Latest info on Covestro’s K fair presence:

• Experience “The Material Effect” at K 2025 at Covestro | Covestro AG

Additional Press Releases:

• From Materials to Solutions: Covestro Brings "The Material Effect" to K 2025
• Digital Material Twins in Automotive Design: Imagio^® of Covestro Now Integrated into Autodesk VRED
• Covestro deepens collaboration with Ausell to advance end-of-life automotive plastics recycling
• More speed from design to series production
• From old tires to new car parts: Covestro, Neste and Borealis aim at closing loop for automotive industry 
• Covestro and Deloitte jointly develop Monetization Framework for Circular Economy
• Life Cycle Assessments digitalized: boosting transparency

Covestro at a Glance:

Are you looking for more information? Here you could find further facts about Covestro.

Monique Buch, Chief Commercial Officer at Covestro: "The chemical industry and many of its key customer industries face profound transformations – on the path to circular economy, through AI and digitalization, or due to geopolitics and the realignment of global markets. With our expertise in high-performance materials, process and application development, we remain part of the solution and support our customers in achieving their goals."

The solutions presented at "K" are organized across the booth in the areas of Automotive, Electronics, Healthcare, Sports and Leisure, as well as Sustainable Future. They showcase "The Material Effect" in application across various industries and underline the company's long-term vision of a complete alignment with the circular economy. This vision remains the North Star for Covestro and the industry – despite short-term challenges and overlapping crises that require resilience and adaptability.

Materials with Impact: "The Material Effect" in Practice

Jochen Hardt, Booth Manager and Vice President Global Marketing Mobility in the Engineering Plastics business entity at Covestro: "At our booth, visitors can experience first-hand how 'The Material Effect' becomes reality in concrete applications. We deliberately present not only materials and products but showcase well-designed system solutions that offer real added value to our customers. My team and I at Covestro look forward to engaging with visitors throughout the fair!"

Sustainable Future

In the "Sustainable Future" area, Covestro demonstrates its comprehensive commitment to the circular economy. This includes the "CQ" portfolio, which marks products containing at least 25% alternative raw materials. Another example is the technology developed by Covestro and partners for producing plant-based aniline. Also featured are several car-to-car recycling projects that advance circularity in the automotive industry. For example, the NALYSES project, where Covestro works together with partners like HELLA and BMW on the circularity of headlights. Or a pilot program with NIO, VW, and GIZ for recycling polycarbonate parts. For the latter, visitors will find materials labeled "RE", "RP", and "R" at the booth – these are partly made from alternative raw materials.

Automotive

Highlight in the automotive area: The SUE "People Mover" – a prototype vehicle for public transportation. The autonomous e-shuttle was designed and developed by UE | STUDIOS. It features large-scale, curved 3D polycarbonate glazing as well as seamless integration of driver assistance systems and sensors, also using polycarbonate. The lightweight, highly durable monomaterial Arfinio® is used in the interior, along with a recyclable TPU monomaterial seat. The IMAGIO® tool for digital, photorealistic material twins will also be on display. It is now implemented in Autodesk VRED and makes design processes faster and more efficient.

Electronics

In the electronics area, Covestro showcases innovative NIA-PFAS (not intentionally added PFAS) polycarbonates with flame retardancy for laptop covers and IoT device housings. Additionally, a recyclable antenna housing made of Makrolon® monomaterial will be on display, combining optimal signal transmission with weight reduction.

Healthcare

In the healthcare booth area, Covestro presents material solutions that combine sustainability with performance and reliability: From medication delivery with particularly thin-walled, more easily recyclable monomaterial injectors to resistant housings for diagnostic devices that withstand disinfectants. Such devices can furthermore be made with NIA-PFAS material types for flame retardancy, and support the seamless integration of functionality such as touch operation and signaling in an attractive design.

Sports and Leisure

In the sports and leisure area, visitors will find applications such as the e-surfboard by Awake. Covestro materials can be found, for example, in the easily and quickly replaceable battery, with thermally conductive and flame-retardant polycarbonate for improved battery performance. Durable TPU-based materials on the grip of the replaceable battery additionally provide pleasant haptics and comfort.

