UTECH Europe 2024 preview: part one

Get ready to immerse yourself in the world of polyurethane innovation as we give our first of four previews of UTECH Europe 2024, the premier event for the polyurethane industry.

As you may have gathered, this publication is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. But it also the 40th anniversary of UTECH (while the first UTECH event was in 1986, it was first announced – in the pages of Urethanes Technology magazine – in 1984). When the first show – UTECH ’86 – was created it was billed as the world’s first major, international polyurethane trade show and conference. Held in The Hague, Netherlands in March 1986, and organised by Netherlands-based Industrial Promotions/Kenter in partnership with US-based Crain Communications (the publisher of Urethanes Technology International), the first UTECH show was a tremendous success and became a focal point for the international polyurethane community. 

And it has since run on, and on … this year’s event is the 16th UTECH event in Netherlands alone. UTECH ’86, ’88, ’90, ’92, ’94 and ’96 were held in The Hague. In 1997, UTECH held the special Polyurethanes World Congress in Amsterdam. In 2000 the European show – now known as UTECH Europe to differentiate it from UTECH’s global events including PUChina (launched 1995), UTECH South America (launched 2001), UTECH Las Americas (launched 2017) and UTECH Middle East Foam & Polyurethane Expo (launched 2022) – became a triennial. Two more UTECH Europe events were held in The Hague (2000, 2003) before moving to MECC Maastricht in 2006, where the event has been held ever since. The 15th UTECH Europe – photographs of which are used to illustrate this article – was held in November 2021, postponed from its usual spring slot by the Covid pandemic.

UTECH Europe 2024 is an opportunity to join industry leaders, experts and innovators from around the globe as they converge to share insights, exchange ideas and forge valuable connections.

New for UTECH Europe 2024
Discover cutting-edge solutions and products from top manufacturers and suppliers in the expansive exhibition hall. From raw materials and additives to processing equipment and finished products, you'll find everything you need to stay ahead in today's competitive marketplace.

Here we offer a preview of what exhibitors at UTECH Europe 2024 will be showcasing.

Huntsman Polyurethanes’ president Tony Hankins will open UTECH Europe 2024 on 23 April with a keynote address. His colleagues will also be giving technical papers on an innovative new catalyst that has been developed and evaluated in hydrofluoro-olefin (HFO) containing formulations for reactivity and stability; more sustainable foam innovations for automotive acoustic applications – based on bio-based and recycled content – that help address end of life recyclability issues; and a new generation of bio-based particleboard binders that have a lower carbon footprint and are aligned with the needs of the composite wood panel industry.

At the Huntsman exhibition booth (E10) the company will be demonstrating a liquid thermoplastic polyurethane technology (LTPU) for the footwear industry; a PU-based flexible foam made with bio-content, for the manufacture of mattresses and furniture; novel PU-based automotive seating foams that can be made using bio-based polyols that offer recyclability; a new EV battery cell encapsulation foam technology made from recycled content, enabling carbon footprint reduction; and composite wood panels using PU-based binders with bio-content.

Joe Tse, polyurethanes vice President Europe at Huntsman, said: “Around the world, polyurethane chemistry is helping to address the most pressing sustainability challenges. At UTECH Europe 2024 we will continue to reinforce the role our industry has to play in supporting economic development in Europe. We look forward to continuing conversations with our customers about how best to collaborate to enable more sustainable growth.”

Kimpur (D5) will focus on how it is making its contribution to nature and the circular economy by incorporating renewable resources into the product life cycle. And Kimpur’s Cahit Can Çanakçı will make a presentation “Europe's commitment to sustainable polyurethanes” in Auditorium One as part of the Sustainability strand on April 23.

The company has had a particular focus on producing environmentally friendly products in the 2022-2023 period.  It has produced a sustainable raw material for footwear using polyester polyol synthesised from recycled PET bottles (20%) and bio-based raw materials (17%) that manages to keep the elastic structure expected of footwear, in what Kimpur describes as a “first of its kind in the sector”.

Graphene from recycled automotive tyres has been used to improve the performance of the KIMflex sound ınsulation system for automotive use, and for KIMflex HR foam systems for office and vehicle seating, offering an improvement of up to 65% in performance over standard sound insulating foam.

