Sustainability and biobased materials drive HEXPOL TPE production expansion

HEXPOL TPE — an international polymer compounding group specialising in thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs)— is investing 57 million SEK at their company in Åmål, Sweden to expand production capacity and ensure product safety standards across their materials portfolio. 

The Swedish company, which specialises in TPE materials for sensitive and regulated applications, said its investment supports increasing demand and evolving market requirements; sustainability and biobased materials are also driving their strategy.

A new production hall is being constructed, dedicated to medical production, with strict cleanliness, traceability, and reproducibility controls. It has been designed to minimise contamination risks and will house a new twin-screw compounding line with gravimetric feeders and advanced monitoring systems adopted for medical production.

Carsten Rüter, President of HEXPOL Compounding Global Purchasing/Technology, said the expansion project also “lays the foundation for future development with optimised internal logistics and increased automation and robotics".

The company produced their first medical compounds in the 1990s and launched the Mediprene range of TPEs for medical applications in 2004. Continuous investment in technology, people and processes contributed to the company becoming the first TPE compounder in Europe to gain the ISO 13485 accreditation in 2007.

Construction of the new production hall began in September 2021. The aim is to complete the project by autumn 2022.