��Healthcare manufacturers are increasingly adopting sustainable materials to reduce their carbon footprint, and it is our goal to help customers reach their sustainability ambitions,�� said Sam Shodi, Head of Specialty Films North America, ����AV.

According to Shodi, the Makrofol^? polycarbonate film provides the transparency, toughness and sterilization suitability needed for many medical applications an example of which is medical implant packaging. ��This advancement meets the demands of our healthcare customers, where sustainable materials are crucial for reducing environmental impact while maintaining high quality and safety standards,�� he concluded.

With the mass balance approach, bio-based or recycled raw materials are fed in at an early stage of raw material extraction and mathematically allocated to the finished products. This saves fossil raw materials and reduces CO₂ emissions, while the quality of the mass-balanced products remains identical to that of purely fossil-based products. With this drop-in solution, manufacturers can continue to use their proven formulations, equipment and processes.

ISCC is an internationally recognized sustainability certification for biomass and bioenergy. The standard covers all stages of the value chain and is used worldwide. ����AV has major sites across all regions that are ISCC PLUS certified. Among them are world-scale sites like Baytown, Texas; Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany; Shanghai, China; Map Ta Phut, Thailand; and Antwerp, Belgium.

Customers can discover more about ����AV��s mass balance films and other premium material solutions, including how they support sustainability goals and drive advancements in medical devices, at the upcoming and trade fairs, November 11-14 in D��sseldorf, Germany.

��These demonstrations not only showcase the potential and abilities of hearing-impaired students in scientific experiments, but also open a window for them to understand and explore the mysteries of science in their own unique ways,�� said Chih-Min Tang, Commissioner of Department of Education, Taipei City Government. ��I believe that hearing-impaired students can make significant contributions in the field of science by utilizing their creativity and talents. Additionally, hearing children and grandparents participating in the ����AV Grandparent-Grandchild Science Camp can learn from the hearing-impaired students, allowing the seeds of diversity and inclusion to take root and flourish in their hearts.�� 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important elements of ����AV��s culture, and the ����AV MagicMaterial School program is based on these principles which was also once named a finalist for the Gartner ��Excellence in ESG, Sustainability and DEI Communications�� Communications Award. On the other hand, through various inclusive activities, children from different backgrounds can enjoy playing with science while also learning, understanding, and respecting each other��s differences, as well as exploring their own limitless capabilities. 

Visible Sound: The Sounds of Wonderland 
English demonstration video:
Experimental kit registration:
(Note: The registration form will close once registration for the 1000 kits is reached.) 
 

One grandpa said emotionally: ��Thank you, ����AV! I��ll definitely take good care of this scientific gardening work completed by my granddaughter and myself, because it represents such happy memories for both of us. I��ll remember this special moment for the rest of my life.�� His granddaughter hugged him and said: ��Although Grandpa and I don��t live together, whenever I visit Grandpa��s house in the future I��ll definitely go and visit this little plant too!�� 

Another grandfather expressed: ��I��m really happy to join this camp. It not only enhances the friendship between grandparents and grandchildren, but also encourages elderly people like me to use our brains in an interesting way. This is the first time in my life I��ve done experiments. I think such activities will help to slow down the onset of dementia for the elderly.�� 

Another granddaughter said shyly to her Grandma: ��I really didn��t expect Grandma could be so clever! You can even guide me to complete science experiments �C thank you!�� 

Wan-An Chiang, Mayor of Taipei City, said: ��Children are our future, and our elders are a treasure trove of wisdom. This ����AV Grandparent-Grandchildren Science Camp, which was co-organized by the Taipei City Government, is not only fun but also imparts valuable scientific knowledge. While encouraging lifelong learning for the elderly, it can also nurture the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren.�� 

��Aging and inclusion are global trends. I am really happy to see that county and city governments are working together with ����AV,�� said Axel Limberg, Chief Representative & Executive Director of German Trade Office Taipei. ������AV Grandparent-Grandchild Science Camp allows grandparents and grandchildren not only to get to know each other better but also narrows the generation gap at the same time!" 

