Econic co-founder and CTO, Dr. Mike Kember, was in Shanghai this month for a major polyurethane industry event. Mike shared the stage with our pioneer licensee Changhua Chemical Technology Co. Ltd and both gave presentations on the benefits of CO2-based polyols. The conference was hosted by market intelligence agency, PUDaily and brought together stakeholders from along the value chain.
The first day of the event was a CEO roundtable attended by Samsung, BASF, Covestro, Jiahua, Wanhua and many others. The key topic was circularity and sustainability in the polyurethane supply chain. Mike commented on the sessions:
“These leaders recognise the need for change but also that they work in a material supply chain that demands performance. Polyurethanes are used in such a broad range of ways, each exploiting different characteristics. It is great to see pragmatic discussion taking place.”
Mike presented the Econic platform technology and how polyols produced using our unique catalyst and proprietary process, can be incorporated into flexible foams, coatings, adhesives and more. 
Dr. Klaus-Dieter Schoen presented on behalf of Changhua. He shared their work incorporating these polyols into flame lamination foam applications. Flame lamination is used to adhere flexible foam to fabrics, which are then used as headliners in vehicles or in upholstery applications.
Besides CO2 polyols, there were updates from Honeywell on their latest sustainable blowing agents and the latest on bio-based polyol materials from Huafon. Michel Baumgartner from Europur also presented, sharing the latest market data and trends from the European perspective.
The event was a great success and Econic were honored to be a part of it.