In the area of rigid foam insulation, Kimpur is to showcase its discontinuous KIMrigid sandwich panel system which uses high functionality bio-based polyols, 30% renewable materials and a halogen-free formula. Kimpur will also show its recently introduced KIMrigid solar panel and boiler systems, offering superior insulation while minimising environmental impact by use of water-based blowing agents; its KIMcool refrigeration systems which offer 7-10% better energy efficiency without compromising on mechanical proprties; and KIMspray foam spray systems containing a new-generation blowing agent, giving a reduced environmental impact, while providing energy savings of approximately 20% compared with standard spray systems.

Notedome (E44) – a producer of bespoke polyurethane prepolymers and elastomers – invites members of the PU elastomer processing community to see its extensive product range, including its latest Neuthane elastomer grades.

Two business entities of Covestro (C20) will be exhibiting at the show: Performance Materials, showing a range of high-performance PU raw materials solutions for flexible, rigid and integral skin foams; and Elastomers, with a range of high-performance raw materials for superior cast PU elastomers (and machine technologies with which to process them).

Covestro has use of exclusive meeting rooms at the MECC, for private discussions and to consider topics requiring in-depth exchanges. Covestro’s head of Performance Materials, Hermann-Josef Dörholt, will be giving a keynote on 23 April entitled “Circular economy and climate neutrality – from vision to implementation”; and his Covestro colleagues will be delivering no fewer than seven technical papers across the three-day event. 

Sharing knowledge
Talking of technical papers, UTECH Europe 2024 is an invaluable forum for knowledge including thought-provoking keynote presentations, panel discussions, and technical sessions led by key industry figures. Whether you're interested in sustainability, digitalisation, regulatory compliance or the latest trends in materials science, UTECH Europe 2024 has something for everyone.

Keep an eye on the UTECH Europe website for the latest updates but, at the time of publication of this article, we have presentations, seminars and workshops from companies and organisations including, in alphabetical order (number in brackets indicating number of presentations by a company or organisation): Altair, Anna University, Argus Media, BASF (2), BorsodChem, Cannon Afros, Cannon Viking, Cardolite, Cellmat Technologies (4), Covestro (8, including keynote), CSIC (Spanish National Research Council), Dow, Econic Technologies, Elachem, Europur (4), Evonik (5), Federal University of Viçosa, Georg H. Luh, H&S Anlagentechnik, Haltermann Carless, Hexion, Hoyu, Huntsman (5, including opening keynote), IAL Consultants, ICL Industrial Products, Ingevity, Isopa (3), ITBA University, Keil Anlagenbau, Kimpur, Lanxess (2), Markets and Markets, Momentive (3), NexantECA, Nitroil, OSV, Pearl Polyurethanes (2), Polychemtech, PU Europe, Schrödinger, Simalfa, Tosoh Corporation, UBE Corporation (2), The Vita Group, and Wanhua.

UTECH Awards 2024
The prestigious UTECH Awards return to Maastricht for 2024. The eight categories this year are: Machinery Innovation, Ambassador, Rising Star, Material Innovation, Machinery Supplier Partnership, Polyurethane Processor, New Product and Sustainability Initiative (sponsored by Evonik). The nominees were revealed at a live stream earlier this month.

This year’s awards marks the debut of the new UTECH Awards trophies designed by Rotterdam-based Better Future Factory. The finalists’ trophies are made from recycled polystyrene from post-industrial and post-consumer yoghurt packaging. While the glorious winners’ trophies are made from a column of recycled PET topped with the UTECH “U” device in 3D printed thermoplastic polyurethane.

Exploring Maastricht
Nearly 16m people live within a 100km radius of the MECC in Maastricht. This radius includes major cities including Tilburg and Eindhoven in Netherlands, Antwerp and Brussels in Belgium, and Cologne and Düsseldorf in Germany.

There is no shortage of places to entertain and unwind in the local area. Maastricht itself has no fewer than six Michelin-starred restaurants, and 14 Michelin-starred restaurants within a 20km radius (including three two-star restaurants: Julemont in Wittem, Brut172 in Reijmerstok and Ralf Berendsen in Neerharen, Belgium).

UTECH Europe 2024 is held at MECC Maastricht, Maastricht, Netherlands on 23-25 April 2024 and organised by Urethanes Technology International. For more information, please visit our website at utecheurope.eu