������AV Grandparent-Grandchild Science Camp has been designed with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in mind,�� said Dr. Carsten Wildebrand, Managing Director of ����AV Taiwan. ��We are happy to see different generations gather together to experience the wonderful and interesting scientific phenomena around us. These activities can create memories that may take root in their hearts and never fade.�� 

30% of the grandparents in this camp can only communicate in Taiwanese or Hakka. According to the results of the after-event questionnaire,* ����AV volunteers who can speak in different dialects were appointed. Furthermore, an illustrated step-by-step activity book was provided to meet different participants�� needs in terms of languages or education level, all these were highly praised by 95% of the participants.* 

����AV Grandparent-Grandchild Science Camp was jointly designed by ����AV Taiwan together with Golden Tripod Award winner Professor Liang-Rong Hsu and his team member Tiffany Chen. Commissioner Shu-Wen Yao of Taipei City Government��s Department of Social Welfare, the Heads of Department of Social Affairs in Changhua and Pingtung Counties, Lan-Hsin Wang and Mei-Shu Liu, Chief Representative & Executive Director of German Trade Office Taipei, Axel Limberg, Deputy Officer for Economic Affairs of German Institute Taipei, Alex Hsu, and Managing Director of ����AV Taiwan, Dr. Carsten Wildebrand, all participated in this year��s camp and interacted with grandparents and grandchildren. 


*Data source is the after-event survey of the camp on August 12 and August 19, 2023. 
 

"With our multi-layered campaign, we are pursuing the goal of establishing contacts with many partners to advance the industry on its path to climate neutrality and the circular economy," explains Dr. Christian Haessler, one of the two project managers for K 2022 at ����AV. "This communicative 360�� approach was also expressed in the motto of our appearance at K 2022, 'Crafting Connections With You'." The Red Dot label has established itself internationally as one of the most coveted seals of quality for good design.

R��diger Mae?en, CEO Europe at Uniplan, is equally positive: "The good co-creative collaboration and the innovative concept were fundamental to the success of this holistic campaign. Together with ����AV, we have driven the circular economy agenda in the industry by creating an authentic exchange on multiple channels. Therefore, we are even more pleased that the sustainable campaign approach not only convinced the global target audience, but also the jury of the Red Dot Award."

Creating connections with digital platform

In order to connect with target groups around the world at an early stage and offer them a holistic, long-term experience as a "home base," ����AV and Uniplan designed a digital event platform called "SPACE." It went live several months before the start of the trade show and provided information about planned activities at the booth and the company's major highlight topics:

• Crafting Circular Economy
• Crafting Electrification
• Crafting Sustainable Living
• Crafting Smart Designs

A stage for current trends

These Topic Clusters also formed the basis for the second pillar �C the integrated STAGE booth concept. As the other ����AV project manager Dr. Christopher Stillings explains, "Not only the exhibits and topic clusters, but also the wide-ranging lecture program in the central Talks Arena were tailored to these topics. Inspiring guests from well-known companies and universities �C all actors in their respective fields �C captivated the audience with keynotes on current trends and technologies and during panel discussions. Not only booth visitors participated, but also viewers around the world who followed the live broadcasts via social media."

Another highlight is the Color Material Finish (CMF) Sample Library, a collection of plastic samples that makes materials visible and tangible. Part of Uniplan?s and ����AV's STAGE concept is that the booth �C or parts of it �C can be used repeatedly for further exhibitions. Sustainability aspects and the reduction of CO₂ emissions were also at the forefront in the selection of materials for the trade show appearance itself. The success proves both partners right: Thus, the quality of contacts was significantly improved compared to K 2019, and a positive response developed both externally and internally over a longer period of time.

Innovators in the spotlight

While innovative developments are showcased and (hopefully) get the attention they deserve, the researchers behind them are often not visible. In the video series "Meet The Innovators" ����AV gives a voice to some of them and their inventions �C see the blog post. They were introduced to a larger audience at K 2022, but prominent guests continue to discuss important innovations and technologies in the "Meet The Innovators" livestream series.

Many inspiring encounters at K 2022 have already led to a large number of new partnerships, technologies and material solutions. They form a valuable basis for developments that ����AV plans to showcase at the next major trade show appearance at K 2025. The company's motto may be different then �C but the message remains that partnerships are the key to achieving a climate-neutral and circular economy: "Crafting Connections With You".

