Green Future for Polyurethanes Industry Unveiled at UTECH Europe 2012

LONDON & MAASTRICHT, The Netherlands, Feb 01, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- A session titled 'Green Chemistry,' detailing the latest advances in sustainable manufacturing processes for key polyurethane raw materials, will open the technical programme of the prestigious UTECH Europe 2012 conference on Tuesday 17 April. The session comprises 12 papers which are expected to announce developments in the production of useful raw materials from natural and renewable resources from specialists working on several key technologies at research establishments throughout Europe, in the Middle East and in North America.

'Green Chemistry' is the first of 11 different sessions in the conference, which runs 17-19 April at the MECC in Maastricht, the Netherlands, alongside a major exhibition where more than 100 companies will be showcasing their latest offerings for the polyurethanes industry. This combination of a high-level conference - with more than 90 presentations, as detailed in the full programme available at http://www.utecheurope.eu - with a major exhibition gives the UTECH events a unique appeal: in just three days delegates and visitors can come up to speed in every significant area of technical and commercial development in this still fast-moving technology.

Of particular interest in the Green Chemistry session will be the two opening presentations from Bayer MaterialScience detailing the latest state of play in their fascinating work converting waste carbon dioxide into useful polyurethane raw materials. Christoph Gurtler will present From Waste to Value: CO2-based Polyols, while colleague Hans-Georg Pirkl considers CO2-based Polyols: A Future New Product Class for the Flexible Foam Market? Erwin Honcoop of Purac will also discuss his company's work in a paper titled Products Based on Renewable Materials with a Minimum Impact on CO2-Emission.

A further nine presentations in the session will highlight advances in other areas of 'green chemistry,' including the latest work from Green Urethanes Ltd of the UK in raising incorporation levels of renewably resourced polyols in flexible foam formulations to 100-percent, while other specialists will detail their latest developments using a wide range of natural and renewable resources.

Among these are Angela Smits of Croda who is presenting Bio-based Priplast Polyols for High-Performance Polyurethane Elastomers and a team from the Amirkabir University of Technology, Department Polymer Engineering in Tehran presenting From Aminolysis Product of PET Waste to Novel Biodegradable Polyurethanes, while Aleksander Prociak of Cracow University of Technology will look in depth at Polyurethane Foams and Composites Based on Renewable Raw Materials.

Jeff Rowlands of Green Urethanes will cover Expanding the Use of Natural Oil Polyols in Urethane Foam Formulations. Pietro Campaner of Cimteclab will deliver a paper on Innovative Bio-Based Aromatic Polyols: Polycard XFNTM. Marieke Smidt of DSM Bio-based Products & Services will discuss Sustainable Polyurethane Opportunities with Biosuccinium.

Ugis Cabulis of the Institute of Wood Chemistry in Latvia presents details of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme project Forbioplast: Developing Bio-based polyurethane Foams, and Minh Ta Ton-That of the National Research Council of Canada will deliver a paper entitled New Biopolyols from Non-Food Grade and Renewable Resources. In addition, Bob Miller of DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products in the US will present details of the use of its bio-synthetic propanediol building block, in a paper titled Susterra(R) Propanediol -- Evaluating the Structure-Property Relationship in CASE Applications.

Often described as the hidden polymer, polyurethanes are ever more widely used throughout manufacturing and construction industries today. Applications are as diverse as automotive, aerospace, building and construction, furniture and bedding, electrical and electro-technical, footwear and textiles, mining and offshore, pipes and pipelines, refrigeration and building insulation as well as specialist surgical and medical products.

The UTECH Europe 2012 exhibition and conference offers materials specialists from across all these industries the perfect opportunity to see the latest global advances in polyurethane technology including all the raw materials and processing equipment used in making these versatile polymers. Among more than 100 exhibitors are industry leaders Bayer, BASF, Dow, Huntsman, BorsodChem/Wanhua, Shell, Repsol, Baule, Momentive, Silcart and Evonik, processing equipment makers such as Cannon, Hennecke, Impianti OMS and Beamech Ltd, as well as systems houses, technical consultancies, and test laboratories.

In 2009, the last time the UTECH Europe event was held, almost 3,000 exhibition visitors and several hundred conference delegates came from more than 85 different countries worldwide. As the global industry celebrates 75 years of polyurethane technology in 2012, similar numbers are expected to travel to Maastricht for all the latest information on the key raw materials, such as diisocyanates, polyester and polyether polyols, as well as formulated systems and the key ancillary chemicals such as surfactants, catalysts and flame retardants.

Manufacturing technology innovations unveiled at the exhibition will include the latest mixing and dispensing machinery, equipment for reaction injection moulding as well as the cutting equipment needed for making products based on flexible and rigid foams, elastomers. More specialised companies, such as those supplying the test equipment used in the industry and detailed market research, will also join the event, making it a one-stop source for the whole of the polyurethanes industry.

Anyone wishing to attend the paid-for UTECH Europe conference and the exhibition can now register online at www.utecheurope.eu . Discounts are available on conference bookings made before 29 February 2012. Entrance to the exhibition is free to all visitors who pre-register and costs EUR25 on the day for unregistered visitors. A wealth of travel and accommodation information is available on the event website.

About UTECH Europe 2012:

Held at the MECC in Maastricht, where The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium meet, UTECH Europe 2012 is uniquely placed as the only truly international exhibition and conference for the polyurethanes industry. Unique to Europe is the sheer breadth of the applications of polyurethanes technology. From tiny medical devices to the roof insulation of the highest skyscrapers, polyurethane-based product applications are wide and varied. In 2009 UTECH attracted an audience of just under 3,000 decision makers from 85 countries and the sector is predicted to grow rapidly in the coming years.