selling dolls in the world. Barbie and her plastic friend "Ken" are real toy classics, box office hits for manufacturer Mattel. Speaking of which: Due to Ken's call "Come on Barbie, let's go party" in the music video, which documents his actual (sexual) intentions, Martell has sued the music companies Vivendi Universal and MCA Records. The suit was dismissed by a Californian court of appeal on 24 July 2002. The reason given was that the song, as a parody with social content, was protected by the right to freedom of expression. Plastics and music at a rapid pace In his song "Plastic & Concrete", Iggy Pop served plastic and concrete with a dash of mayonnaise and salad, Frank Zappa in "Plastic People" dealt with the increasing artificiality and uniformity of people, and the band Jefferson Airplane in "Plastic Fantastic Lover" dealt with the colour television introduced in the 1960s and the addictive omnipresence of television that came with it. According to legend, the late "Poly Styrol" (Marianne Joan Elliott-Said), front woman of the English punk rock band "X-Ray Spex", came to her stage name when she was flipping through the Yellow Pages in 1976, looking for a "name of the time, something plastic" ("name of the time, something plastic"). (Source: https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/musik/x-ray-spex-saengerin-punk-ikone-poly-styrene-ist-tot-a-759090.html ). We could give many more examples about the relationship and interweaving of plastic and music, two really very interesting things: The one combines tones, sounds and rhythm in an artistic way. The other is an artistic composition of polymeric building blocks, as they can be found in nature. More of "both in one" can be found “ Plastic Factory ” from Captain Beefheart “ Plastic Passion ” from The Cure “ Holiday in Waikiki ” from The Kinks “ Credit Card Baby ” from Wham! " Just like Honey ” from and Mary Chain Enjoy listening...

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