A Red Dot Award rarely comes alone

Back in May 2023, ����AV and its partner Accesso Dynamics were honored with an award offered by Red Dot and Koelnmesse. At the furniture supplier trade show interzum 2023, they received the "Best of the Best" interzum Award for their technology. This technology, first presented at K 2022, enables products with complex but seamless shapes. The development also contributes to sustainability, as the products are partly made from bio-based raw materials, are repairable and can be mechanically recycled at the end of their useful life.

����AV and Uniplan were also nominated for the Heavent Award in the "Forum, Summit, Congress, Fair Award" category for their communication concept for K 2022. A total of 132 projects from event, experimental and live marketing agencies as well as companies and trade fair and congress organizers were submitted for this year's event competition.

"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 Gr��ner, Head of IT & Digitalization at ����AV. "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 �C 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 ����AV. "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. ����AV is focusing on more data-oriented corporate governance to drive digital transformation.

����AV 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.

��The glory of the award not only goes to ����AV but also to all of the partners who supported us in the Ocean Protection campaign,�� said Dr. Carsten Wildebrand, Managing Director of ����AV Taiwan. ��Thanks go to the Ministry of Education who served as our advisor in the 2022 national contest and who has consistently recommended our Ocean Protection picture book and app since 2017, wpd Energy who has been a partner of ����AV since 2021 and the nine national parks and five national museums who helped us to raise awareness of the Ocean Protection campaign since 2017. Furthermore we would like to express our gratitude to our ten co-organizers who made our 2022 national environmental storytelling contest successful.�� 

2017-2022 ����AV Taiwan��s Ocean Protection Campaign Milestone Video 

2022 Little Earth Guardian National Environmental Storytelling Contest Video 

2023 PR News Social Impact Award Winners 


 

Therefore, ����AV is turning K 2022 in D��sseldorf from October 19^th to 26^th into a workshop. Under the motto Crafting Connections With You, ����AV is inviting partners, customers, and multipliers to work together on concepts: How can the principle of the circular economy be advanced as a shared, global vision? How can new resources, less energy-intensive processes and integrated supply chains be used?

��A truly sustainable future must not remain a utopia. Now is the time for all partners in the value chain to pull together. Solutions emerge through exchange. At K 2022, we want to showcase the huge potential of plastics. After all, climate neutrality targets and a circular economy cannot be achieved without plastics,�� says Dr. Markus Steilemann, CEO of ����AV. ��But the conditions for the entire industry have to change. Above all, we definitely need cheap green power in very large quantities. That��s why we��re coming together in D��sseldorf �C to take a big step forward together.��  

Panel discussion on October 19^th with business and society

����AV is underscoring this ambition with a panel discussion on ��Pioneering a Fully Circular Future �C with climate-neutral plastics�� broadcast publicly on October 19^th starting at 10:45 a.m. on the and social media channels. In addition to Markus Steilemann, Dr. Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE, Sophie Herrmann, partner at the SYSTEMIQ think tank, and Teresa Oberhauser, representing youth organizations in the United Nations Environment Programme, will take part in the panel. One thing the participants have in common is that they are demonstrating promising solutions in the fight against climate change and advancing them with partners �C whether they are industry, think tanks, or leaders in social and political discourse. 

Four core areas for a climate-neutral company

At K 2022, ����AV invites visitors to discover solutions on the path to a climate-neutral chemical industry committed to the circular economy.

��We are on the journey to becoming a fully circular company and rely on close interaction with our customers and partners. To enable our customers to achieve their climate neutrality and sustainability goals, we have set ourselves an ambitious target. We want to become climate neutral by 2035 from our operations and energy supply, �� says Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer of ����AV. ��At K 2022, we will be showcasing key highlights from this journey: innovative products and solutions developed with alternative raw materials, innovative recycling, and renewable energies. This allows customers to see for themselves how hydrogen, biomass, end-of-life products and waste can be used as promising alternatives to fossil raw materials. At ����AV, these solutions are already paving the way to a fully circular economy��.

The ����AV booth will focus on four topics of the future:

• ��Crafting Electrification�� demonstrates how the company is working with partners to advance green energies �C for example, with plastics solutions for wind turbines or electric cars.
• ��Crafting Sustainable Living�� presents modern, climate-neutral plastics for buildings or refrigerators, for example, which help to reduce the CO₂ and energy footprint.
• ��Crafting Smart Designs�� provides an insight into how ����AV is using the opportunities offered by digitalization to work in a more connected and sustainable way along the entire value chain.
• ��Crafting Circular Economy�� illustrates how a systematic transition to a circular economy can be the key to climate neutrality and resource conservation.