Press Tour for Media Representatives

Media representatives are cordially invited to experience Covestro's exhibition booth at K 2025 in person. A press tour will take place on the first day of the fair, October 8, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at booth A75 in Hall 6.

The tour offers a comprehensive overview of all focus areas as well as the opportunity for discussions with technical experts about "The Material Effect" and the implementation of the circular economy strategy in concrete applications. There will also be opportunities for individual interviews.

For more information about Covestro at K 2025, please visit Experience “The Material Effect” at K 2025 at Covestro | Covestro AG

The more than 20 innovation stories that Covestro presents at its booth are closely linked to this guiding idea and the company's long-term vision of becoming fully circular. This vision is gaining additional importance under the current circumstances – short-term challenges and overlapping crises that require resilience and adaptability.

Covestro’s CEO Markus Steilemann emphasized this at the traditional K pre-press conference: "The world seems to have gone off track, and the chemical industry is feeling the full force of the current multiple crises. At the same time, the future will be ever greener and smarter. At Covestro, we are paving the way for that for many sectors with our recyclable, climate-neutral high-performance plastics – whether in e-mobility and autonomous driving, efficient buildings, or digitalization. We are excited to showcase the diverse and beneficial effects of our materials for our customers and partners at this year's K trade fair."

Covestro's Guiding Idea: "The Material Effect"

At booth A75 in Hall 6, Covestro will place special emphasis on progress and innovations in the areas of Sustainable Future, Automotive, Electronics, Healthcare, and Sports & Leisure. Among the highlights at the booth will be a new concept vehicle for public transportation: The SUE "People Mover". The self-driving urban e-shuttle has been developed by UE | STUDIOS. It features full polycarbonate glazing, polycarbonate for lidar sensors, as well as the lightweight and highly durable mono-material Arfinio^® and TPU. Also among the exhibits is the digital sampling tool IMAGIO^®, which enables realistic digital visualization of product designs, thereby replacing physical samples with digital material twins in early development phases.

With these and many other stories and exhibits at the booth, Covestro demonstrates under this year's guiding idea "The Material Effect" what role high-performance materials play in a sustainable world. "The Material Effect" combines best in class materials with process and innovation expertise, enabling the leap from laboratory to industry. "It is precisely this unique combination of material science, process- and application development that makes the decisive difference," said Jochen Hardt, K 2025 project lead and Vice President Global Marketing Mobility in the Engineering Plastics business entity at Covestro, at the press conference. “'The Material Effect' enables our customers and partners to achieve more – in terms of sustainability, circularity, and performance of their products.”

Progress Towards Corporate Vision and Strategy

Covestro pursues a clear strategic vision: to become fully circular and make the circular economy a global guiding principle. This includes the use of alternative raw materials, switching to green energy, and developing advanced recycling technologies. The company has set a goal to become climate-neutral in its own operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2035 and to achieve complete climate neutrality along the entire value chain (Scope 1-3) by 2050. To this end, Covestro has already signed eleven power purchase agreements (PPAs) and now covers around 16 percent of its global electricity needs from renewable sources.

Furthermore, Covestro is consistently expanding the use of alternative raw materials – with the goal of largely avoiding the use of fossil primary raw materials in the long term. The company is to that end currently developing and testing novel recycling technologies for polyurethanes, polycarbonates, and elastomers.

The commitment to the circular economy is furthermore reflected in the product portfolio: Products with the brand suffix "CQ" – which stands for Circular Intelligence – contain at least 25 percent alternative raw materials. For polycarbonates, Covestro differentiates its offering with specific labels: "RE" stands for products based on renewable raw materials and produced with renewable electricity.^* "RP" identifies products with chemically recycled post-consumer waste.^* "R" designates products with mechanically recycled material content.

Such products aFor more information about the trade fair presence, visit:

For more information about the trade fair presence, visit:
Experience “The Material Effect” at K 2025 at Covestro | Covestro AG

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Latest info on Covestro’s K fair presence:

• Experience “The Material Effect” at K 2025 at Covestro | Covestro AG

Additional Press Releases:

• Covestro deepens collaboration with Ausell to advance end-of
• More speed from design to series production
• From old tires to new car parts: Covestro, Neste and Boreali
• Covestro and Deloitte jointly develop Monetization Framework
• Life Cycle Assessments digitalized: boosting transparency

Covestro at a Glance:

Are you looking for more information? Here you could find further facts about Covestro.

