Röhm GmbH presents PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds with reduced carbon footprint at Fakuma 2023

• Celebrating the 90th anniversary of the PLEXIGLAS® brand, the original from Röhm
• New PLEXIGLAS® proTerra molding compounds reduce the carbon footprint while maintaining proven performance
• Expanding portfolio meets trends in the automotive and lighting industry as well as the household appliances sector

A true success story began in Darmstadt, Germany, 90 years ago, when Dr. Otto Röhm and his team invented a new type of plastic. Acrylic glass, with the chemical name polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), has since been known under the brand name PLEXIGLAS®. Today, Röhm GmbH offers semi-finished products as well as a comprehensive portfolio of PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds for all thermoplastic processes. The Molding Compounds business unit will connect tradition and modernity at Fakuma 2023, held from October 17 to 21 in Friedrichshafen. Visitors will be able to see inspiring examples from the brand’s history as well as the growing range of standard and special molding compounds for the automotive and lighting industry and the household appliances sector. “Our new PLEXIGLAS® proTerra molding compounds help our customers reduce their carbon footprint while still maintaining the proven performance, and this will be the first time we present them at a trade fair,” says Siamak Djafarian, Head of the Molding Compounds business unit at Röhm GmbH.

Thanks to their properties, PLEXIGLAS® standard and special molding compounds are reliable and innovative materials for contemporary and sustainable design: They display the highest surface hardness of all thermoplastics, and are robust and extremely resistant to UV and weather influences. All of these features contribute to the longevity of the components made from them. The material is lightweight and can be precisely processed into components with high-gloss or intricately textured surfaces in all injection molding and extrusion processes. Through coextrusion, it can also be refined as a topcoat for numerous other plastics. Moreover, its excellent light transmission makes it ideal for combining with light.

Climate protection as a trade fair focus: new PLEXIGLAS® proTerra molding compounds

Fakuma 2023 is highlighting climate protection – so it is fitting that trade fair visitors can obtain information on the new PLEXIGLAS® proTerra molding compounds, featuring a reduced carbon footprint with proven performance, at the Röhm GmbH booth. The products are part of Rohm’s sustainability strategy: The company aims to make its production climate-neutral by 2050, which will involve eliminating all of its greenhouse gas emissions.

Röhm is taking two different approaches with its molding compounds: PLEXIGLAS® proTerra M5 contains mechanically recycled PMMA, while in PLEXIGLAS® proTerra 8N, fossil resources have been replaced with raw materials certified under ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification). PLEXIGLAS® proTerra 8N is a green twin of PLEXIGLAS® 8N, allowing customers to switch to a resource-friendly material with identical product properties – without the need for renewed release testing. Accordingly, the Automotive Manufacturers Equipment Compliance Agency (AMECA) has already listed PLEXIGLAS® proTerra 8N as a material that complies with applicable standards, meaning it can be used for vehicle lighting.

Sustainable solutions meeting trends in various sectors

“Our resource-saving PLEXIGLAS® proTerra molding compounds are the perfect example of how our brand PMMA has consistently reinvented itself over the last 90 years, thereby playing a role in the development of innovations in many sectors,” Djafarian adds. Thus, PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds have been a proven material for products including taillight covers since the 1950s. A brief journey through time at the booth demonstrates how taillights have evolved from small, purely functional luminaires to complex components for branded light signatures – and how Röhm has kept pace with the development by evolving its tailored range of special molding compounds. The latest example is a neutral gray PLEXIGLAS® special molding compound with improved red transmittance – and trade fair visitors can experience the light intensity for themselves at Fakuma 2023. With this molding compound, automotive suppliers can achieve the signal red needed to meet requirements for vehicle lighting with fewer LEDs, or with LEDs that require a lower energy intensity. This contributes to sustainability in automotive manufacturing.

Another innovative product being presented by Röhm at its booth is PLEXIGLAS® 8N plus. It simplifies the production of complex injection-molded parts in automotive manufacturing, architecture, lighting and in household appliances. In particular, processors benefit from the optimized demoldability, which means that intricate injection-molded parts or parts with sharp angles are easy to remove from the mold. This helps prevent fluctuations on quality, which in turn increases the yield while also saving resources. “We have repeatedly come up with new solutions for challenges posed by processors and have developed the suitable materials for new design trends,” states Djafarian. “We are looking forward to meeting with visitors at Fakuma and discussing their requirements.”

Röhm expands production capacities for PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds

As a reliable partner to its customers, Röhm is constantly intensifying its own research and innovation activities and is driving the expansion of its global production capacities. Among other things, the company opened a new innovations center at the Worms site in July 2023 (inauguration on July 12, 2023). Coinciding with Fakuma, there are also plans to inaugurate the expanded PMMA and compounding plant in Shanghai. Röhm is the only global manufacturer of MMA and PMMA with downstream compounding in the three key regions of Asia, North America and Europe.