The mangrove ecosystem, once a protective barrier against natural disasters, has been left fragile and vulnerable due to years of urbanization. Navi Mumbai, where the waste collection drive took place, is a city built largely on reclaimed land of seven islands. The humble mangrove not only supports indigenous bird and aquatic life but is also instrumental in preserving the integrity of shorelines- and thus the integrity of the city itself.

Clean4Change

Clean4Change is a global movement initiated last year by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) to manage plastic waste through clean-up initiatives. Clean4Change has engaged with diverse audiences around the world and motivated them to pick up litter and clean up their surroundings. The movement has already been instrumental in picking up over 1.5 million pieces of litter.

Alliance to End Plastic Waste

����AV��s commitment to cleaning plastic from the mangroves and its efforts towards Clean4Change is but part of its larger commitment to sustainability and a circular economy.

����AV is a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), a collective effort by global leaders across the plastics value chain to facilitate plastic clean-up efforts, as well as inspire people to explore and deliberate the most effective interventions to incorporate it into a circular economy.

����AV strongly believes that plastic waste is also a resource- and strives to innovate waste-to-value concepts into economically viable and sustainable solutions.

����AV is also supporting AEPW��s All Together Global Cleanup campaign, a global initiative to remove litter from the environment, one piece at a time, on World Cleanup Day 2022.

����AV has identified the problem - and has developed a process for recycling companies and packaging manufacturers to address this problem: In the case of multi-layer film packages laminated with polyurethane (PU) adhesive, the respective materials can be separated from one another again thanks to the new technology. The team will now present the development at the K 2022 trade fair from 19 to 26 October in D��sseldorf.

In the process, a special separation agent specifically weakens the bond strength of the PU adhesive. Since the separation agent consists of natural ingredients and water, it is also very sustainable. For packaging manufacturers and recyclers, the process offers a major advantage: "Our know-how helps them to make better use of the residual value of their packaging and thus makes more materials available to the recycling industry," says Thomas Fait. The New Business Development Manager for Adhesives at ����AV has led the development of the technology on a laboratory scale. "With projects like this, we contribute to achieve our corporate vision: to make the circular economy a reality. For this purpose, we work with partners from a wide variety of fields and industries and are always looking for ways how our products and technologies can help other companies become circular."

At the K 2022 trade fair, the team will be presenting the technology to the plastics industry for the first time and looking for potential partners from the packaging and recycling industry to further develop the process together with them.

"Our aim is to introduce the world's first climate-neutral polycarbonate plastics this year," Jochen Hardt, Marketing Mobility ����AV, told media representatives. "This is an important step in achieving our vision of becoming fully circular. At the same time, we offer products and solutions that combine outstanding performance, cost efficiency and sustainability designed to help our customers in the mobility industry succeed in achieving their sustainability goals."

World's first climate-neutral polycarbonate

The polycarbonates are climate neutral "from the cradle to the factory gate¹" thanks to the introduction of raw materials sourced from mass-balanced biowaste and residues², as well as renewable energy accumulated during the production process. ����AV is already offering ISCC Plus-certified polycarbonates, which are attributed to renewable raw materials using the mass balance approach and enable a considerable reduction in the carbon footprint.

By incorporating renewable energy, ����AV will probably fully reduce CO? emissions from the cradle to the factory gate for these selected products. The products have the same high quality and performance as fossil-based polycarbonates and are a drop-in replacement without having to change existing processes or workflows.

����AV has also collaborated with partners to develop polyurethane raw materials in which up to 20 percent of the petroleum-based raw materials previously used are replaced by the climate gas CO?. Applications of such polyols, called cardyon^®, are also currently being developed in the automotive sector. Partially bio-based precursors for automotive clear coatings from the Desmodur^® N range also contribute to circularity as alternative raw materials.

Innovative recycling technologies

Plastics recyclates are an important building block in significantly reducing a car's carbon footprint from raw material and component production through the use phase to recycling. In addition, ����AV is increasingly driving forward the development of chemical recycling technologies. A decisive factor in the success of such developments is that the products satisfy the high quality requirements and specifications of the automotive industry. ����AV supports the mechanical and chemical recycling of plastics through its role as a member in associations such as the Circularise Plastics project group. This group's goal is to establish a new standard for the traceability of plastics back to the raw material.