“Our products touch everyday life in thousands of applications, from cars to electronics to footwear. To accelerate circularity and sustainability we need to work closely with our customers and partners along the value chain on adopting alternative raw materials, renewable energy sources and recycling technologies”, says Dr. Guido Naberfeld, Senior Vice President, Head of Sales and Market Development Mobility at Covestro. “We are excited to show some of our latest developments and projects and are eager to engage in discussions about them at this year’s Fakuma.”

The Fakuma in Friedrichshafen, Germany, is a leading annual international trade fair for plastics processing. Visitors of the Covestro booth will discover a set of exhibits ranging from Polycarbonates to Specialty Films to Thermoplastic Polyurethanes, demonstrating how sustainability and performance can go hand in hand across industries.

Key exhibits include an innovative automotive frontend design that combines looks and functionality while also incorporating electronics. The materials used in the concept are Makrolon® and Makrofol®. The same materials can be used to create nearly monomaterial electronic displays, ideal for integration into smart surfaces in kitchens, vehicles and consumer electronics. One demonstrator, featuring in-mold printed elecontric circuits, will be exhibited.

Covestro's recently announced partnership with Neste and Borealis will also have a spot at the booth. It showcases the closed-loop recycling of old tires into highly transparent polycarbonates that can be used in automotive components, such as car headlamps. This innovation exemplifies circularity in the automotive industry through the Makrolon® RP product range, which uses chemically recycled raw materials, attributed via the mass balance approach.

Covestro in general aims to become increasingly circular and climate-neutral, with the goal of operational climate neutrality (Scopes 1 and 2) by 2035, and full climate neutrality by 2050. To make products that are advancing toward these goals easily identifiable, Covestro, besides RE or RP, also uses the “CQ” label. CQ stands for “Circular Intelligence”. CQ ecompasses, for example, products that contain at least 25% alternative, non-fossil raw materials, either as components or through the mass balance methodology. This helps to reduce their carbon footprint while contributing to circularity. Some of the abovementioned and more products can be seen at Fakuma.

At its booth (C20), Covestro will present materials and solutions that support the corporate vision of achieving a circular economy. Climate neutrality¹ is a core element of that, for which the company just recently announced its “Scope 3 emission” targets, encompassing anything from the raw material base of products to their transport, the performance during their lifetime and the end of their life. By 2035, Covestro intends to reduce 30% of those emissions, while being entirely climate neutral across all scopes by 2050. Working towards that goal, the company’s product portfolio will become ever more sustainable.

“As provider of polyurethane raw materials and solutions, including for example systems for Elastomers, we are at the forefront of circularity and climate neutrality. We take that responsibility seriously and develop recycling technologies, switch to renewable energy and already started the switch to an alternative raw material base,” says Thomas Braig, Head of Elastomers at Covestro. "All the while we ensure maximum quality and performance of our products and to enable our customers to be successful to meet the needs and demands of the market. At our booth at UTECH Europe, customers and interested parties can get a glimpse of how we combine circularity and climate neutrality with product and innovation quality.”

To achieve full circularity, collaborations across value chains in and beyond core industries such as Automotive, Building and Construction or Furniture and Appliances will be key. The motto of Covestro’s booth therefore is “Crafting Solutions For You”, inviting for in-depth exchanges and discussions. It is divided into three core areas:

Crafting Sustainability

In the area dubbed “Crafting Sustainability”, Covestro will be showcasing innovative products and solutions from the fields of alternative raw materials, innovative recycling and renewable energies that tile the way to circularity. One example among the exhibits is Desmodur^® CQ MS. This climate-neutral MDI (cradle-to-gate assessment) is a key component in the production of low-carbon PU insulation boards, specifically designed for thermal insulation purposes.

Crafting Innovations

In the area “Crafting Innovations”, Covestro shows that innovative materials and solutions will be key to answer an ever more demanding market in terms of properties and reliability while striving to cope with the commanding challenge of a more circular and climate neutral world. At the booth, the company will for example showcase a Baulé^® alpha low pressure dispensing machine for cast PU processing. This machine is notably equipped with catalyst and pigment direct injection and allowing an output up to 10 kg/min. To demonstrate automated production capabilities, the company will also showcase a 3-axis robot equipped with sensors and camera allowing automatic mould detection and casting frame selection as well as safety alarms to improve and secure the casting process.

