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The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced that it has completed its largest solar panel installation to date at its Pulandian manufacturing plant in Dalian, China. With more than 29,700 solar panels installed, the panels will power the plant, as well as office and warehouse buildings. The panels are estimated to reduce carbon emissions from purchased electricity by 17,000 metric tons per year over 25 years.

BASF has expanded capacities for ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide derivatives at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The investment adds about 400,000 metric tons per year to BASF’s production capacity for the corresponding products.

Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) announced a donation of $100,000 to the TechForce Foundation, a national nonprofit that supports students’ technical education and careers in the automotive industry. Funds donated from Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, and the Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund will provide scholarships and grants for students pursuing careers as automotive technicians and supply resources for those seeking jobs post-graduation.

Increasing global rubber demand is adding to pressure on natural forests and driving biodiversity loss, with Southeast Asia, responsible for 90% of global production, bearing the brunt, an international team of researchers warned.

The researchers, in a paper published by Nature, said that previous data suggested rubber was a relatively minor problem when it comes to deforestation, compared with commodities like soy and palm oil.

But high-resolution satellite data, which helped identify more plantations run by smallholders, suggested that forest losses “greatly exceed” previous estimates.

The second day at the International Elastomer Conference begins at 9AM in Cleveland, OH. Starting with the The Business of Rubber – 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.; Ballroom C; Neil Mendes, CEO of Alpine Polytech, will be the featured speaker discussing pace of transition today through 2050, impact on existing non-metallics and what opportunities/hurdles exist for new products.

The Rubber Division, ACS would like to remind you that numerous special events at IEC provide the opportunity to make new connections, learn, celebrate individuals in our industry and have some fun. Some of these will sell out, so register today so you don’t miss out.

WACKER held a grand ceremony in Shanghai to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its subsidiary in China. The ceremony was attended by customers, authority representatives and long-standing business partners. WACKER started building its presence in China by opening its first offices in 1993. Today, the Group operates an extensive network of production sites, R&D and service centers. In 2022, WACKER generated around €2.5 billion in China, which corresponds to approximately 30 percent of Group sales.

Both Thermoplastic Elastomers and Silicone Elastomers World Summit bring together manufacturers, processors, end-users, designers and researchers for a summit-style technical discussion of silicone and TPE elastomer materials, global markets, processing advancements and novel applications. Taking place on 28-29th November 2023 in Amsterdam, these co-located events will provide exclusive insights on the market.

Borealis and TotalEnergies celebrate the start-up of their Baystar joint venture’s new 625,000 metric ton-per-year Borstar® polyethylene (PE) unit, which more than doubles the current production capacity at Baystar’s site in Pasadena, Texas.