_{¹ Cradle-to-Gate is an assessment of a partial product lifecycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate. This assessment is based on ����AV's internal calculations and is currently being externally validated.
² The calculation of the carbon footprint takes biogenic carbon uptake into account.}

"Rethink Materials is an invitation to everyone to come into conversation with us and think jointly about new solutions for existing and upcoming challenges," says Christopher Schirwitz, one of the two ����AV stand managers at Fakuma-virtual. "As a supplier of high-tech polymer materials, we would like to learn about new perspectives in order to create innovations in close cooperation with our customers and partners that start with the material and ultimately go far beyond it. For us, Rethink Materials is inseparably associated with sustainability and our focus on the circular economy."

Premiere for digital showroom

At Fakuma-virtual, the new virtual showroom of ����AV will experience its global premiere: From October 13, visitors can discover the showroom rooms and experience how innovative and functional materials are changing the way people live, work and communicate. Future design can be experienced in developments created with thermoplastic composites or advanced 3D printing technology.

It is not only presentations and customer experiences that are increasingly being conducted in virtual rooms. "Design processes are also becoming increasingly digital," says certified designer (Dipl. Des.) Hans-Eberhard Stein from Central Marketing at ����AV. "For example, this also includes the creation and use of digital prototypes." ����AV intends to intensify its focus on the target group of designers and their specific needs.

New Virtual Sample Library and CMF Library App

The virtual sample library is also making its debut: Here, everything is centered around the optical and haptic design of products. Designers and other visitors can search for specific materials or be inspired by the wide range of products. The combination of color, material and finish (often abbreviated as CMF) opens up a wide range of design possibilities. For this purpose, ����AV is offering the CMF Library App in its virtual showroom and is presenting the sample library in the form of a video – a new way of making materials tangible.

Companies are also invited to Topic Days on the first three days of the fair. In this context, videos on the following topics will be shown: 

• October 13: Designs for the Future (Topics: 3D printing and the Maezio® thermoplastic composite)
• October 14: Streets of Tomorrow (Topics: Car interior concept of the future, multi-functional display concept and efficient assembly of lithium-ion cells in the car battery)
• October 15: Future Home (Topics: 5G telecommunications, design of charging stations for electromobility and connectivity)

Visit the ����AV digital showroom and talk to the experts. You can reach them there from October 13 to 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. CET. Further information is available at: . As of October 13, you will also find a link to the ����AV digital showroom there.

New corporate vision: ”We will be fully circular”

For a more sustainable restart, ����AV has drawn on a new corporate vision to chart a clear course for the company. Over the long term, the company plans to align its entire production, its range of products and solutions as well as all areas to the circular concept. “That means we aim to comprehensively establish the principle of circularity at our company,” Steilemann said. Focus topics are alternative raw materials, innovative recycling, joint solutions and renewable energies.

On the path towards achieving a circular economy, ����AV will also be strengthening its innovative capabilities, for example in areas such as digital chemistry. Quantum computing can, for example, enable highly complex chemical reaction processes to be digitally simulated in the future, thus saving considerable time and resources. This would play a vital role in successfully driving the circular economy, Steilemann said. “Quantum computing will enable us to take research and development to a completely new level — also, and in particular, in regard to the pace at which we can develop innovations,” Steilemann explained. The company has only recently announced a research partnership with Google in this area.

Guidance confirmed, economic environment remains uncertain

Steilemann again confirmed the guidance for the current fiscal year to the shareholders. Although ����AV has been observing a trend of sequential improvement since mid-May, 2020 nevertheless continues to be an exceptional year and the economic environment will remain uncertain in the second half of the year as well. “Further developments depend largely on the course taken by the coronavirus pandemic, and this is not completely foreseeable. This makes it all the more important that our measures work and provide positive results already,” Steilemann adds.

Consistent crisis management ensures ability to act

Since the beginning of the Corona crisis, ����AV had quickly and consistently taken measures to counter the effects on its business, setting clear priorities: “Our top priority is to ensure the safety of our employees, business partners and customers. This is followed by maintaining production and supply chains. Equally important to us is to safeguard our strong liquidity position.”