Covestro will furthermore give a glimpse on the latest in terms of recycling with its Evocycle^® CQ program. The goal of the Evocycle^® CQ Mattress initiative is to bring end-of-life polyurethane (PU) mattress foam back to its building blocks polyether polyol and toluene diamine (TDA), a key precursor of toluene diisocyanate (TDI), via chemical recycling. These shall then again be used just like virgin materials.

Crafting Performance

Circularity won’t happen unless sustainable products provide at least equal value and quality for customers and industries. Covestro aims to provide its customers with exactly that – and will showcase some examples how it “crafts performance” during UTECH Europe. For example several products made with Desmodur^® 15 prepolymer based systems. On top of improving safety and comfort in the railway sector, these cost-effective and safe solutions can also boost the sewing process in the loom shuttle or reduce maintenance costs in the offshore wind industry.

¹ _{Climate neutrality is the result of an internal assessment of a partial product life cycle from raw material extraction (cradle) to the factory gate (of Covestro), also known as cradle-to-gate assessment. The methodology of our LCA, for which an external audit and certification will soon be available, is based on the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards. The calculation takes into account biogenic carbon sequestration based on preliminary data from the supply chain. No compensation measures were applied.}

The award was handed over during the conference "A Circular Future with Plastics" of the European Plastics Converters (EuPC) association at a gala dinner at Palais de la Bourse in Lyon. The conference, organized by the EuPC, the French association Polyvia and the plastics producers' association Plastics Europe, was attended by more than 250 industry representatives.

Covestro is very pleased to receive the award and to score well in all categories, including circularity, because a full circular economy is the company's most important goal for the future. To achieve this goal, Covestro has developed a whole portfolio of more sustainable products made with renewable raw materials, including the Makrolon^® RE and Bayblend^® RE polycarbonate ranges.

"The Best Polymer Producers Awards were created in 2016 to re-establish a constructive dialogue and good communication between suppliers and users of polymers in Europe. The fact that we organised this seventh edition with a growing number of voters every year is a clear indicator of the awards’ success," said Ron Marsh, Chair of the Polymers for Europe Alliance.

The Polymers for Europe Alliance was initiated by the EuPC association in 2015. Each year, Best Polymer Producers Awards for Europe are granted for a number of major polymer types – among them polycarbonates. In addition, an overarching prize on the commitment to the European market, covering all polymer types, has been awarded this year.

"For me, the chemical industry is predestined for the use of AI because we have a lot of complex processes going on that cannot be described by fixed rules," says Walter Grüner, Head of IT & Digitalization at Covestro. "They are not suitable for automation. We rather need learning systems to which we grant a certain degree of decision-making autonomy. In doing so, we focus primarily on the development of systems that work in a complementary manner to humans and support their abilities."

With the introduction of AI in the chemical industry, questions about technical, operational and organizational implementation are also increasingly emerging. This includes, for example, the role of AI in decision-making, but also its implementation along value chains.

Artificial Intelligence – great opportunity for chemical industry

Under the motto "Shaping industrial change with AI", the participants exchanged in a generic way views on the following topics:

• AI system to assist decision making or as an autonomous decision-maker?
• AI awareness, literacy and capabilities
• Production technology vs. supply chain management: independent or joint optimization?
• Needs and requirements for external data generation (monitoring)?

"It is precisely the exchange across company boundaries that helps us a lot in the upcoming transformation because overall challenges become clearer," says Nils Janus, Global Head of Advanced Analytics at Covestro. "This increases efficiency and saves time."

Overall, there was agreement among the participants: Artificial intelligence offers great opportunities for the chemical industry. The new systems help to create a common ecosystem for cross-divisional production planning. It must be decided on a case-by-case basis and each company has to decide individually and independently how much autonomy these systems will be given. With regard to access to the systems, the participants saw a strong democratization of artificial intelligence. Companies could support employees in learning more about data and AI and bring them into contact with experts when it comes to the widespread use of AI solutions in the company. The generation and dissemination of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) data are currently the biggest drivers for using external data sources. Here, all participants saw opportunities to intensify the use of external sources.

