Smithers Rapra and the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) announced the agenda for the jointly organised plastics additives and compounding conference, AddCom.
Taking place in Aachen, Germany, on 26-27 September, AddCom will feature two parallel tracks devoted to additives and compounding, bringing together the collective experience, expertise and reputations of IKV and Smithers Rapra to produce one combined event for the industry. The high profile event will focus on the production and use of polymer additives, their efficient use in compounding including machine and process technology and their final incorporation into end products – concentrating on improvements in efficiency, performance and cost savings.
Experts from world class companies including BASF, Dow, DuPont, Milliken, Bayer Technology Services, Coperion, Brabender, Automatik Plastics Machinery, Merck KGaA will give crucial R&D updates on topics ranging from the latest acrylic additives for improving polycarbonate scratch resistance and inorganic additives for infra red absorption, reflection and spectral filtering to the vacuum conveying of powders and granules and latest compounding machinery and processes. Representatives from three of the most important additives markets: the packaging, electrical appliances and automotive sectors, come in the form of world renowned brands Danone, Electrolux and Ford Motor Company who will set out their key material and performance requirements from the plastics additives industry.
Speaking about the conference, Dr Karlheinz Hausmann, Research & Development Fellow at DuPont du Nemours International SA and chair of the additives track said "The programme of the conference nicely reflects our view that more sustainable solutions to improve the environmental footprint of the plastics and additives industry is a top goal across geographies. This goal presents new challenges to all levels of the value chain, including raw material manufacturers, additive suppliers, converters as well as brands with respect to following new regulations, addressing the sustainability issues holistically and designing for success taking into account economical feasibility. Clearly there is no single solution to improving sustainability, but collaboration is the catalyst that sparks innovation and I believe this conference will provide a very good platform for this."