Early on, ����AV set the course for sustainably improving efficiency through the company’s “Perspective” program. The company is now benefiting from this as well as from strengthening the short-term cost-saving measures approved at the beginning of this year. By 2020, the aim is to save a total of over EUR 430 million. In addition, the company has adjusted its investment plans and taken various financing measures in the first half of the year, including a new revolving credit facility, short-term working capital facilities, a loan from the European Investment Bank and the issuance of Eurobonds.

Adjusted dividend proposal

To further strengthen ����AV’s liquidity position in the current exceptional economic environment, the company decided in spring to propose a dividend of EUR 1.20 per share to the Annual General Meeting instead of the originally planned EUR 2.40 per share. This would equal a payout ratio of 40 percent and a new peak in relative terms.

CFO Dr. Thomas Toepfer at the Annual General Meeting: “Our policy is to pay out an increased or at least a stable dividend to our shareholders. That was also our intention this year. We will, however, deviate from that policy in 2020 due to the enormous impact of the coronavirus pandemic. I am convinced we have made a balanced decision with this proposed dividend. We are taking the interests of our shareholders into account while at the same time securing our robust liquidity position and credit rating.”

����AV is broadcasting the complete virtual Annual General Meeting, including the Board of Management presentations and the Q&A, live via Webcast at starting at 10 a.m. CET. Speeches by the Board of Management can also be followed live via LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. The manuscripts of the speeches by Dr. Markus Steilemann and Dr. Thomas Toepfer are available online at /en/investors. The voting results will also be provided there after the Annual General Meeting.

The car interior will develop into a multifunctional living and working space. "This will result in completely new user expectations of the materials used," explains Jochen Hardt, who heads Global Marketing Mobility at ����AV, in a plenary lecture on the first day of the congress. ����AV presented a premium interior concept for this at the K 2019 plastics trade fair. The prototype developed together with partners will also be shown at the VDI Congress.

Multifunctional interior

"At the same time, the concept offers new opportunities for differentiation for the automotive industry," says Jochen Hardt, who is also a member of the expert committee for the VDI Congress. The comprehensive approach is equally concerned with functionality, comfort and design, but also with efficiency and light weighting. Highlights include multi-sensory infotainment systems, innovative seating concepts, smart surfaces and personalized lighting.

Of particular importance is a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material which ����AV offers under the name Maezio^®. It is extremely robust and lightweight and offers a great deal of design freedom. In the interior it is used in the seat shells and in a new space-saving table concept. The material also proves its versatility in the recently published compendium "Car Design Review 7", whose cover is made of CFRTP material. It is a leading resource for car designers worldwide and also includes an interview with Jochen Hardt on the interior concept.

New safety concept for the battery

A lithium-ion battery is the heart of the electric and hybrid car of the future. In its design, it is not only a question of high performance, which largely determines the range of the vehicle, but also of the greatest possible safety, for example in the event of an accident: On impact, the battery modules or cells could be damaged or cracked and possibly overheat or even catch fire.

����AV has recognized this danger and developed a new concept for a battery housing based on the Baydur^® PUL polyurethane system in combination with pultrusion technology. This is a continuous process for the efficient production of fiber-reinforced plastic parts.

In a presentation on the first day of the congress, Galen Greene will report on the special mechanical stability of this material combined with its low weight. "We would like to make our contribution to making electromobility safer, more economical and therefore more attractive with such developments and the associated tests," the ����AV battery expert explains. "To this end, we are also seeking partners for the further optimization of this promising battery concept."

In focus: plastic recyclates in cars

Jochen Hardt is also a panelist in a discussion on the subject of “Recyclates – opportunities and general conditions for the use of plastics in the vehicle of the future" on the first day of the congress. ����AV is strongly committed to the recycling of plastics and the use of alternative raw materials. With a long-term program, the company wants to focus strongly on the circular economy and to be a shaping force for the plastics industry. The company is also showing developments on these topics at its virtual trade fair stand.

����AV has been using bio-based raw materials and CO₂ in production for years. Recently, a strategic cooperation was also agreed with the Finnish chemical company Neste on the supply of material from renewable sources. It is intended to replace an important part of the fossil raw materials previously used for the production of polycarbonates.

����AV is currently working with partners to develop innovative technologies for recycling plastics. The company is also a member of the Circularize Plastics project group. Its aim is to establish a new standard for the traceability of plastics back to the raw material to facilitate effective recycling.