Digitalization drives sustainability

Digitalization is a key driver to improve sustainability and make the circular economy a reality. Covestro is focusing on more data-oriented corporate governance to drive digital transformation.

Covestro is advancing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) both in its own company and in the chemical industry. To this end, the materials manufacturer is investigating how digital technologies can make processes more efficient and sustainable as part of several pilot projects across different divisions.

Arfinio^® combines high-performance liquid polymers and unique minerals with reaction-based injection molding (RIM), a combination previously considered impossible. The technology produces truly seamless shapes without requiring sheets, and combines the key benefits of aliphatic chemistry, injection molding, and solid surfaces: mechanical resistance, light-stability, and repairability alongside low product weight, quick production, and improved design freedom. It therefore enables manufacturers to integrate complex shapes and functional performance in new and dynamic ways. The material also contributes to improved sustainability. It can be made with partially bio-based raw materials and, at the end of its lifetime, it can be milled and reintroduced into new products.

Joan Miquel García Martínez, Senior Project Manager Arfinio^® at Covestro: “We’re delighted to have been awarded this distinction by Koelnmesse and Red Dot. Our work with Arcesso to bring this technology to the market has seen us deliver a breakthrough solution that redefines design freedom in solid-surface materials. This award is yet more motivation for us to keep innovating new, game-changing solutions to help shape a materials future that supports people and planet alike.”

The two models of Midea’s odourless series refrigerators (BCD-439WFPZM and BCD-516WFGPZMA) use low-carbon-footprint MDI through a mass balance approach from Covestro, a transparent certified solution based on the third-party International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS standard. ISCC is an internationally recognized sustainable development certification system for biomass and bioenergy. Through the mass balance approach, raw materials from biomass or waste are blended with fossil materials and then mathematically attributed to the final products to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. Since mass-balanced products have the same performance as fossil-based products, customers do not need to change their existing production process or equipment.

Realizing the mass production of the low-carbon-footprint refrigerators 

At last year’s CIIE, Covestro made the Asia debut of its mass-balanced MDI. MDI is a key raw material for producing polyurethane thermal insulation layers for refrigerators. This year, the application of the mass-balanced MDI to Midea refrigerators marks the mass production of low-carbon-footprint polyurethane products within the home appliances industry.

Christine Bryant, the Global Head of Tailored Urethanes Business Entity at Covestro, said, “the collaboration with Midea extends the low-carbon-footprint polyurethane to the broad home appliances market. Looking forward, Covestro will develop more solutions through technological innovation to empower the sustainable development and low-carbon transition of the chemical engineering industry and its downstream industries.”

Bringing the new generation of low-carbon green refrigerators within reach

The low-carbon-footprint MDI in the two models of refrigerators has a 60 percent share of biomass raw materials from plants, reducing carbon emissions by percent compared to fossil-based MDI.

Midea, the pioneer of green and intelligent home appliances, is among the first enterprises to obtain the national green product certification. Both models of refrigerators have received the China Green Product Certification, which meets the relevant requirements in terms of practicality, environmental protection, energy saving (energy efficiency rates Class 1), and health (hazardous substance content less than or equal to 1000 mg/kg).

In addition to the display on the booth, Midea will sell the BCD-439WFPZM refrigerators through live streaming on its official Tiktok account, “Midea Refrigerator Flagship Store”. More consumers will be able to buy low-carbon-footprint appliances through the Expo and can become involved in carbon reduction efforts.

Huawei Zhang, the R&D Director of Refrigerator Business at Midea, stated, “The collaboration between Midea and Covestro on low-carbon-footprint green refrigerators marks that low-carbon-footprint PU products have entered the consumer market. To meet the growing demand for sustainable development, we believe that this cooperation can serve as a reference for the whole industry and open more cooperation opportunities on low-carbon materials. We look forward to cooperating with Covestro to take greater corporate social responsibility together.”

Arfinio^® material is made by injection-molding of a combination of high-performance liquid polymers and unique minerals. This produces truly seamless shapes without requiring sheets. In this way, the technology combines the key benefits of aliphatic chemistry, injection molding, and solid surfaces: mechanical resistance, light-stability, and repairability, as well as low product weight, quick production, and improved design freedom.

