WOOD-PLASTICS COMPOSITES | EVENT PREVIEW
We preview AMI’s latest Wood-Plastic Composites conference, which takes place in Vienna, Austria, later this year
WPCs conference heads back to Vienna in 2018
The market for wood-plastic composites (WPCs) has seen strong growth in Europe, helped by a series of product and process developments as well as improved marketing programmes – yet usage is still far less than its potential. AMI’s biennial Wood-Plas- tic Composites has followed the industry’s progress over many years, and returns to Vienna, Austria for its 12th
edition on 14-15 November this year.
Here we preview the event, with a closer look at the line-up of expert speakers.
Market trends The opening session kicks off with Matthew Breyer, President at North American Deck & Railing Association (NADRA) in the USA. As a voice of the deck and railing industry, he will provide an interna- tional perspective on composite decking and discuss the introduction of NADRA’s ‘consumer awareness’ programme which will hopefully allow industry leaders to help self-regulate products through standardised testing protocols. This is followed by Luc Wallican, Project Manager Technol- ogy at leading WPC profile and producer Deceun-
www.compoundingworld.com
inck in Belgium. A company based on innovative building solutions, Luc will question whether there is a future for hollow wood composite decking. Peter Kotiadis, Vice President of Innovation at
Fiberon in the USA, continues the market trends discussion with a paper exploring the impact that geographical factors from across the globe have on wood-plastic composite extrusion. This is followed by Andreas Haider, Area Manager at Kompetenzzentrum hol in Austria, who focuses on advanced applications of NFC/WPC when applying this in various polymer processes, to open the market to new applications. Then Dr Arne Schirp, Project Leader, Fraun-
hofer-Institute for Wood Research in Germany will present results from an innovative research project in which they developed foamed WPC materials for use in beehives. Closing the session, Antonia Hantschel, Product Manager, J. Rettenmaier & Söhne, Germany will look at the challenges and opportunities for the future markets of the WPC industry, focusing specifically on the wood and cellulose fibres for wood polymer composites.
� September 2018 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 51
Main image: WPCs continue to replace wooden decking in Europe, yet there is still far more potential for market expansion
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 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82
