Author: RubberWorld

Synthos will restart production of butadiene rubber at its plant in Schkopau, Germany, in March 2023. Recommissioning activities started in the first half of 2022 in direct response to challenging market conditions for butadiene rubber and to meet unmet demand, particularly in the tire industry.

The $60 million project also involved upgrading the site’s cogeneration system, which takes heat created by the carbon black production process and converts it to electricity that can be used by the plant. The electricity is also sold back to the power grid. Such energy conservation equipment is used by many Orion plants worldwide.

BMP Medical said this comes as part of its long-term strategic plan to address future growth. It brings its Sterling facility to 80,000 square feet. The facility includes Class 7 assembly and Class 8 clean room manufacturing, packaging and assembly. It also features custom assembly and packaging, custom injection blow molding, custom injection molding and DNase- and RNase-free manufacturing. BMP Medical’s facility is FDA-registered with product design and development services, R&D tooling and sterilization services.

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (Bridgestone) has named Wade Munday as its new Director, Corporate Philanthropy and Social Impact. In this newly created position, he will be responsible for advancing and directing the strategy and execution of philanthropic and social programs at Bridgestone that align with the company’s mission and values, including sustainability, DE&I and stakeholder engagement. Munday will manage the operations of the Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund, corporate philanthropy, and workplace giving.

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced that it is supplying its ADVAN APEX V601 tires as original equipment for Toyota Motor Corporation’s new GR Corolla, which was launched in Japan in early 2023 and has been gradually introduced to the overseas markets. The GR Corolla is being fitted with 235/40R18 91W size tires.

For the first time ever, ARPM is offering a two-facility plant tour at Chem-Trend and Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies on February 28, 2023. Both member organizations are headquartered in the greater-Detroit area and are going to open their doors so attendees can learn about their operations and sustainability practices

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. announced that it is supplying its BluEarth-GT AE51 and BluEarth-FE AE30 tires as original equipment (OE) for Toyota Motor Corporation’s new Prius, which went on sale in Japan and globally in January, 2023, and the new Prius PHEV, to be launched from this spring. The tire sizes are 195/50R19 88H for the BluEarth-GT AE51 and 195/60R17 90H for the BluEarth-FE AE30.

Processes for the cost-effective production of micro- and nanostructured surfaces from polymer material are in great demand for the industrial mass production of functional films and molded components. Existing injection molding and roll-to-roll processes often cannot yet achieve the required throughput and sufficiently high reproducibility for many promising product ideas. The ninth international conference “Polymer Replication on Nanoscale” (PRN), which will take place in Aachen on June 1 and 2, 2023, will therefore focus on processes for more efficient production of functional nanostructured surfaces and present possible solutions.