These properties are now opening new possibilities in applications including an Estoli shower plate, and a luxury design chair. In bathroom furniture, Arfinio^® provides a solution at least 50 percent lighter than traditional solid surfaces with improved wet slip resistance and increasing safety during installation and use. Its formulation can also be supplemented with antibacterial additives, enhancing hygiene on high-touch surfaces. In furniture, injection molding enables a quick production of complex, truly seamless structures. Finally, the thermal coefficient of Arfinio^® makes it warm to the touch, and its texture and color can be customized. This also allows for backlighting in electronic applications.

Arfinio^® also contributes toward a more circular, sustainable world. Its excellent impact, abrasion, and chemical resistance properties give it a long service lifetime. Additionally, as a monomaterial, it can be easily repaired by sanding or milled and recycled into new products.

Joan Miquel García Martinez, Senior Project Manager at Covestro: "We’re proud to have joined forces with Arcesso to bring the benefits of RIM-produced aliphatics to the market! Arfinio^® will open new opportunities for a wide range of designers and OEMs, and we’re looking forward to exploring how it can be used in even more applications."

Ernest Montón, CEO Arcesso Dynamics: "It’s been great working with Covestro to bring our innovation for aliphatic PUR to life. Our partnership has already helped customers in several industries to solve key product challenges. Together, we’ll continue to develop exciting new Arfinio^® products that are designed to meet our customers’ and end-users’ needs."

Taking cast elastomers to a higher level

Often, cast polyurethanes replace materials in traditionally manufactured components, making their overall application more efficient. However, material innovations from Covestro aim to further improve mechanical, chemical or physical properties. In this context, the company has developed new PU casting formulations to increase application life or environmental resistance:

• Highly wear-resistant cast PU elastomers that challenge the previous use of rubber in mining applications
• Hydrolysis resistance for applications in wet environments
• Fungal resistance in contaminated or humid environments

For Covestro, innovation means more than developing new materials and products. The materials manufacturer also sets standards in terms of customer-oriented services and process efficiency.

Baulé® processing machines

Baulé® processing machines can be fully customized and scaled: They can be tailored to current processing needs and further developed to integrate functions for future requirements.

Baulé® quikmix: the practical hand caster

In hand casting, small deviations in mixing and degassing of the most demanding systems can lead to failure. To avoid this problem and simplify the processing of challenging systems, Covestro has developed a planetary mixer with unique features. This unit can be used to perfectly process all types of cast PU formulations.

Visit Covestro's booth E28 at the MECC Exhibition & Convention Center in Maastricht for a closer look at our PU castings on display as well as our processing machines and to participate in live demonstrations.

Proven Baulé® Easy services

Covestro has taken the next step in digitizing customer support. Digital solutions make life easier for injection molders today in many ways. These Baulé® Easy Services have been developed around the company´s Baulé® machines to ensure that its customers' production lines work perfectly and that any potential delay factor can be solved in a simple and effective way:

• Baulé® Easy Assist: solving process problems through remote monitoring by Covestro experts
• Baulé® Easy Parts: online identification and ordering of spare parts
• Baulé® Easy Data: production monitoring with all relevant process data

A casting companion in your smartphone

To help its customers, Covestro has developed an app that supports every operator on the customer's shop floor when working with hot cast polyurethane molded parts. The Easy Casting app is available via the Android platform. It guides each operator through the entire manual casting process. This daily casting companion allows recipes to be created and saved, automatically calculates the weight of each component, and supports the operator through every step of the process by providing practical instructions, such as reminders about temperature control or the mixing order of components, needed to produce better castings.

How Covestro digitized recipe development

To gain new insights for R&D, technical service and customer experience, Covestro has developed a set of digital tools that create digital recipe maps by leveraging the power of the design of experiments method. This method has been used to gain insight into the polyurethane casting process and recipe optimization, and was first applied to a Desmodur® MTX6076-based polyurethane cast elastomer system. By simply dragging a cursor, the Easy System Tool allows users to change processing and formulation factors and view the effects on the resulting properties of the polyurethane cast elastomer.

