London‑based private‑equity arm ADM Capital Europe LLP’s Cibus Enterprise Fund has injected a significant capital round into Aquapak Polymers, a UK‑based specialist in biodegradable biopolymers. The funding will accelerate the development and commercial roll‑out of Aquapak’s flagship product, the Hy

Germany’s University of Potsdam has inaugurated the “Next Generation Antimicrobial Polymers” research program, a collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP). The initiative seeks to create polymers that can replace traditional antibiotics by neutralizing resistant

The R&D team of Ontario-based Tier 1 automotive interiors company CpK has developed a patent-pending additive, Forti-VI, that reportedly can kill 99.9999% of SARS-CoV-2 virus on material surfaces in less than 60 minutes. The company has three facilities in Ontario and is vertically integrated wi

A medical‑grade TPE compound supplied by Kraiburg TPE (U.S. office in Duluth, Ga.) has become the cornerstone of a successful Kickstarter campaign that delivers reusable, hygienic, and reliable alternatives to everyday single‑use cotton swabs. Danish company LastObject has already shipped more than

Covestro has unveiled 15 fresh hues from the RAL Color Feeling 2021+ palette across its polycarbonate (PC) resins, marking the first time this versatile material adopts the colors of a RAL color fan. The RAL Color Feeling 2021+ matrix, developed in partnership with RAL—the world’s leading color‑stan

A new family of ultra‑high‑flow, scratch‑resistant thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) has been launched by Hexpol TPE, a leading polymer compounding group headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. The Dryflex HiF grades open doors to producing large‑scale automotive interior components—such as instrument panels

Across the five high‑volume commodity resins, prices moved higher through the third quarter, driven by a mix of planned and unplanned plant outages, rising feedstock costs, and strong end‑use demand. As 2021 closes, the upward trend has flattened, with prospects of modest declines for polypropylene

Arkema, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has confirmed its intention to divest its longstanding Plexiglas PMMA business to Trinseo, the former Dow Styrenics unit based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. The transaction aligns with Arkema’s strategic shift toward becoming a pure specialty‑materi

Finland’s VTT technical research center has unveiled a breakthrough technology that converts pectin‑rich agricultural waste—such as citrus peels and sugar beet pulp—into high‑performance biobased polyethylene furanoate (PEF). This plant‑based polymer offers a compelling alternative to fossil‑derived

Star Plastics, the custom‑compound leader based in Ravenswood, W.Va., has announced a global partnership with Italy’s LATI, a premier engineering thermoplastics compounder. The collaboration will broaden the availability of LATI’s high‑performance materials across North America, Europe, and Asia, wh

Braskem has partnered with researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) to pioneer a new, carbon‑neutral route for producing ethylene used in polyethylene (PE) manufacturing. The collaboration harnesses advanced capture‑and‑utilization technology that extracts CO₂ from existing industrial

Photo: Biaglo GmbH Nearly all major volume resins are trending upward, with suppliers maintaining pricing leverage in the short term. The upward momentum is driven by global plant outages—both scheduled and unscheduled—tightening feedstock and resin availability, and a post‑COVID‑19 “catch‑up” dem

Altair, a global leader in data analytics, simulation, and high‑performance computing, has unveiled the Altair Material Data Center – a cutting‑edge, high‑fidelity database that consolidates validated material data for plastics, metals, and composites. The platform offers full data lineage and seaml

Every now and then I receive inquiries about pivotal moments in the plastics sector. One narrative that repeatedly surfaces concerns John Wesley Hyatt, an American inventor credited with pioneering what many refer to as the first synthetic plastic. In 1869 he secured a patent for Celluloid, a breakt

Construction on Evonik’s largest investment to date in Germany—a $457 million nylon‑12 complex—has stayed on schedule. The first plant was completed in mid‑October and is now in the commissioning phase. According to Marcus von Twistern, project lead, the team “has delivered outstanding result

Chem‑Trend has expanded its Ultra Purge product line with a new series of high‑efficiency purging compounds specifically engineered for thin‑wall polyolefin packaging tools and stack tools. Thin‑wall packaging continues to grow, but conventional purging struggles to fully remove residue and color fr

For automotive radar sensors—particularly those in autonomous vehicles—BASF Corp. has introduced a new modified PBT, the Ultradur RX series. Designed to withstand harsh environmental media such as spray water, oils, and road salt, this material delivers robust protection for sensor housings and shie

Houston‑based SABIC has introduced Lexan HP92AF, a premium polycarbonate film engineered to deliver extended anti‑fog performance in demanding COVID‑19 protection gear such as safety face shields and goggles. The film features a single‑sided coating that maintains optical clarity even in environment

Low‑Emission Acetal Masterbatches for Automotive and BeyondIsrael‑based Tosaf Color Service, with a U.S. presence in Bessemer, NC, now offers a new line of functional and combination color masterbatches for polyoxymethylene (POM). These masterbatches are formulated on low‑emission carriers and use p

In the mid‑19th century, the world of materials experienced a wave of transformative breakthroughs. Within a single year—1846—gutta‑percha was adapted for telegraph insulation, rubber tires were fabricated for Queen Victoria’s carriage, Alexander Parkes refined a room‑temperature vulcanization techn