Polyolefin Additives 2015

The 8th edition of AMI's international conference on Polyolefin Additives 2015 will take place on 20-22 October 2015 at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, Germany. This ancient city was built by the Romans and the hotel has a lovely location by the Rhine. The event will start with an evening Welcome Cocktail reception for all delegates on 20th October followed by a 2-day technical programme, and a focused exhibition will run alongside the conference.
Polyolefins are commodity thermoplastics and properties can be enhanced by careful selection of the resin and the additives used in the compounding process. High-end polypropylene is equivalent to an engineering thermoplastic: in automotive the drive is to replace metals with light weight materials and Toyota has experimented with a car made primarily from PP, which would be readily recyclable. PP is also a leading market material for thin wall packaging. Polyethylene is widely used in construction in pipes, agricultural films and waterproof membranes, but also in very lightweight packaging films and foams. Safety, security, economics and supply dynamics all affect this market: the advent of shale gas has held out the promise of cheap ethylene for production of PE, however it contains less higher level carbons and has reduced PP precursors, thus skewing the market. From food safety to UV-resistance and impact properties, crosslinking and additives can transform the functionality of polyolefin materials. Additives such as fillers can be used to alter density and to reduce product price. There is also an on going debate into the use of additives that assist polyolefins to break down in the waste stream. The potential for polyolefins is tremendous!
AMI's Polyolefin Additives 2015 will provide a global debating forum and networking opportunity for all companies involved in specifying polyolefins, compounding, researching materials, and additives and compounding equipment suppliers.