Visit Covestro's booth E28 at the MECC Exhibition & Convention Center in Maastricht to experience our digital solutions.

Sustainable contribution for offshore wind applications

Offshore energy generators require materials that are strong and durable. To this end, Covestro provides the offshore wind industry with materials that improve the lifespan of equipment installed in wind farms through subsea cable protection, cable kink protection, turbine protection and more.

On the other hand, these companies are also looking for ways to reduce their CO₂ footprint. To this end, Covestro has developed a Desmodur® PU system made with a material based on the CO₂ technology. The innovative solution enables processors to develop products that contain up to 20 percent carbon dioxide as a chemical raw material. They can replace some of the fossil-based raw materials previously used. Last but not least, this solution overall surpasses the previous material solution in its mechanical properties.

Introduction of the circular economy in mining applications

In the mining industry, the need for solutions to reduce overall costs and increase efficiency in terms of performance and durability is critical. In addition, as part of a global trend, the industry is seeking insights to improve its waste management and reduce its environmental impact. To this end, Covestro offers a high-performance solution that allows waste to be reintegrated into the production process.

In this solution, the steel insert of the screens is replaced by a grindable insert. After use, the screen is ground into particles, which are then incorporated into the Desmodur® PU system to produce the bottom layer of the screen. Covestro also offers a special device that can process the ground particles into the system. To produce a high-performance screen, the top layer of the screen is made with a Desmodur® based system specially developed for mining screens, which has excellent wear resistance. The screen produced in this way is fully recyclable, as it can be completely ground after use. Overall, this solution helps reduce the end-of-life cost of parts while ensuring the screen's technical performance.

Solutions for material handling

The transportation industry demands wheels that help keep logistics platforms moving. To deliver such performance with pinpoint accuracy 365 days a year, Covestro offers solutions for high resistance to dynamic loads combined with low wear for long-term performance with minimal maintenance. These solutions are based on Vulkollan® elastomers. For smaller loads, systems based on Desmodur® with an optimized price/performance ratio are suitable.

Baulé® processing machines

For all sizes of PU casting production, Baulé® processing machines offer the possibility of casting quality parts despite chemical or process limitations. These include Baulé® alpha machines – fully customizable and scalable machines that can be tailored to current processing needs. They can be further developed to incorporate features to meet future requirements. They also include Baulé® omega machines designed to meet the most demanding and specific requirements.

Baulé® quikmix: the practical hand caster for degassing and mixing When it comes to hand casting, small sacrifices in mixing and degassing can lead to failure in the more demanding systems. To avoid this problem and simplify the processing of challenging systems, Covestro has developed a planetary mixer with unique features. This Baulé® quikmix can be used to perfectly process all types of cast PU formulations.

Digital tools

Covestro has taken the next step in digitizing customer support. Digital solutions make life easier for molders today in many ways. For example, the company has developed a digital service for the quick and easy exchange of spare parts – for minimal interruptions to production processes. Customers can order spare parts via the online platform as soon as they identify a need. And by integrating customer databases with technical drawings, catalogs and machine documentation, Baulé® Easy Parts makes it easy to identify and order the parts they need in real time. Thanks to accurate references and regular price updates, this service reduces the number of quotes, speeds up the ordering process and reduces the possibility of errors.

Visit Covestro's booth at Stand 34, Hall 1 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center (SWEECC).

For this purpose Covestro, one of the world leading companies in high performance polyurethane solutions, provided the leading wind turbine blade manufacturer Goldwind with a special Baulé^® infusion machine for processing its high performance polyurethane resin. Goldwind and Covestro achieved a major breakthrough with the development and production of a 64.2 m long polyurethane turbine blade.

“Covestro Elastomers developed a tailor-made Baulé^® machine for the direct infusion of polyurethane rotor blades,” said Philippe Jeantin, Global Head of Machines Division, Business Segment Elastomers at Covestro. “We designed this machine to solve various challenges involved in this manufacturing process, e.g. process under vacuum, high volume casting and speed of resin infusion. This machine is therefore combining a very accurate dosing, a large variable output controlled by in-mold pressure and a real time data management to ensure a high quality direct infusion process for these large rotor blades.”

