MATERIALS | IMPACT MODIFICATION


replaced by Parapet, eliminating the need to separate materials. Existing rear lamps, on the other hand, can be crushed without disassembly and recycled using Parapet impact modifier grades.”


Above: Kuraray said its


PMMA-based Parapet allows the recycling of automotive rear lamps for the first time


Right: Xenia has expanded its portfolio with Xelamid, a new family of impact-modi- fied materials based on PA 11 and PA 12


with our customers’ sustainability objectives while maintaining the high performance they expect,” said Hermann Fuechter, Senior Marketing & Product Manager, Specialty Engineered Materials EMEA at Avient. “The Nymax REC High Impact portfolio demonstrates our commitment to innovating and advancing sustainable material options that meet market demands.” Kuraray says a major theme in 2025 was the enhancement of recycled plastics and bio-based materials and began focusing its impact modifier portfolio on sustainability, recyclability, and performance enhancement. Its Septon and Hybrar TPEs are being promoted for improving impact resistance and durability in recycled PE/PP having been designed to address degradation in recycled plastics. Alongside them stands the Septon BIO- series, specifically formu- lated for improving the impact resistance of PLA, making it more suitable for high-durability, bio-based extru- sion applications. At K2025, the company highlighted the


ISCC Plus-certified PMMA-based resin Parapet which allows the replacement of ABS/ASA plastics with high-performance acrylic making it possible to recycle rear lamps for the first time. “This process was previously considered unfeasible,” said Rammaru Funaoka, Specialist, PMMA Business Development at Kuraray Europe. “The composite materials, PMMA for the lens cover and ASA/ABS for the housing, are usually thermally fused, which makes it difficult to separate them. When manufac- turing new rear lamps, ASA can be completely


36 COMPOUNDING WORLD | April 2026


Engineering plastics SK Functional Polymer – the France-based manufacturer established in 2020 after SK Group’s acquisition of Arkema’s functional polyolefins business – has developed Lotader AX8900T, a new impact modifying additive for engineering plastics with a high content of epoxide groups (8% of glycidyl methacrylate), and which can also be used for rheology control and as a matting agent. Lotader AX8900T maintains good impact perfor- mance when it is combined with a non-reactive Lotryl EMA/EBA copolymer and has the ability to increase viscosity. In polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) compounds, the company says the additive is very efficient at increasing melt strength and, combined with Lotryl 35BA40T, can be used to improve the impact resistance of PBT with limited increase of viscosity. Lotader AX8900T and Lotryl 40MA05T both offer high impact resistance in recycled HIPS, while Lotryl 28BA700T also increases the fluidity of engineering plastics such as PC/ABS while boosting impact resistance. At JEC World 2026, Xenia officially launched Xelamid, a new family of impact-modi- fied compounds based on polyamide 11 and PA 12. Its balanced combination of high mechanical proper- ties, lightness, and design flexibility, means Xelamid is well suited for applications in sports equipment, consum- er goods, and industrial


sectors. The modular nature of the portfolio provides versatile options


for a variety of advanced applications, enabling designers and manufacturers to select grades tailored to specific requirements, said Xenia.


Developed to combine mechanical perfor- mance with low density, Xelamid consists of unfilled, impact-modified grades offering an optimised balance of stiffness, impact resistance, and energy absorption. The portfolio covers a range of performance levels across key param- eters, with different compounds reaching up to 30% higher elongation at break or up to ten times


www.compoundingworld.com


IMAGE: KURARAY


I


M


A


G


E


:


X


E


N I


A


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42