New vacuum infusion equipment for polyurethane resin processing

“Today, as the wind energy market is growing, we are faced with the challenge of producing ever-larger wind blades,” says Liu Baofeng, Professor-level Senior Engineer, Head of Windblade Material Development at Goldwind. “We were therefore looking for a reliable partner to provide us with the dispensing equipment which is suitable for processing the PU resin especially developed for larger wind blades. Our manufacture was successful thanks to the machine that Covestro engineered for the production of a 64.2 meter turbine blade. It will allow us to propel the whole industry to make sustainable and innovating progress towards such large blades. In the future, both sides will strengthen the cooperation in materials and related equipment, for promoting a continuous innovation and upgrading of materials for rotor blades.”

“The successful trail of this such long rotor blade manufacture using polyurethane resin proved that our Baulé^® machine is qualified for the direct infusion process,” adds Simon Chen, Head of Covestro Elastomers in the Asia-Pacific region. “Our local machine team in China will support our partners to achieve rapid growth and technical upgrading of the wind power industry.

”With the rapid development of the wind power industry, larger wind turbine blades have become increasingly popular in the industry. Covestro has been committed to providing innovative and sustainable products and cost-effective integrated solutions for the wind power industry to cope with market requirements and to support the expansion of renewable energy. In cooperation with industry partners such as Goldwind, Covestro will continue to contribute to the efficient development of the wind power industry.

The new model features a creative multi-material design concept: The structural frame in the center is made of aluminum and magnesium alloy, while the front and back shells have been given the highly-coveted look of carbon fibers. It is also designed with an advanced lock system featuring the absence of rivets and screws, giving it a smooth, minimalist finish.

Despite the dramatic decrease in travel due to the corona crisis, TUPLUS believes the travel industry will bounce back steadily as travel restrictions are eased in China and the world. “People haven’t changed in that they still want to travel, but we need to adapt to the new times ahead and to the new needs of tourists to feel safer,” says Catherine Jiang, President & CEO of TUPLUS. “High-quality materials are always at the heart of our design concept because we know our customers rely on them for travel safety and security. Covestro’s Maezio® composites have allowed us to take advantage of the superior strength and premium value of carbon fiber, to offer our customers enhanced protection and an entirely new travel experience.”

Performance meets design

On and off airplanes, in and out of car trunks, natural wear and tear – luggage needs to be robust. Maezio® thermoplastic composites are based on a polycarbonate matrix system. The intrinsic toughness of polycarbonate has made it a staple material for hard-shell suitcases for decades. Carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate composites take stiffness and impact resistance to a new level. They can reduce the risk of damage and deformation, even when compared to metal, without adding weight.

Rigorous safety tests ranging from drop and tumble tests to falling ball impact tests have shown better impact resistance of composite shells compared to aluminum. This means the material can better protect articles in the luggage against perils, in particular sensitive equipment like cameras and high-end electronics.

A suitcase built to last also needs to look good. With a natural, unidirectional carbon fiber appearance, Maezio® composites break away from the traditional woven look of carbon fiber, while striking a chord with natural materials like wood in its looks and aesthetics. The simplicity and authenticity of that visual language is a good source of inspiration for designers.

Designed for scale

Performance and design are only the starting points for luggage manufacturers however, as they need to integrate new materials which can also be manufactured cost-efficiently at scale. Despite its popularity, carbon fiber luggage is known to be laboriously hand-crafted, driving up costs and making them difficult to scale.

Maezio® materials on the other hand, are thermoplastic composites, which can be thermoformed efficiently at high yield rates and low cycle times, making them ideal for mass production. Not all carbon fiber suitcases need to be thermoformed however – the unique design of the front and back shell structures of TUPLUS luggage allows composite sheets to be integrated directly into the production line and assembled after proper cutting and coating. This design approach is unique to expedite the scaling of carbon fiber suitcases.

“We believe our thermoplastic composite solutions will accelerate the adoption of carbon fiber composites in luggage thanks to their unique performance, aesthetic and production advantages,” says Lisa Ketelsen, Head of the thermoplastic composites business of Covestro. “Meanwhile, we’re also working on thermoformed, 3D luggage cover solutions to make composites available for a wide range of suitcases and allow more and more consumers to enjoy the performance and lifestyle benefits of composites.”

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